Individualised Instruction, Congruent Authority Structure and Student Outcomes

Abstract

Measures of formal and informal authority structure were employed in order to assess academic and non-academic outcomes of individualised instruction. A sample of 386 fourth and fifth-grade elementary school children studying in nine individualised and 10 traditional classes was employed. Thus academic outcomes of either method of instruction were found to be contingent on the congruence between formal and informal authority structure: higher achievement scores were obtained when individualisation as school policy was accompanied by teacher sharing of authority with pupils at the informal classroom level. Achievement in less individualised classes was higher when teacher did not extend decision-making opportunities to pupils. Non-academic pupil outcomes were generally unrelated to either formal or informal authority structure. Similarities and differences between these results and former findings are discussed in light of cross-cultural differences in classroom individualisation.

Perceived Teachers’ Behaviours and Dimensions of Adolescent Self‐concepts

“…In these societies, considerable research has been conducted on examining the relationship between teacher behaviours and children or adolescents cognitive development (academic performance in particular) (e.g. Brody & Firestone, 1975;Woolfolk, 1978; Becher, 1980;Schofield, 1980;Rose & Medway, 1981;Fry, 1983;Gettinger, 1983;Monk, 1983;Smith, 1984;Butler & Nisan, 1986;Tomic, 1989;Eshel & Kurman, 1990;Seddon & Barry, 1990). Not only was the emphasis on children's or adolescents' cognitive development, extensive research was also conducted to examine the relationship between teacher behaviours and children's or adolescents' affective development (especially self-concept).…”