Natural Rates of Teacher Approval and Disapproval in British Primary and Middle School Classrooms

Merrett, Frank; Wheldall, Kevin

doi:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1987.tb03064.x

Cited by 42 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…These results are in line with the findings of Merrett and Wheldall (1987b) on British primary and middle school teachers. Moreover, the overall mean level of on-task behaviour in secondary classrooms in the present study (80-5 per cent) is remarkably similar to that found by Rutter et a/.…”

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Natural Rates of Teacher Approval and Disapproval in British Secondary School Classrooms

Wheldall

Houghton

Merrett

1989

Brit J of Edu Psychol

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SUMMARY.A sample of 130 secondary school teachers was systematically observed teaching mixed classes varying in age from 11 to 16 years. The OPTIC schedule was employed to record teachers' rates of approving and disapproving responses and the amount of time pupils spent on-task. Although rates of approval were generally higher than disapproval rates, most of the approval was directed at academic pupil behaviours whereas most of the disapproval was for inappropriate social behaviour. Mean on-task behaviour of classes at 80 per cent was higher than that observed in a similar sample of primary classes.INTRODUCTION BEHAVIOURAL approaches to classroom management commonly advocate increasing teacher approval and decreasing disapproval (see, for example, Wheldall and Merrett, 1984), since it has frequently been demonstrated that contingent teacher approval can function as a powerful reinforcer of pupil behaviour. This is true not only for primary aged children but also for young people attending secondary schools (Wheldall and Austin, 1980;Merrett and Blundell, 1982; Wheldall and Merrett, 1987;Merrett and Wheldall, 1987a). Relatively little is known, however, about the ways in which approval and disapproval are normally employed in secondary school classrooms.The earliest study conducted specifically to determine natural rates of teacher approval and disapproval appears to be that of White (1975) in the United States. Under White's guidance 16 observational studies were carried out (employing the Teacher Approval and Disapproval Observation Record) with 104 teachers in classrooms from grades 1 to 12. The findings showed generally that, with the exception of those teaching grades 1 and 2, teachers gave more disapproving than approving comments to their pupils, with overall rates declining as pupils got older. The approval rate for instructional (academic) behaviour was higher in all grades than the rate of disapproval. With reference to managerial (social) behaviour, the rate of disapproval was very much higher than the rate of approval, which was described as "almost non-existent".Heller and White (1975) subsequently observed five teachers of mathematics and five teachers of social studies each teaching a higher ability and a lower ability class in grades 7 to 9 (i.e., lower secondary aged classes). Mean rates of disapproval were again found to exceed mean rates of teacher approval. Moreover, out of the total of 1,105 statements of approval and disapproval recorded, only one was found to be approving of social behaviour. Additionally, it was found that whereas teacher approval did not differ in rate between high and low ability classes, rates of disapproval were much higher in the lower ability classes.In New Zealand, Thomas et al. (1978) observed the classroom behaviour of 10 grade 7 teachers (i.e., classes of 11-to 13-year-old pupils) in the Mangere Guidance Unit, a clinical treatment facility. A time sampling instrument was used to record teacher behaviours and the on-task behaviour level of all 10 pupils. Results si...

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confidence: 95%

Natural Rates of Teacher Approval and Disapproval in British Secondary School Classrooms

Wheldall

Houghton

Merrett

1989

Brit J of Edu Psychol

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“…American research cited by Merrett & Wheldall (1987) suggested that overall the general level of positive and negative teacher feedback is low, although teachers provide more negative feedback compared to positive feedback (Strain et al, 1983). In contrast, Merrett & Wheldall (1987) observed 128 teachers in England and found that 56% of the feedback given to students was positive, while 44% was negative. However, 31% of teachers used twice as many positive responses compared to negative responses.…”

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confidence: 85%

Teacher Praise and Feedback and Students' Perceptions of the Classroom Environment

Burnett¹

2002

Educational Psychology

142

115

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“…Research shows that classroom teachers tend to direct their approval at academic performance and their disapproval at undesirable social behaviours (Merrett and Wheldall, 1987;Wyatt and Hawkins, 1987;Wheldall, Houghton and Merrett, 1989;Beaman and Wheldall, 2000). Similarly, in music teaching effective praise should be directed at attainment of specified performance criteria and desired student behaviour such as practising, while negative criticism should be directed towards the student behaviour and not the student personality (Radocy, 1982;Kostka, 1984;Brophy and Good, 1986;Schmidt, 1995).…”

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Exploratory study of approvals and disapprovals in Australian instrumental music teaching

Zhukov¹

2008

International Journal of Music Education

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Research on the use of approvals/ disapprovals in classroom teaching has highlighted praise as more effective than criticism, specific evaluation more valuable than general, and gender differences. This study investigated instrumental music lessons in higher education to ascertain the use of positive/ negative and specific/ general evaluation and gender effects on these. The participants were 12 teachers and 24 students from five Australian tertiary institutions. Greater use of approvals than disapprovals was found in most lessons. The teachers were more specific when criticising their students, but not when praising them. The female teachers were slightly more positive than the male teachers, but the male teachers were more specific in their appraisals of student playing. The female students received more teacher praise than the male students. Results support previous research and provide new evidence into the use of approvals and disapprovals in instrumental music lessons in higher education. The implications for teaching practice include greater use of specific praise and sensitivity to gender biases.

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Natural Rates of Teacher Approval and Disapproval in British Primary and Middle School Classrooms

Cited by 42 publications

References 5 publications

Natural Rates of Teacher Approval and Disapproval in British Secondary School Classrooms

Natural Rates of Teacher Approval and Disapproval in British Secondary School Classrooms

Teacher Praise and Feedback and Students' Perceptions of the Classroom Environment

Exploratory study of approvals and disapprovals in Australian instrumental music teaching

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