Relationship between classroom social goal structures, gender, and social outcomes in Japanese elementary school children

Abstract

This study examines the interaction between gender and classroom social goal structures and the impact they have on children's prosocial behaviors and classroom adjustment. Specifically, classroom social goal structures (consisting of prosocial and compliance goal structure) are the degree to which focal social goals are presented in classrooms. Numerous previous studies have tested the gender differences in social outcomes; however, the results of such past studies have been mixed, as some detected gender differences while others did not. This suggests the existence of moderator variables. Consequently, in this research, we focused on classroom-level moderators in the relationship between gender and social outcomes. We analysed a sample of 3,609 Japanese public elementary school children from 114 classrooms, and we detected the presence of cross-level interactions and found that classroom social goal structures can promote or degrade boys' social outcomes.

Impact of Teachers' Language Expression and Message Valence when Conveying Classroom‐Compliance Instructions1

“…Since we used an experimental method in which the participants responded to hypothetical scenarios, we do not know whether these same emotional reactions would have been manifested in actual classroom situations. Similarly, although we focused on situational differences in this study, there may be teacher or classroom‐related differences in actual communication (e.g., a teacher's tendency to use assertive language), given the significant between‐classroom variance in teachers' compliance messages (Ohtani & Okada, 2018). Future studies should address these limitations through a multi‐method research design that applies behavioral experimentation and/or classroom observations.…”

“…Regarding communication, teachers emphasize achieving goals concerning classroom norms (e.g., mutual respect and classroom compliance) to facilitate smooth classroom management (Hamilton, Blumenfeld, Akoh, & Miura, 1990). Although instructional messages concerning classroom norms can facilitate classroom management, some instructional messages, such as classroom compliance (e.g., asking students to remain quiet during the class, to refrain from bad conduct, and to do their homework), act as controlling messages for children in that all children must follow (Hamilton et al, 1990; Ohtani & Okada, 2018). These can result in ineffective educational outcomes (see Schwab & Elias, 2015).…”