The behavioural approach in schools: a time for caution revisited

Abstract

This paper takes as its starting point an examination of the current status of some of the concerns that were raised in the mid-1980s about methodological problems faced by educational researchers using the behavioural approach in schools. These concerns included the measurement of agreement between observers, the interpretation of raw data extracted, the potential influences of observers and the inherent properties of research designs. Subsequently, some more wide-ranging concerns are considered, in particular the kinds of behaviour selected for treatment, the lack of analysis of what is involved in teachers' positive responses to pupils' behaviour and the relatively uninvestigated effects of teachers' negative responses. The conclusions are presented as a series of points that are listed, as far as possible, in the order in which they confront the investigator.More than 20 years ago an article was written (Harrop, 1985) discussing some of the methodological problems faced by researchers using the behavioural approach, with their associated research designs, in school classrooms. The areas of concern at that time were centred on the way in which data from investigations were recorded and processed. The 'human observer' was likened to a faulty 'cumulative recorder'. More specifically, problems were identified in:1. measuring agreement between observers;

Effects of professional development on teachers' gendered feedback patterns, students' misbehaviour and students' sense of equity: results from a one‐year quasi‐experimental study

“…Table gives an overview of the mean Kalpha's for each code for both reliability checks combined. We also present a detailed contingency table showing the levels of agreement and disagreement between the two observers for the different codes (Harrop & Swinson, ). The C, H, T, R, N and P categories were analysed as events, generating the frequency of each behaviour for each student.…”

Teacher talk directed to boys and girls and its relationship to their behaviour

“…It is also important to point out here that in addition to the need for careful definitions of behaviour observed it is important that attention is paid to the task of observation. A recent discussion of methodological difficulties, in particular those involved in measuring observer agreement and in defining behaviours to be observed, can be found in Harrop and Swinson (2007). Whilst it is relatively easy to criticise small-scale studies on methodological grounds as did Dart and Clarke (1988) and Hammersley (1990), it is more difficult to criticise the work of Jones and Dinda (2004) in the USA, who completed a metaanalysis from 32 studies in classrooms across the age range, which examined sex differences in teacher-pupil interactions.…”

Comparison of teacher talk directed to boys and girls and its relationship to their behaviour in secondary and primary schools

“…In the primary school, the vast majority of the research shows teachers interacting more with boys than with girls. Any variation in the results of investigations is likely to be a function of the methodology used, which in many cases did not include such features as careful definition of the behaviours observed, the use of two independent observers, calculations of observer agreement and evidence that observer agreement obtained exceeded chance levels (see Harrop and Swinson 2007, for further discussion of these methodological features).…”