Componential approach to perceptions of the classroom social climate

Tim Mainhard

In educational research classroom social climate - conceived as the overall quality of social relations in class - is often mapped by student's perceptions of the relationship with their teachers. However, the complexity of interpersonal perceptions has so far not been fully acknowledged in educational studies. Interpersonal perceptions are influenced by characteristics of the perceiver as well as the characteristics and behaviour of the perceived person. Moreover, the way students in secondary schools are grouped in classes and coupled with teachers introduces complexity to climate measures.

Disregarding this complexity and thereby cofounding sources of variance in student perceptions hinders a more thorough understanding of climate measures. We pose that disentangling these sources makes it possible to better identify points of action for improvement. This project is among the first to thoroughly decompose student perceptions by employing specific datasets and applying complex multilevel analyses. More specifically, the contributions to the literature are (1) taking into account the specific multiple-membership and cross-classification structure of educational settings, (2) estimating the reciprocity between student and teacher perceptions of the climate, and (3) estimating situational effects on classroom social climate measures.

End of project

April 2013