The Relation of Classroom Structure to Social Behavior, Imaginative Play, and Self-Regulation of Economically Disadvantaged Children

Engaging students in learning activities: It is not autonomy support or structure but autonomy support and structure.

“…It has also been examined in the literature on promoting students' social and cognitive development (Huston-Stein, Friedrich-Cofer, & Susman, 1977) and on implementing "structured conversations" within peer learning (O'Donnell, 2006). For those who study structure from a motivational point of view, teacher-provided structure further helps students to develop a sense of perceived control over school outcomes-that is, to develop perceived competence, an internal locus of control, mastery motivation rather than helplessness, self-efficacy, and an optimistic attributional style (Skinner, 1995;Skinner et al, 2008).…”

“…For those who study structure from a motivational point of view, teacher-provided structure further helps students to develop a sense of perceived control over school outcomes-that is, to develop perceived competence, an internal locus of control, mastery motivation rather than helplessness, self-efficacy, and an optimistic attributional style (Skinner, 1995;Skinner et al, 2008). Hence, when taken as a whole, teachers provide structure by clearly communicating expectations and directions, taking the lead during some instructional activities, providing strong guidance during the lesson, providing step-by-step directions when needed, scheduling student activities, marking the boundaries of activities and orchestrating the transitions between them, offering task-focused and personal control-enhancing feed-back, and providing consistency in the lesson (Brophy, 2006;Doyle, 2006;Huston-Stein et al, 1977;Skinner & Belmont, 1993).…”

“…These aspects of what structured teachers say and do during instruction are important because empirical research shows that students with structured teachers, compared to chaotic or laissezfaire ones, display positive educational outcomes (Brooks, 1985;Brophy, 1986Brophy, , 2006Brophy & Good, 1986;Evertson & Weinstein, 2006;Huston-Stein et al, 1977), including enhanced classroom engagement (Skinner & Belmont, 1993;Tucker et al, 2002). For instance, Skinner and Belmont (1999) conducted time-lagged analyses to show that elementary school students (Grades 3-5) showed enhanced engagement in the fall when their teachers provided highly structured learning environments in the spring.…”

Aggressive behaviour of children aged 6–11: Gender differences and their magnitude

“…Teacher behaviour has been shown to influence children's classroom behaviour, especially aggression, in that children in 'high structure' classrooms display significantly less aggression than do children in 'low structure' classrooms (Huston-Stein, Friedrick-Cofer & Susman, 1977). For this reason, we kept teaching method as constant as possible over the different classes.…”

A comparison of the ecologies of day care centers and group day care homes for 4‐year‐olds

“…There are a number of other studies in the literature on play (Barnes, 1971;Parten, 1932;Roper & Hindle, 1978;Rubin, Watson, & Jambor, 1978;Shure, 1963;Smith, 1978) and adultchild interaction in child care centers (Finkelstein, Dent, Gallacher, & Ramey, 1978;Huston-Stein, Friedrich-Cofer, & Susman, 1977;Jambor, 1975;Johnson, 1979;O'Connor, 1975;Reuter & Yunick, 1973;Rubenstein & Howes, 1979;Sheehan & Abbot, 1979;Tizard, Philps, & Plewis, 1976a, 1976b, 1976c which have examined variables similar to those used in this study. For the sake of economy, these findings will be presented in the discussion section when they provide relevant comparisons to the results of this study.…”