Abstract
Since the 1960s, researchers have been demonstrating the power of teacher approval on the behaviour of students. Despite the huge amount of research in English-speaking countries the natural rates of approval and disapproval had never been investigated in Italian schools. The aims of this study were: (a) to examine the proportionality of different types of verbal feedback used by teachers; (b) to examine the relationship between teachers use of verbal feedback and the behaviour of students. A total of 314 observations in schools were conducted. As regards teacher verbal behaviour: we found that both approval and disapproval rates per minute declined and neutral verbal behaviour (instructions, expositions, explanations) increased as the age of the pupils increases. There was a clear difference between primary school and secondary school teachers.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Apter, B. (2013). PTIObs6S – Partial Time Interval Observation recording sheet for 6 Subjects, (unpublished INSET Course Materials). Wolverhampton: Wolverhampton City Council/University of Wolverhampton.
Apter, B., Arnold, C., & Swinson, J. (2010). A mass observation study of student and teacher behaviour in British primary classrooms. Educational Psychology in Practice, 26(2), 151–171.
Blair, C., & Diamond, A. (2008). Biological processes in prevention and intervention: The promotion of self-regulation as a means of preventing school failure. Development and Psychopathology, 20(03), 899–911.
Brophy, J. (1981). Teacher praise: A functional analysis. Review of Educational Research, 51(1), 5–32.
Harrop, A., & Swinson, J. (2000). Natural rates of approval and disapproval in British infant, junior and secondary classrooms. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(4), 473–483.
Heller, M. S., & White, M. A. (1975). Rates of teacher verbal approval and disapproval to higher and lower ability classes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 67(6), 796–800.
Kohn, A. (1993). Punished by rewards: The trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A’s, praise, and other bribes. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
Maag, J. W. (2001). Rewarded by punishment: Reflections on the disuse of positive reinforcement in schools. Exceptional Children, 67(2), 173–186.
Merrett, F., & Wheldall, K. (1986). Observing Pupils and Teachers In Classrooms (OPTIC): A behavioural observation schedule for use in schools. Educational Psychology, 6(1), 57–70.
Nafpaktitis, M., Mayer, G. R., & Butterworth, T. (1985). Natural rates of teacher approval and disapproval and their relation to student behavior in intermediate school classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(3), 362–367.
Ostinelli, G. (2009). Teacher education in Italy, Germany, England, Sweden and Finland. European Journal of Education, 44(2), 291–308.
Sulla, F., Perini, S., & Rollo, D. (2013). Analisi funzionale dei comportamenti di approvazione e disapprovazione nell’interazione insegnante–allievo: una rassegna [Functinal Analysis of teachers’ approval and disapproval in teacher-pupils interactions: A review]. Psicologia dell’Educazione, 7(2), 193–216.
Thomas, J. D., Presland, I. E., Grant, M. D., & Glynn, T. L. (1978). Natural rates of teacher approval and disapproval in grade-7 classrooms. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 11(1), 91–94.
Wheldall, K., & Beaman, R. (1994). An evaluation of the WINS (Working Ideas for Need Satisfaction) training package: Report submitted to the New South Wales Department of School Education, 1993. Special Education Centre, Macquarie University. Collected Original Resources in Education, 18(1), fiche 4 E01.
Wheldall, K., Houghton, S., & Merrett, F. (1989). Natural rates of teacher approval and disapproval in British secondary school classrooms. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 59(1), 38–48.
White, M. A. (1975). Natural rates of teacher approval and disapproval in the classroom. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 8(4), 367–372.
Wyatt, W. J., & Hawkins, R. P. (1987). Rates of teachers’ verbal approval and disapproval relationship to grade level, classroom activity, student behavior, and teacher characteristics. Behavior Modification, 11(1), 27–51.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sulla, F., Armenia, E., Rollo, D. (2019). Natural Rates of Teachers’ Approval and Disapproval in Italian Primary and Secondary Schools Classroom. In: Minati, G., Abram, M., Pessa, E. (eds) Systemics of Incompleteness and Quasi-Systems. Contemporary Systems Thinking. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15277-2_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15277-2_27
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15276-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15277-2
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)