Abstract
This study presents an exploratory theoretical framework that analyzes the extent by which the contexts of classroom instruction mediate the effects of instructional strategies on achievement. The study first presents the two main tasks that teachers face in classrooms-teaching, and controlling the social order. The study then elaborates on formal and informal instructional strategies that teachers use to manage these tasks. The main foci of the study is to show that the effects of these different instructional strategies on student achievements vary by grade level. The results suggest that the contexts of instruction determine the magnitude and direction of the effects of instructional strategies on achievement. Positive effects on student achievement appear when a functional congruence occurs between teachers' instructional strategies and the contexts wherein they are used. The analyses suggest that changes in the cognitive, social, and institutional contexts of classrooms may change the relative efficacy of specific instructional strategies. Consequently, researchers should pay more attention to the changes in the sociology of classrooms during students' school careers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ballantine, J.H. (1989).The Sociology of Education. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Barr, Rebecca, & Dreeben, Robert (1983).How Schools Work. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bennet, Neville (1976).Teaching Styles and Pupil Progress. London: Open Books.
Bidwell, Charles E. (1970). Students and schools: some observations on client trust in client-serving organizations. In W.R. Rosengern & M. Leftor (Eds.),Organizations and Clients. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merill, pp. 37–70.
Bidwell, Charles E. & Kasarda, John D. (1980). Conceptualizing and measuring the effects of school and schooling.American Journal of Education,88(4), 401–430.
Blyth, Alan (1988).Informal Primary Education Today. London: Falmer Press.
Bossert, Steven T. (1979).Tasks and Social Relationships in Classrooms. New York: Cambridge University Press
Bryk, Anthony S., & Raudenbush, Stephen W. (1992).Hierarchical Linear Models. Newbury Park: Sage.
Cohen, J. (1977).Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. New York: Academic Press.
Coleman, James S., Hoffer, Thomas, & Kilgore, Sally, (1982).High School Achievement. New York: Basic Books.
Darling-Hammond, Linda, Ancess, Jacqueline, & Falk, Beverly, (1995).Authentic Assessment in Action. New York: Teachers College Record.
Dewey, John (1938).Experience and Education. New York: Collier Books.
DiPrette, Thomas A. & Forristal, Jerry D. (1994). Multilevel models: methods and substance.Annual Review of Sociology,20, 331–357.
Doyle, Walter (1986). Academic work. In T.M. Tomlinson & H.J. Walberg (Eds.),Academic Work and Educational Excellence. Berkeley, CA: McCutchan, pp. 175–195.
Gaddy, Gary D. (1988). High school order and academic achievement.American Journal of Education,96(4), 496–518.
Galton, Maurice & Williamson, John (1992).Group Work in the Primary Classroom. London: Routledge.
Gammage, Philip (1988). Primary school practice beyond Plowden. In A. Blyth (Ed.),Informal Primary Education Today. London: Falmer, pp. 25–44.
Gamoran, Adam (1992). The variable effects of high school tracking.American Sociological Review,57(6), 812–828.
Goldstein, Harvey (1987).Multi-Level Models in Social and Educational Research. London: Griffin Press.
Goodlad, John (1983).A Place Called School. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ingersoll, Richard M. (1993). Loosely coupled organizations revisited.Research in the Sociology of Organizations,11, 81–112.
Kahane, R. (1988). Multicode organizations: A conceptual framework for the analysis of boarding schools.Sociology of Education,61, 211–226.
Keeves, J.P. & Sellin, N. (1988). Multilevel analysis. In J.P. Keeves (Ed.),Educational Research, Methodology, and Measurement: An International Handbook. Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 689–700.
Kerlinger, Fred N. (1958). Progressivism and traditionalism: Basic educational attitudes.School Review,66(1), 80–92.
Kidder, Tracy (1989).Among Schoolchildren. New York: Avon Books.
Kulik, Chen-Lin C. & Kulik, James A. (1982). Effects of ability grouping on secondary school students: A meta analysis of evaluation findings.American Educational Research Journal,19(3), 415–428.
Lortie, Dan C. (1975).Schoolteacher- A Sociological Study. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
McLeod, Jay (1987).Ain't no Makin' it. London: Tavistock.
Parsons, Talcot (1959). The School class as a social system: Some of its functions in American Society.Harvard Educational Review,29(4), 297–318.
Rapoport, Tammar, Yair, Gad & Kahane, Reuven, (1989). Tutorial relations-the dynamics of social contract and personal trust.Interchange,20(1), 14–26.
Raudenbush, Stephen W. & Bryk, Anthony (1986). A hierarchical model for studying school effects.Sociology of Education,59(1), 1–17.
Rosenholtz, Susan J. (1989). Workplace conditions that effect teacher quality and commitment: Implications for teacher induction programs.The Elementary School Journal,89(4), 421–439.
Shye, Shmuel (1990). Smallest space analysis. In J.P. Keeves (Ed.),Educational Research, Methodology, and Measurement: An International Handbook. Oxford: Pergamon, pp. 747–753.
Slavin, Robert E. (1985).Learning to Cooperate, Cooperating to Learn. New York: Plenum Press.
Slavin, Robert E. (1987). Ability grouping and student achievement in elementary schools: A bestevidence synthesis.Review of Educational Research,57(3), 293–339.
Stevenson, David L., Schiller, Katherin S., and Schneider, Barbara (1994). Sequences of Opportunities for Learning.Sociology of Education,67(3), 184–198.
The Times, January 26, 1996 (London-On Line Edition).
Waller, Willard (1932).The Sociology of Teaching. New York: Wiley.
Willis, Paul (1977).Learning to Labour. Hants: Saxon House.
Wood, David (1988).How Children Think and Learn. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Woods, Peter (1979).The Divided School. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Yair, Gad (1991). The indice of entitlement-three paradoxes, and empirical analysis. Notes on educational policy in the nineties,”Megamot,34(1), 5–26 (Hebrew).
Yair, Gad (1997a). Implications of within school variability: An Israeli comparative study.Assessment in Education,4(2), 225–248.
Yair, Gad (1997b). Teachers' polarisation in heterogeneous classrooms and the social distribution of achievement: An Israeli case study.Teaching and Teacher Education,13(3).
Yair, Gad & Khatab, Nabil, (1995). Changing of the guards: Teacher-student interaction in the intifada.Sociology of Education, 68(2), 99–115.
Yiping, Lou, Abrami, Philip C., Spence, John C., Poulsen, Cathryn, Chambers, Bette, & d'Appollonia Sylvia (1996). Within-class grouping: A meta-analysis.Review of Educational Research,66(4), 423–458.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This study was supported by a post-doctoral fellowship from the Fulbright Foundation and by a small research grant from The Spencer Foundation. My wholehearted appreciation is given to the support I received from the Foundations. I am especially grateful to Charles Bidwell from the University of Chicago, who encouraged me to pursue this study during my post-doctoral visit in 1994–95. Discussions with Benjamin Wright and his warm support have been more than essential. The hospitality and the academic environment at the NORC and the University of Chicago have done wonders to the fruition of ideas advanced in this study. Yechezkel Dar and Ruth Butler made suggestions to the improvement of this article. Daniel Shalem and Rivka Berman assisted with editorial as well as substantive comments. The reviewers ofSocial Psychology of Education insightfully suggested ways to improve the final version.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yair, G. Contexts as switchmen: The variable effects of formal and informal instructional strategies on student achievement. Social Psychology of Education 1, 269–295 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02339893
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02339893