Motivating students to behave in socially competent ways

Theory Into Practice, Autumn, 2003 by Kathryn R. Wentzel

Teachers as Socializers of Classroom Rules and Norms

Theoretical models developed to explain how teachers promote positive student behavior are quite similar to family socialization models. For example, Noddings (1992) suggested that four aspects of teacher behavior are critical for understanding the establishment of an ethic of classroom caring: (a) modeling caring relationships with others, (b) establishing dialogues characterized by a search for common understanding, (c) providing confirmation to students that their behavior is perceived and interpreted in a positive light, and (d) providing practice and opportunities for students to care for others. Noddings' notions of dialogue and confirmation correspond closely with Baumrind's parenting dimensions of democratic communication styles and maturity demands.

Empirical findings are beginning to provide substantial support for these models. For example, perceived support and caring from teachers has been related to young adolescents' pursuit of goals to behave prosocially and responsibly (Wentzel, 1994). Moreover, in a recent study of perceived support from teachers, parents, and peers (Wentzel, 1998), perceived support from teachers was a significant and positive predictor of students' pursuit of goals to adhere to classroom rules and norms, whereas perceived support from parents and peers was not related to pursuit of these goals. Of further interest is that when asked to define caring teachers, middle school students make clear distinctions between characteristics of teachers who care and those who do not (Wentzel, 1997). Specifically, students tend to describe caring teachers as those who demonstrate democratic and egalitarian communication styles designed to elicit student participation and input, who develop expectations for student behavior and performance in light of individual differences and abilities, who model a "caring" attitude and interest in their instruction and interpersonal dealings with students, and who provide constructive rather than harsh and critical feedback. In contrast, teachers who do not care are described most often as demonstrating maladaptive communication styles (e.g., yelling, interrupting), and communicating low expectations by not providing explanations or individual help.

Subsequent work has demonstrated that students who perceive their teachers to display high levels of these caring characteristics also tend to pursue appropriate social and academic classroom goals more frequently than students who do not (Wentzel, 2002a). Specifically, middle school teachers were assessed with respect to Baumrind's (1971) parenting dimensions of control, maturity demands, democratic communication, and nurturance, as well as to their modeling of positive motivation toward learning. With regard to classroom behavior, students who perceived teachers to have high expectations for achievement (maturity demands) also reported frequent pursuit of goals to behave prosocially and responsibly. Students' perceptions of negative feedback (lack of nurturance) was the most consistent predictor of low levels of prosocial behavior and high levels of irresponsible behavior.