SC~OOL :

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THE TRANSI TION FROM £LEMENTARY TO JUNIORHIGH

SC~OOL :

STUDENT BXPECTATIO NS ANDEXPERI ENCES,

by

Matild.~'Cl ue tt,B. A.(Ed.),B.A.

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AThesis submi t t e d to theSchool of GraduatE!

Studi esin partia l fulfillmentof the r!!q~iremen tB'f~rthedegree'of

Master,ofEduca tion

Departmentof EducationalFoundations Memori'aluni Versityof Newfoundland

Augus t ,1984

t.'

'St.John's

"

Newfoundland

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Thisre sear c h report.son anelementary-junior1)lgh ac~ooitransi t f on studyofninety·studentsfroma~Uburban K-6elementny school to a grad e 7-12centralhighschool.

~nthe same.geographical area.

~ By meansof a que stionnaireand student int.erviews

•• . --~. " I

'the expectation sof grads' sixstud~nts"fo.rju n i o,r,hig~

S~hoo l^were as8e~sed : ^{In a} fo110~-upstudya .,y ear la~e'r, these-same','s't ud en tswereas ke dto tell a.bouttheir

'"

. ..

^~-

^{. .}

experiences in juniorhighschool. Salientthemes of':''.

student

expe;tat~ons- an~ '~xperience8 w~re

^drawn'

f~om' tlie's~

1;VO sets of.d at aand ee ve e e j. &ignific{anttrends were \ identified. The id e n ti f i ca t io n

~f thes'e .'tr~nd8.

^{whic h :}

sen:itlZe

~s

to the studen t perspe ctive in sch oo ling, can be ,"'" \

sunvnarized as follows: , ~

lFirstly~ forecntenngjun~or h~ghsc hOOl,elementary-

I

studen~aexperi enceda hi ghlevel -: excieeaene reg a rd i n g the transition.

.

At

.

the eJ\dof the followingyear,this l

,

e vel of ex c i te men t had diminishe d eo mevh e.t , butstill remain e d

j

re l a t i v e l yhigh. This highdegree ofexcitement is~a Sica l l ~ seen as bei n g rela tedto the fe eli n g of being mature and grown

up". Early adolescentsse emto see this transitionas one 0.£

the.first steps,tnto;adul t.ho od. . ' .

.. Se c o ndly ,

gr~e

six studen: sgenera llY'expectedthe"

gradese v e n program tobe,moredifficultand dema nd i n g,,a n d at.theendof the

gra~e

"s e v e n

yea~.

^{th i s idea was.}

almoB~

^a

11

.. ... ...

.' . .

)

olderst u d e n t s.

general eoneenaua•

no~t. chil.~ren ' ~OU"9ht .tha.~ t~e a~~demi'~

^,

program.demand,eo.more.0'£them,end many were not doing.a~

r-' ,

~.\IIe11as ~he>,.'hadexpeceed to do.

Thirdly,'very,f e w' ofth e.'3'r a d e sixchildrep. in the.

".stU,dY expe;ted, -:,r we.re..l,ook~ng,f~rw~~d•.to,.chan~~ng.:frieLi.d;-:. .~shi.p pa.t~tnB ~uring't~eirgrade sevenye a r~ But,:fn effect,;..

asurprbi~glylarge numb"ercof thes'~stu"dentsdidrepo'rt belnq

~ p'art

^{of new,}

fri~~d8hiP ;rou~s'. I;lr~'~HC Chan~e~ ~iti

.. occur in

frie~d8hiP

p"l.tterns: ..

~UrthlY, whi~e ^{stil i}

^i!1elem,,:n'tary

'SChOO~', student~

^.:

generally,ex p re s sed some worry~nd concer~abbut.mov i n g. to .th'e-new';e nv i r o nmen t. Some"rep'orteo.thattheirparents'were .alaq:eelingthiswa y.

Ho~ever.· f~om 'the .g~af ; s,~v~~ , sur~ey,.

it was found that both s't;udents 'arid parents'ecneerne.as . seen by students, had incre,ased'signif{;;ant l-.The t':'c:.rn: in· _ __---.---area ~-.n.L~S-.Coll~e re___academie~e--4nf-lue-Il~f·..."-~-'-~-'l

.-_ ----c-_ . - - .- -'. ; -

These tJ.,emds.analy:ed from a'symbolicinteraction persIrectivi':"'~terebYsensi t i dnq us''t~.tJlema!1.er .·i n whi.Ch. st ud e n t s experience the transition pe r i od, ar~thendiscussed

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in rela ti onshipto implications for'teachersas well as for futu re ee e eaecn into the stude ntperBp~cti~e" ^{Suc hinsight} in t o stude nts' ''perspectivesis'seen'a s a'necessary component

·

of ·the understanding ( teachingand

~uidance

of early. adolascen ts~during"this t.rarisition.per~od.

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Tomythes ~ssupervisor,Dr.W.B.W.Hartin; I,ex t en d 91ncer~appreci ation for his,gUidan~-!'l'encourage~entand

,',i under8ta~dingdur ingthe planning,-re s~arch an~'wr i t in g of

~iS t~·'a18 .

^{'Iha v e}

e~pecially ',valued h. ~8 pr~ieSSio~,~l '

^{( :}

..' ', '" , " -. ',,' .' : . I

~';-~di1;ionan d,h:~'a.',ail~ility-b.~YOndnormalworkin~hOUrs---

to'':li ve.U,S-l atanc e to the:un~ertakin~ . , ^{/;' '\ " •. \}

- .Gratitude1salso expz-eeaedto'th e'Pri~ciPdsand"

"tead1,er~

^{'o f tJre two}

'sc~ols involve~

^in.'the

8t~d~. ~~'o ~'~t

,-

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willinglyar d uiqed the irschedulesto,accommodate this

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res ea rch. Theco ope r atio n and'enthusiasm at:st~dents. without

·wp.! ch th'la,r esear ch

\o'ou~ d. n~t b~ ~os;ibl~ ,

^.is

mo~t 'a~preciate'~·.

A(:k no wledg e ment' is madeto the Departl1lent

of

-~

.

^"

Educ a t ional

.

. Found~tionsforitstnte xe etandsu p port, and to

'.

~_--:-_ _~.tJtb""-esta~~a.r:f_t-:Memorlalun iv~rsi t~,f.frtheir' frien d li ne s s andassistanc e.

The writeri:is. in'debt ed to'Mis s',Maure en- Kent and to' .- Mrs•.D.Str ange fo r 'their"help,in.typing~themanuscript•

.

^' - " . .

A specill1~ha n)r;, sisextended,

tl?

my.~usbandFrankand

my.s,o nDonaldwh~seP4t~ence^andluppor_~;.~ ma"~e-~th+8

.resear~hbothpOssible~I\~.worthW,ll.ile. \.(

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•The,Relear~h^{Pro b l em .".•}

Data, COllec:lonand Analy d s

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· '.An.'oVe r view9f Res earch,Odent.~ion^•

TheEducational'COnte xtofthe Ele me nt a r y Sohool,•.•.' .'"',' •I... 'TheOrg ani zat i ona f in"tru ctionand Dlver!lit y ih-pu p ila' WorkDay. Student·TypesandTransition .'~perien.ce.'. .'.' .'. • ~ ••

.Tea e her Type a and Transition

Experience '. ',' •.• .'..• •• • • Interactionof

Ph~dCd

^Mdurityand

Tra n siti.o n' • •• •

-.

S~udents; con~rn. .

^{• '.. • .• • .-}

Tab leof_.COnten t•.

" SOCIOLOGIcALORIENTATIONTO

·TRANSITION FROM.ELEKENTARY'1'0JVNIOR

·HIGH.,~;UOOL_ •.~. .'. • •• .' •," • 'I'he-Soai~lQqicll.l'Or i e ? t a t i o n • • Symbol1cIntenction ; Anln t.e r- ,preta t i v eAppro a c hto'the Schoo l ,Me a n inqll andDef i n i t i On s

SUbj e c,tl~eCarellll rl • Student Caree rs'... • •• I

I

OlAPTER'I TRANSITIONFROM ELDlENTARY TO'J UNIOR' HIGfI SCHOOL: A-REVIEW OFTHE . LlTE RA'l'ORE •• • • • ••••.•• •• • ••

OIAPTERII

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--- -

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127.

127 "

145

'"

161.

,'.

.1 61 172 180

194,.

'"

198 201 20J 206,~ 20 '

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Page

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81

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92

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"9.8 lOJ 112

.vi Leavinq-one'.·School ;

· I ~:~~~:~to~r~~~a~~ .

· I i" ,

~.chet;ExpeC~Ationlll ^•

' I\ .. ^{p .} ~rellt~l Ex~Ct.Jtion~

^{: -. :}

'~.

'..E:x tra -eu r:r;ic ular Activit ie ll,'

I

. ', i end."""..' - .": - . .:

St uden t"EmGtio ns •• •• • •

\ . ' . c .. .

I~~DEN\T E~P~RIE:NcE~S ~N

^{.JUNI OR.H'I Gif}

·,S CHOOL,,: •• '.' •• .'. •• • ".• •

Ente~'.inqtheNewSchoo"l.'. .". • -\ .'

Stu~andPe : f o rJlla nc III Experiences •

j #eaChe;,Expectations • • • •

par~n\a1·~Expectatlonll• • •,"

I , ~xtr,,~~~cu1b.r

^{Ac ti vit ies .}

Friends.•\. •• •

\ Student'~tionlil ^{-:. • ••'.}

~COMPARISONOF STODENTEXPECTATI ONS AND EXPERI ENCES • ".•• • .'. •

\

Study,and!'o r fo rmanc e• • •• Tea chers • •• •• •• • • • Pa r ents•

..y . .

'v' :\Ext ra-cu..n iCU.larA~tivit~fIII^•

•.' pri e n ds'.•_.'• •"" • •• • StudentEmOtion. • •

.I ' .

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OlAP'I'ER IV .

OIAPTERV

OIAPTER III STUDENTEXPECTATIONS.FOR .JlmIOR HIGH~aJOOL• •:.' ,;• •

i;

t.

...

~----_.

- ^...

^_--:....,- _.

__

^{._ .;,.-}

{

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^{....AOIAPTER VI}

Referenc e s . .

\'

S,UMMARYAND CONCL US I ONS• Theo r etical Orie nta t io n Resear~h~tho4 • .:..: Res ea r ch.Findin g s..1; •

. : !

Theoretical Impl icati on s .

. I' .

Pe a c Hea l Implica tions. .':

Fut.~~e 'Re~earCh

^•../

i:"': " .,.

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'Appendi~'1

Appendi ~2

Grade'viElementar~ S~l:loOl Que s t i o nnair.e. . . .; ..

Gr ade VII Junior Hi gh Schoo l Ques tionnaire ...

) '

vii

Li stof Tabl e s

Pa ge

Table 1 SalientFea tu r es in El e me n t ary School as Id entifiedby,Student~ . •~ . .. 65'

~

Table 2 Least;.Enjo yableFeatu re sinEl e men tary SC;: h oo,l • . • '.'• ••'.,• • .'. . . .'. '. 76

loa"

114

, . ,

Reas on sfor Exc i te me n t About theMOv eto Ju n i or Hig h Schoo l • • • •'. • • ••'. • EXp e cted,,~9uitsof Mo veto Junior Hl q h 'j";

• Schoo l on,Rela ti ons h ip s 'with,Fri en ds .'~ 104 .StudentPercep tion s'of the-i rFr'i'ends.'

Attitud e !'!, Towa r d sttovihg to Jun iorHigh Sc hool.'• • • • .• • • •• .'. .•'. • Stude nt perceptions · of

'TeaCh~r ~ .~ ~,

."E~pe ct ati on s'i n,Jun io rHighSchool. .. •.

E~J;lected I'nvolveme~~

ⁱⁿ

·~~tra~C).li:~i~'ular

^.

'Act~vitie Bin,J u n i o r'Hi qhSCh?"~, ".• •'._.

Tab J.e4

Ta~le ~'

:) Table,6 Table 3

·Tab le7

-.

~~,

Table,8

Tabl e9.

.Ta ble10

Reasons for Bei{lg,WorriedAbo ut~he ~ve to Junio r Hi gh.School'.". . • • • . .. : Rea s on s'for BeingPleas ed,Abou t Ex pec t ed ,,,,?v e to Junio r .Hi,9 h'Sc hOOl. •. • •• •.•

§-alie n t Fea t u r esof Elem~ntary^{an dJun i o'r}

H~ghS!=h~olasIde?~if i7dl>yStudents . 118

123 12.

~bt~

¹¹

, ~~~;~Eri~o:a~l~ ~e~t~r~. i~ ~l~m~n~a~y

¹²⁹

,Tabie"h---'Stlolde n t percep t lonsof;reach e r:;.

Ex pec ta tio ns in JuniorHighSchoo l 156

~ ' . ' '.

-:-

Table 13 InvOlveme ntin Extra-Cur r i c ul a r

Act-ivit iesIn JuniorHi !]h School~. 168' "

Table

14

~8ul tsofMoveto JUJ:li orHighSchool on . Relationships,wHhFriends '..',' • •'.,• 173 T{lbl e 15 StudentPe r c eptions'of.the.irFri en ds'

AttitUd e'S,Towards Hoving to'Jun i o r High

Schoo l '. ; • •' " 177

•

- ....----1.;.- .

Table 23 Expectation sand E~ien~~s'Co n c e r n i n g· : .F r i e n d s • • • '. 0'0" " ,.~.

Table24 Sf.bdent'Excitem~nt• . Table·2 5 St.ud,entworries· , • . Table 26 St u de n t:satiSfa~cti~n^....

page

181 186

190

,1 96'

2O~

262 204

207

i

210

..

212 2~'

~ Reasons for Exci tementAboutBdlngin

JuniorHighSChool ",.-•..;:•.'. .'.• .I"

Reason~

ior

Wo rry a.boutBeing inJunior. HighS~hool. • '.,' ~.,'.'~ •• • • ~ •• .

Re",aons.t~'·Beil\9-

^{Plea'fed'p,bout Be!ng:-in}

Ju~iorHigh. S'?h.OOl...".,"', ' • ".~ •• • .Expec tationsandE~pe~i~nce8'co""c~rnin9'

S~Ud~-an.d,pe.if~~~~ee',,~")' "~^{\""':,' =.'.,.}

Expectations"of_and Experienceswi.t h.JUl'l; i o r H1gh.Sene.ol Te,aCh.e rs".'"'• •.,; .'", ••",' St~u~en~Perceptionsof'par ent s',:• • •:."

~:i~~~~~~~~~~~~~- ~~~i~i~~~::s~~c~r~i~g,~

~able:2i

Table 22 Table 20 Table.17 Table16

Table18

Table 19

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CHAPTERI

TRANSIT I ON FROMEL EMENTARY TOJUNI OR"HIG H

\SCROOL: A 'REVIEWO~ TH~<LITERAT~RE ^.

r

, .:EVe nthbugh'r~searc~er;•.wou~PfOb:ablY._a~ree~at

.

tians.~~r.!.~.~~ ~le~~n:~r!, ,:S,~hto~ -

to.•

~U.ni~r·- ~_~?,~::S;h~Ol-

^l,S.a

.sign i~i.ea nt.an dpote~ t~ a ll ydifficul t.~:tage~in~.ehU,d's

·

d~V'el~p~~~t,'

^..

~~t.li_' ,re~~ntly

^-"',

~~:;Y:, , ii tt~.~·:. rese~~Cqth&~':~ee~

^{: .'}

.

don~, o~ ·th~S .~s~c~

^{.o f}

IIchoo~{i~"e .. ~S' traris~e! ^{b, _} ]uni~r::

^..

,./

hi~'!!t s~ho,oi , dC~'U~s'.·'a:rou~~ ~t:h~- ~~e .~feveri '~~~ twe'l~~-,

^if.;

see~g" tha~ the:rapi'e:t ~'~telleC~U~l -' ^{and -} pers~;~al ·dev.el0P~llnt

.",,', assoc fated wHh',"t ha t'

~ed~d

^mi9?,tb'e

a.f~~cted b y_ t~e

.envlro~men~al

'ch!"-nge....

:Ho~ev_er-, :!I~t ali ~e~6rt_" ,t~n~ t9-

^.

·agree .: ·.Fo r..exaIJ!P:le ,,:w~i1s,t,OQ.e,(19 7 6);B~ll (~ 97 5)#_~nd' Hawt ho r n-(19 76)'.among~~hers .:'fou~d.tJ:1a t"environment~l':

•Chang~, tha t:is.'~',Cha.nqr~g'one'~hoOl·,-·.iSde~imenta~ . the' oppo sing vi'ew con tend sthat'the'e~trlistimulationprovided,".

q , . , " - -'" " - .-

f?st.ersl~~hl1d:d~ve10pmen~. _~p~o~den" .197~1'. Th~~~c.t:~. .that'ne i therview is sat is fac t o ry simplybec aus eof the

, . " I'

difficultyof ge neraliZi ng amongsuc h, awi.de var i a b ili tyOf'

•- ~ . .. . J:

o

children , andmore~8PE7~ia llY"beceuee of the"'mann~r·.in '.'

'), ".wh;i.chmost-studi~6ha ve bee ri,con~c ted••MO.ststudies.,ha~e.

'not'g i ve n,SUific.ien~attendon'tochild-r e n',sper~epti~n~^of

"

the tranllitJ..on .

.\-

L ·

^Asbac kgrounl1toth'e focusof thepresent res ea r ch

• "I ' " "•

.'o n the expecta tionsandex~eri~nce.O!:I~:_"t.6'^asth~ymOv~ ^{. ,'/}

~

,

.:

^:

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^' _',-

.. "..

^{) p'}

-,

"',I

.-

^---_._~----"-'---'---

\ !.

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....from elementarytojun i o r .high school , thi sch4 pte r eevrewe ...\ ,,;h'e literature tha t

'p@,rtai~S' eo

thattr ans i ti on . To be g in ,

an.o ve r v i e w·ofthe .reeeercno:l:' ie nt4tion isiln order.

AnOverVie W'of Re ya rchO~lentati<>n

,~" .•.

. ..

^' ::>

^.

Tran sf er frain'c l eme n taryto,'j uni o r''ti9 h ;u;:noo1,is

• . I . " .' • •; ", " ' . •

QneQf'sl::veralcr i ti cal"t r a n s i t i o.ns,i denti f i ed by.flarnblin

·'(1 9.7Si •.

:But. '~~Ch ~~Bear'ch'

^Oh

tran~fe~

^{'d o es}

.n,'O~. t~ke

^{-!'nt o}

accou~tch'ildr~n'⁸,defi ni ti o ns'orpercep ti o n·s. 'Rat her ,th ey :.

ie~~ ~o ~ocus , ~~- e~~luati,~n'~

^eitherof'

pr~grAflls ' ~i~ed

^at

ft'ci~i~ t ingt;.r a ns itio n'(Ba t ei.l~nB lHa~lin.,1978)'07 assessmen1:.pro'c'edu~es-(Run d l e ., 197e;Sumne r and Bradley,

". \\

1977 ), Othe r researche r swho hav e eke mdned eleme nta ry/j u nio r hiqh schooltrAn8,fe~have tended to examine'its structural

• '.- , • l,:>

ar r .i nge me n t s (Ne a l , 1975)'or Age of ~Ansfer'(Ni s betand .En t wia t l e , 1969)',

Sever a l_studie s. that 'have'center e'd Sin.chi1dt~n'II reacti"ons:have,investigated:rathe r specific problems such as sCh,?Ol.failure"(OAl~andGrif fi-th.1965 ),or't heproqr e s s

ofmaill.dt,;s~~dPUpiis

'(Pumfr e y and Ward, 19.77), 'I n other st u die d , pupil reactions lean towards the predictio..n.of .pathological mala:dj_,

,

ustment(OOwling',

.

1980: Nisbetand. Entwistle.1969).. 'Youn CJlflan (+978)..ho we v e r , was able'to sh~wtha.t'arronq children in transit ionthere wer e'Si K ,

. ,"

. . '" . ' ' '

.

,.IU f f ere n t,'r ea c t i o n Btyles, but th\jrewaB.litt~1I!Iattempt~oto

~"'

. -(

_ __ __ " _ . ,_ . _._.c._ -

_T^•

.

⁽

.3

define the actual perceptions ofth ech~ldrenthemselves., / - Ontil.recentlYIthen, thegeneral

proble~

school transfer'

~~s

asses!'ed'"frolll a'lim1

~e?

^{ran;e of}or i e n t ll tio na l foci. Recently,~,t,'tentibn"h a s ~eenturned to the eeua enee ' pe repeccdve

.

o•

.f

transi~iO~.

.

Af1lOrigthe most important studiesto date.'is the

J

. I

i t·

!

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.'

,

.

El~rDentarY· ·Junior.Hi9h·Tran:;it!on Stu'dYdoneby.the

F ar

West Lab·..forEdu~ationalResearch'in San Francisco. This isa

.m~jor stu~y in'sev~n VOIlJJtl~8. T~e

authors involved

In

this,major,. study'includeMergendolle'r,.atai. 1'1982).·

ncunde , at .al. (1982)",-tUtroan. atal."(J.9 S11,and Wa r d'...

et a1. 0.982)-. Ano.thero

-~'ro~p

^at"

,rese~rchers

^...

h~se

^w.orks,.have

added to o.ur understandi-n4OfSCh~l:~ran Sfe'ris Sinunons,- et·ai. '(U73,1977,197 9l,.Bl y t he .et .41: ·O.91 S) , and

,

. .

^{' . '}

Notte1man (1982). These.authorshave,~e ~ n,ccncerned abou,t .:different a:specfs

.,

^{..(" , .}o-f^..

'~Cho~l

^{.. "tranl!lfer' ~and ho,,;}

..

, : ' ,

·t.h~Y

^are'.

.

^{related" .}

,¥to ch,l!dren' ,sself-estee~: .o the rresear~h'materl.als that wi . .·

b~"tefe~'red

·to are·t1io·se .o f Dutch

a~d·~cail:-:C19·74l.

'Bro~

^{·a n d.}

Apnstro~9 (i9S~)

^,

a~d M~~sor~

^{:: n d}

~~OdS

^hPS3).'\.:.

. By wa)'

'o~,

^or g a n i zing

the '~jor ' f.inci~ng~

^{of the}

r; . .

~<o~.e'Hn".~ithth' ,r~",i~iO;~~

^to

j"un;j.o r .~i,gh~,ch901,ft,is~~,v~l\i,ent,to'd i s '..eee. . findingl!l~!lthey,relate't o six.topics•.It'shou ldlie noted '

'. ' ',~' ..I '. ." ,, •

that sptnr:.o f ~he "!,ajo~ stu~i!'1's.since th.e"yrepre:sent· . rnultilile

findingB~~

will be

ril!fer~~d

to

~h mo~e,

tHan

on~

'. , ' ,' '

.

".: ' ,

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.,...

tqpic. The..s i \he~din9,sfor th'e li terliture, -te v i e w,' ar e:

. . I ' . . .'.' : .

r. (/.

' ..

.' ., .

i I

, I

j -i'

..1 i

· r

I;

(1) th~educationa lco ntextof the~l ernenta ryschoo l; (2)

th e

organ iza tionotin s t ru c t i onanddiversityof pupi is '

"!Orkday ; (3') .~ud~nttype s and trans ition experienc e;

(4) te a c h ertyp eslind transitionexperience I (5)the .in t e rac tio nof ph ysi ca lmatu ri t.yandts-ana i t iona~

(6) student~'^{concer ns'. ., ' -}

.J

"

Th~ Edu~!t.ionai

COntext of.'the,

E:leni~ntarY "~ChOOl

^..

.

.

It is importan-tto notetha t the exper ience s'In.ebe sev e n th grade lIr,:partl ydepe~deht~upon_'theeduca~ional con te xtsof theele me nt a r y gra?e s•(e s p e c ially of.the grade sb:. year). Bl y t he, SillllllOnaandpush(1979 ) stu d i e d grade seven'

st'udent~.

^who

~d '~ me

^fromtwo

di; fe.re·n~ elelllentar~

oontexts. The

resul~'

^{a l}ong itud inalstud y of sixth

. .

grade stu d en t s goi ng in to seventhgra de ineitheran eighth

?rad~^{eop.sc hool}lJt~8 )^{or in":three}year junio k" highare repo'rtJ'd. In compa,rln9'the It-9SChoo~ ~ith'the

rc."6

.a chbol, andit s assoc i ated'juni or bigh,they exallinedfi~.areas_Of

_ social~apd psy ch ological,deve l opme :\tl (~) paren"t-peer

orien'tatioll.(2 ) participa t ionin extra curriculaacti v i ties.

"13) ear).ydatingb~haviour^{..1'( 4'} the,valUIllofdiffer~nt

person a l':tr dta and (si",t heind~viduall s S.lf,.8tee"~'^Their."

,mainques tio~ ^forconddera t i on wa~ ~~oes^{thetyp e Of'}sch~Ol Btru~t~'rea st.ude ntgoesth r o u gh,'re s,u l t"indi.ffe re n tial a!!'auntsof'cha n ge in'a ny of

t.hi""f'1V~

^are'asof soc 1a l - psycho log ical:'deve io pment's,e l ect e d,f or studY-? (Bl y t h e, S11MlO~s"andBush;1979115 1).

"

In theBlythe, e't al . study, eachstuden twas personally int e r v i ewe d for an.hour by a t rainedi~ terviewer inb?ththesixthand seventhgr a d e. The in t e rv i e'i,s were high l y8tr u c t~re dand coveredawide.ra~ g eof topics

inC~Uding

^{tbe-euud enue'} self-image, perceptionsofOt'hJ.rS ' expectations,thailllpo~tanc,eof severaldifferentpe rsonal charactex:istics,attitudes towardsschool and several b"ehavioralquestions" _p" rtof the findi n g ssuggest~d.th a t K-8 studentsbecame inc r e a singl y more positive about them-

.

. .

^{'". \}

.

^-,

selves,participated more inactivitiesand felt."less anonymous in~heirsch oo l environment. The seventh graders whochanged thei rS~~018·.andespeciaily thegi rls,'felt

·· ...les~positiveabou t themselves.'decreased.th e irpa~tici'pat~on

in activitiesandfelta highdegreeof anonymitywith their schoolenv i ronmen t .

Further, in order to assess the overall impactof the transition,on the

s~udent~ '

^{self.-:esteem, a factor}

not~d

to beof(Jo nsiderable·~i.mportance ~y.;Ii:.i e (19 74 ): Wellsand Harwell (.l 9 7 6) : Simmons,et al. (19 73),the"autho rs demonstrated tha t both maleslind female'sin theX- Bschoo l felt mor epositivelyabout themselvesin the seventhgr~de thantheyha dth e ye arbefore, Th i lfgr ow t h of self-e s t eem is notablyabsen t in thejunio r high s~hoo lst ud e n t s , sspecialiy among thegi r l s.

These findingsare supportedby si,mmons,et_a.L, (1979). in a studyofthe impact of sohoolstructure on

~eseV-es teemoflI.doiesc e n t s , th"e y demonstratadthat, in

peersstill in -the K-Bschool.

termsofself-esteem,girlswh oha d entered a newenviron- rnen t in ju niorhigh schoolare at a.disadvan tag e in comparison withboysin general an dwith'girlswho have not moved. This'1's inlinewit hth efi n d i ng s ofan earlier. study bySi~ns, etar. (1977 ). That'research concluded tha t~the combinationof school structureand the onset of adolescence wa sth e cause'of thelowe r self-es te e m in the studentsat t e n d i n g the junio r high·s c hoo l.·Also,inan even earlier study _bySip1lllO~s ,et a!.(1973)in which):h e y investigated thedisturbances-'i.n-the self-image at eecaeecence,

. \

thesameconclusionhad bee n eeeched, Thisstudy suggests thatthelowersel f-e s te e mof twelve tothirteenyear old

.

.

gi r l s'mightbe due to the sc hool environme nt ra t her.th a nthe chronoloCfi~al ageandthe life cycle. In thiss,tudyi t was found thatchildren whoha d entere d jun i or highschool appeared more disturbedalongthose linesthanth e i ; ag e

.

^. (

Oneother study shouldbe mentionedhere. Dutchand McCal l .(1974) di~an experimentina,Scottishcomprehensive sc.hOOl. In thisstudy halfthe child re.nfrom thepr i mar y schoo lsveee.transferr ed to gr a'de seven in a juni orhigh schoo l,theother halfwer e eentto anexperi me n tal

i

transi tiondepar~ent . Th e tra.n siti ondepartJllent , altho u gh separate,was operated aspartof thejun i o r highays tem . buri ng this year pupillwe reqraduallyintrodu cedto teachers fo r certainsubjects(a~tand music) ao that,th eywo ~ldbe

)

more ready.fo r th e multipleteacher st ru c t u r e thefollowi ng year. At the end ofthe firstyear,itwa s found thatthe childrenfrom the transitiondeper'timent;we r ebet~eradjusted inthe emotional and socialdomainsthantho s ewhohad not hadthi s experience. These differences were morepronounced 'in the case ofgir~8,childrenof average and,lowability and childrencomingfr om snla:llprimary schools.

TheOrganizati o n of-InB-t~uctionand Dive' r5i tyin Studen t s ' WorkDay

If one'were to aska'pare ntor aneduceeo r wha t the

,e ~ em~nta ryor jun io r highec hc oj, isl~ke, a ready descri.ption

would li kelybe givento include rooms fi l le dwi t h student s' desks an dchairs,.cha lkboa r ds anddust y ' cha lkracks,'book \ cases and

cOlO~ful b~lle~in

boar ds d;ominiloti.ng thewall s , and ,.\.

at the front ,ateacher~sde,sk in a commandingposi tion . Suchdescriptions, whi l e accurate, tap onl ythe more supe r-

"

^{ficialaspectsof theschool}milieu".

(.

For, thein Viro nment

"I

oftheschoolis muchmore thana merecompositeof physical

::::::~m::~~a:~~::~i::::~

_incUviclual.exists ,

^0:::::

whic hleads hi

^'::' ~h::

m

hdi::~kibed

·to

^{I '}

see and fe el one thi ngratherthan

an o ~he r•••,.i t stren gthenssome belle s and we a k en s other s•••i tgene ra l l y

~:~~1~~/n ~~mb~i~~:t~~ ':~~i~~~;ni ^I

co n s ists,of th,o's e co ndit i onsthatprp mote orhinde r, stimu la teor inhi bit theI

' _."",",__,"",00",0 7 ""0. l

For

(

^{; '}

. .

' .

The schoolenvironment.then. is the result ofa co mpl e xn~tworkof hUlllaninte r a c t i o n'whi c hissi9nif icant~y relatedto theor g an i z a t i on andstr uctu r e of the classroo m and1t s acti v i ti es. At the heart of thisintera ctio nare thest ud e n t •• and.because theyoccup y,such a fo cal pointI , it .i~SirRportant tolook at their'sc hool,expe rien ce s inthe

lig h t of differentinstructio~alarranqe.:aents. So me resea r ch ers"have done tbat.

Theor9anizationof instruction,.tha t is•.whether the childisinan "op en " or ,"trad~,tional"classroom•

.whethe r he spend snIOSt of his day withone teac her be i ng ta ug h t as.part of'alar g e '!.rou p,or whether a great dealof ti me is SP4 twork ingonproj~cttyPea.aiqnmen~1IinSll~ll groups.andwheth.e rheill exposedtoone or multipleteachers,

"

wil l.to... larg e ex te nt,de t erm i ne thecl a. sroomenvironment _ _and thediverai tyin· thestud~!!.t.·wock day in that it~ill

\ffe c tth.~typesof inte r a c tio n~"ichwil l~epos~sible . example, postllloil.n,...ndWeinqa rtner U969:18-19) stat ed:

.Acl....srOo..isalear n i ng'env ironme n t and thewayit isorganizedcarrie s

r~ lftb~~d~~. o~h:h~;i~~~~iec~~~~n~~

any learning'exper ience is,the method~

~~c~~~e.st;hroughWhic,h ths learning.,

Astudyby Rounds , etar, (1982) [ocus e e, on, the organization ofin,struction inele men ta ryand jun~orhi 9it- schools dur ingthetran s i ti o n perfad. It h the ir cont en tiontha~informatiOn regar d i n g the typesof

,st r uc t ure s studentsexpe ~iencein el eme n,taryschools 'sh ou ld prove hel pf ul in'plan ni ng foran d carryi ngout"junio r hi gh school transitions. They wrote:

'Th e ways inwWich classroo ms'are st ructu re d ec.a:hiev~somesemble nc y • of or de r amo n g~nd iv 1 d u a l s a nd.to I•.1

-

~f~~;~~~ew~~~o:~~~=~;~t~~~luence

^t"

..ach~ev,ement, friendshi p pa tte r n s, etc. (Round s , e

.. .

ta1.,1-982

.r"

13)

.

Inthe Roun ds, etal•.~y ,,is,suessuc h as the-tYpe s of responsibil itiess:-u dent swere ~xpectedto.ass umewi th in·

-

^.

theeleme n t aryschool andthe numbe r of differe n t gr o u ps in whic h th€y we r e requiredto function inanygive nachooI da y were of partic u l arint eres t,sin ce ju nior hi ghsch oo l pro g rams may be"expe c c e d to req uir estudentsto workwithseve ral teac;:he rs !J.c r o ss a school da y , each'o fwhom may utili ze a differe~t'a c tivi tyst r ucture. Dat a collecti on for th i s .occurred in two phases. Fi r st , st uden tsand t.e e c he x e were

obse rved inthe six t h,gra decla s s e sin May of that ye ar-,

•Wri t te n repo rts,were ma deof stude n t,:",te ac herinte r actio n.

Sec ond, stud entswere,alsointervi e we d duringthe seventh gra deand ob se z-vedinea~lYOctoberand No vember. Atea c h ti me als o11studentinterv i ~wswe re" con du cted.

Withrega r dto the org aniz a tion ofin struction'the authors feelthat thestu den t s trans i tio ncan bevi ewed from at lea s t two el e men ta r y dimensions. They are, multiple se a c nereand multiple struct u r es.,eIl'h e sixthgra de activi t y structures aredescribedascomplex and diverse(Round s , et al.; 19 82,48 ). Acrossany given day in the sixthgrade

(1

10

ClllSSlioom, reqardlessof whether assignedto an~ (c l us t e r) or selfcontainedarrangement, si~~h'grade

students were required'tounde ~s tand ~ndfunction suc c e aa - / fully in several differentgro upingarrangements, with

. .

responsibilityforcO~pletion'o f t h eir work,aqd in some instances,in collaborativegroup project endeavors. The resultsof this study showed,tha tthe structu!esof theaixt~

gradecla5Broo~~remoredive rs if ied,required the student s

t.,:

respond',t o a Wider range of instructionaldemandsand place~greater respo nsib i li t y for designingandca rry i ng out their.learningactivities than the seven thgni.de organizational str uc t u r e. Thedivenity'o f thestud e n t s' work day withinthe two structureswas !'Juite.different.

Also, according toRounds, et at• (1982: 52 ),.this di ve ro i.o;y'in eeceenee'

~'k

^{day dudng}\ :a:" ti o n

~

^as d"ectli related to theactivity structure. Sixt grade expe ri.ences,J with diverseactivity structuresacross subject areas, C-Z.

promot~dsuccessin transitionwhereasplacement in sixth grade.a rr a n g~ e ntstha:t required working wi th dif ferent.

teache rs,but not necessarily differentactivities,did not seem to promote success in transition. In line withthese findings ,datapresentedbyw'a r d , ee-ai.'( 9 8 2 ) euqqeaeed that students tendedto function dif'ferentlyin their various classrooms and this seemed,in part, to berelated tothe structurethete a ch e rha dcre'll.t~d .^.Bossart(197 8 : 3) supportsthis idea ".•• the structure and methods used to tr ans mi t the content of the curriculumandtofa cili t a t e

11

the deve Icpreene of requiredskills areal so impo r t an t-.

Bec ke r,et 41. (19681 found, and as verifiedin the studies by ROundsan d Ward,students'8l1:perience.·.•re vastly ' \ dif f ere n t

depend~9upon

the interactiona l enviroruaentand that

thl~~re~ce

ⁱⁿenv i ro l\lllen t is a cqlcia l eleme nt inthe's uc c e s s ful trans ition,o fch i l d r en'to juniorhigh .schoo l.

.

. .

Afur ther poiJ'!t that needs to beconside r e d in relatt o'i!.to

'd1fJere~~

^Ipstr uc t 19n a1,s e t t in gs15

. th~

^{amoun t}

ofint;e rac tion~~ittedamong'stu4en tlil andth~amountof

~operllltionwi t h othe rs that is involved. Interactionand cooperatio n.a sre q u i r e dby certain forms of division of labo ur.we r e ft.u~iedby SalvinU9lJO).GrUlllp (1980)And Johnso n'a nd Joh nson (19 7 41. Allof these studies havenoted increasedstudent .otivation. increasedaltru~ sll1,and lllOre po~itiveatt it.udeatowards lea r n i n g instudentswhoengage incoo pe rat ive group wOrk.

r-~

. '

ASwa , discuss ed earl i er , i t wasnot th e diversity

fJ'

of teachers(i nth·e·open~se t tin g ) butthe d.i:ve r sityof activitystr~ctureslin theself-contai~ed.~etti n91 that ..tendedto:> prolllOtebe tterad julitme ntin gradeseve: n. CQntra ry

';0thesefin d i ng s,MCPilrtla~d ,Eps tein~ndMcDill (19 72) foundthatthe~~ rom^{open cl.ssroomset t}i ngs ad ju ste d tohighSChoo

.,

l better thanstude nts from selfcontefn ed sett ing s. Thiswas mainly because they ha dalre ady. experie nc ed multipleteacher~.as wellas mor e expe r.tencee in group sett ing s. Inthef~tudyby Rounds,e'tal.(1982)

12

div ers i tyin the structureand acti vityexperiences wasnot contingen tupon their beingin an "open"setting.

Student NTYpes·andTr an s i ti o n Experience

Probably.One of the most comprehensive studies of student types, as it relatesto theirtrans~tionexperience in jun i o r Iiigh scncoa ,is' t.hat conducted by Ward.eta~.

,(1,982)wh i ch was'brieflyr~erredto earlier. ~thh study an a~temptwas mll.delo ca eeqc r Lae studentsby. "ty~eft based on informa tio n qiven'by the sixthgr a d e teachers. "X.he data base for thiss tudy alsoinclUdedstudentinterviews as well 11.5 case descriptionsfo r twenty-four,'target st ud e n t s wh o were followed frOmtheir sixthgrade classes in",

element~ry

^{to th,eir}seventh grade classes in junior

~~9h

school. Students ....ere placed into categories: (1 )suc c e s s students :..: ess ential lytask. orientedandAc a C3. e mi c a l l y suocessful; (2) sooialstudents -more person than task:

orien·ted, .(3)

~hant9m

^{students -}

neither~

^'no r"heard;

I

(41 dependentstudents- th e cl ingingvines of the classroom, al ways lookingfor helpl (5) alielllate"students - the disadvantagedandreluctantan~ (6)isolate students - seldominteractswithother~.. Raving done thi stheauthors tried to relatest~dehtadjustmentat theju nior hi g h school ,tostudent type.

'rh e key ques tions.be i ng asked in this study'are:

How do differe n tst't;de nt

"typ~S"

^{respond't o and}

part1ci~e

/

13

,

inju n io r highschoo l? DO students re s p o nddi f f e r ent ly in dif f ere nt situa t io ns? Ar ethesediffer ences ,ifany"! rela tedto the success of stuq.ents·tra n s ition,~oju n i o r high school? Datarepo rted her esuggested. that diff e r e nt "t ypes "

~~_~Udents. te~d .

^tobeh:vedi"fferently'indiffe rent

CIU$-,~

~~.

^{This wssseen.t o,}

'b e

pa r tl y there s ult ofthe" . structuresvhi.chteacher6.~~dcreated . More.i.rl'fp.or t an tly.

there,was a si.qnifi cantreLat.LonahLp~etween,thestudent -types'an d the eear e e to which students ad:l~sted.-to·or. enjoyedtheir.seventhgrade year. ;For example.Ward-and his co lle aguesreported t:hat~andaocial"s :t~dentshad

an"e a s y time in grade seven. .~studentshad a mor e

dif f i cul t time, but mosts.d j u s t ed. ~ stude~ts generallywe r e unsuccessful. Dependentand isolate.s tudent s weresueceeerur onlywhe ngi v e n thepre se n ce of cer tain ' ins t ructio n al features. that.is,availabilityof teachers or othen to provideassistance or feedback ,clarity of instruc t i o n andexp.:~tat.ionS'". and maint ena nce ofareasonabl~.

work environmentthat al lo wed some freedom.

It 1e cl e a r that studentswho exhibitdependent,.

isolateor ph~ntom char a cte r1~tlcs in gr adesevenrequire ins tru c t i o n a l settings in which teachers are acccsedbleto students,establish an d enforceclassroomrules andnorms that. allow somes.t.ude nt. int e ra~tion•.foc u s.ontheinte res t s and ne eds of students.rather than coverage ofsubj e ct..matter

a~dare'cl e a r in their explanation-of ccrreeneand procedures.

I I

^I

J I _\

cD

They arethe st ude n t s whoare most vulne

.

rabl e^.-Lf,theyare p~~cedin an in~truct1onalsettinginwhichthe rule,sys t em is rigid,theeeecner is uncl earand/or in a c c e s s i b l e~tld . not under st:1and l ng. Socialand Ilu'ccessstudentsmak e

, . ,

.

eucceesnn,tr a ns'i t i o ns..,'re ga r dl e s s'oftheclassesto "whi ch..

the.,\'·~~e_4Ss1gned. ^{AHena t.estudentslIeen\ to}b~^{la(g ely,} cneccceeet uj,1'1,0matte~"whi chinBtruct~ona l~f~~turesare pr:sen'ti.~ .the~l as B . : . , " ~:.:

. Another study r'eLe van t; toourunderstandi~""""~ • studenttype andtr a ns f e.r 18 thatof 'iounqman''(197 8)• .ril.

.

^.

an att emp:tounde~ st~nd^{the n,a t ur e}

ee

R1divid~al r~acUons to scnccrtra ns fer, two, samples comp.ri,si ng-theintakesoJ three rural anc:..~ree'ed.tysc hools were ee e e esed on~ . selectionof.in't e l.li genc e , personal'ity,-s err-ecacepeand attituqe.measures~before.and after'tr an" f e r. The high .a b i li ty studen tswere placedin threec~teqOries\

(1)academic; Cl)disenchanted;and {"} jcapabl e . Three categories werealso used f? r10 \0'abilitystu de n t s:.

(lloontented;(2) disinteres;~edland'(3) worried.

Ananalysisof the fin ding s slvIt'ed. thatthe.two academicp~f ile9 (r ur a l and,city)areve r y 'simil'arwith the group characterist icsfilling·the traditionalacad.emit patter nofhighabi lityperforrnance,fdgl\motivat-iona.ndlow a~:dety . Transi tionisob v:1ou9Ilynot apr oble m for' t·hein-.

Thedis e ncha n t edgroup di s p layspoor attitudesto secondary .\ school , poor academic.s elf-co nc e ptandIIlOt ivation , but'they

15

displaYl moderatelyhighacadem icperf orma nce. Anxiety.

.scores are average. Apartfromthe rela tive ly high performance of the ca pable-'g roup,it s mo ststpl k i ng featurell are'lowpersonal ity an dsocial.sel f- conc ept an d~nly talr attitl,i~ardssecondary s.cho o l. Mo,s tofthi s group'was

'j . ' . . . . i

from'theru:r~l'8amp~~sandin bot htherura~an d urba n ' .

~amples, most were boys.

\ ! _,

i

t·~ .

} .

Amo ~gthel? w abi l i tygroup thecontentedha v e,a favourablereactiont~schoo l•.Thei r b.elOW . ave rl g e in te l ligence ,is cotnbinedwith

lgoodac ade~ icperforma nce, abo ....e average.mo ti v ati onand a fairlygo6d selfccn ce pt; , The disinteres.te.dshow

l~W abil~y

^and

~~hiev~ent

'c o mbi ned

j I I

I I tran s f er: Iilspec'ia ll y withthel'ci,t y grOJ,lp.·For the'wo~ried group,althbugh $e ir in'te l1ectua l\abi,l i ty

!..!'

similar to th~prev i ousgroup,thesyndrome o,f hi g h 4mde tyand low seU ccncepeidelntYies the~as.;,ee p a r e ce and,dis'turhin9 . 9roUP

lor

whom trans i tionis li~eJ.ytobeve r¥, difficu l t.

Itseems that if one is'trYin~to,!OclIte'ar ell sof ecnbeen J,nBcho~ltran s i t ion ,.~eWOrri e dChiidr!!~to ge t her with thed1senchant~dwo ul d'prob ablyprese ntmajorprobl e ms.·: .:.

'J:ht:;fo rmerwh.O alreadye~rerience low se1f- e s teem.andhi gh anxiety wi l lli k elydeterio rat eafter't r ans fe r4 Th i scoulCl

. . ^.

cau s e .e r i o u 8 mala!! jus tme nt s., Thedisenchlln~edYOUIil,gste rs , rep r e's e n t i ngII.'group with.lllOder atelYhigh abi litybut ....:....

.tendencyfor~tivat1onlindlIt t i t u de todeteriorat~aft'llr {' withaverageor bel owave r ag e mot i va t i o n. There1saJ>•• (

'

. .

', :

",_._, ~ .--_.',.,

"

', '''-,

^,

teache ;s ' pcrso~ality ^{tra itsor} "types~".

., ,

.

The importa n t . 17

i~te rac~ion?-lf~a tu:r::e sat t

7ib

^{u t ed. to}teache rs by stud.en ts we re : - (ar acc essibili t y ; (bl'cl a ri t yof expl a n a tion ; (c)"dng

cdn~ce~n~d a~~t' a~d

in t e rest ed in

'student~

^{'a s',}

,.ih~ividual s ;and ' (d) being"a ble to use dfsc Ipj.Lne

str~te9ies ,'w~ich, f~cilitated 'prod;~tive stude~i

parHc -"

. :~::~;r~~·jS~;2:5:;;o" .

st ru cture s appe a r s.·t o: be,.re la,t~d1;0 ?t ud-entdiscontent..an~,

un~.uccessfo.l_t.ra~s,ition•..'..~. '~nalysis·'of\t~de;n.t"t)Pin.iQll~

's 'lD.m

tha t tea ch e-racc.~~sl~.i~~~Y:,and.a t te n t i o n',to',st~de~t..' interest.were most" salien t.,, . '

An6ther

-¥pe~t··of

^{te aching}

~~'sea;cn

^appliesto

~he

f~ndin9srep.o rte dby'Ro~nd·',;·et;801.'.As ' not ed·,bYDayle (1979 ), ,and

Evert~on ( 19~O )

·t e a cae; S:b !3ha;i Our',ma y

b~

sh ape d more

· bY ,

the'~cti~itystru~ture th~n

b y'

thenlieQ.~^{Q'f the}9tudent~':,

In 'the .Rouno~.;'et , ~l.

^{(19,82 )}

s,~UdY s~mQ

^t.eachez;;

w~re- ~ictims

,',Of

:~e·i.~ ^c.;.wn .s.t~.ct~r:.s:

^that

is . '~ th~tructure-_t~ey .:reate~,

·pr~ve·ntedt!,ei.rbeha.ving,,~n'~ay~.c o n ducive~o~stude~t,' sat isfa ct i~ n ,.Several'of the;t e ac h e f s Ln.the Rounds, et801.

( ¢9 8~ )

^{,s t Ud,y}

ev.idenc~d ~ i.S , ~h~ra~teri~~·1.c:

^•

.Ano,the r,i nte res ting andveryrecentstudywhichhas

'\

.

-, , " .

.

impor t a nt impl,ic.atiO~8for th;.s.:~eais :=h&.t.dcn e by .Me r gendoll,e r . et a!. (1982)'. The abi:hor~·ccnduceed6p"en_

• .. • . , 'lo- . ' .. • ' •

ended inter,viewswithtwen.t y- t wo9~ ad eseven stu de nt s.~ina

16

inferiprperformanc e'w~llli k elyexperiencea deterioration

.on transfer ofboth attl.tude and mot ivation•.

The sixstuden.t typ'esdescribed'h~r~,aswe ll as those of theWe,rd, et al'. (l982)study,notonl yve ri.f¥, _ thatthcr~^ar'esubstan~ i aldiffe.ren,ces, inpatternsof

. ' .

adjustme nt.after tran s f e r , butpoi n t out.theirnP9r~ll.nce

of,s t u d ent "t~es~when consideri ngthetr a n siti o n

c:x:p~r~enc~.:

'!'his suggests th a t;'

the " M nsi t ion experi~nce;

~~ven

^{thouqhaft,ected}

by

^many

f8:~~ors, i~p:rtlY 'depend~nt

^on"

'1;he,c h i lci(on._~i.speJ;"s~nalitY :,and,h i s.l e ve i of compe cenc e

. -

Teacher TyPesandTransition Elf.p;-rience ----l.thas alreadybeenpointedoutthat._tr a n s i tion

. . . ... C'

experiences'cannot be truly eva l ua t e dwitho utlook ing atthe ..'. '.

~t~dent ·t~eB~ Wh~

^have,these

' ~~peri~nceB. N~i~h~r c~n'

^the'

.trans i t i o J;l experiencebeevaluated.without.conside:r:lngthe

~eaCher·t y p e s · who,'to'a largede~ree . ~rerespons ible fo r theoiga~ization

.

of chose

.

's tude nt experiences

.

:

The studybyl\o~nds;et al:,(l982)~to wl'l.!c;;hwe re f sr r e d·e ar li e r . foundth~tat the,eeveneh grade'le ve l the' activi ttr''s t r u c w r e s'util~zed w~remore'8:1~'kethand~fferent;

.

Fo r exempfe, the r e wa s ~ rewh.ol ~c.l assteachingand less :..

· 9.~'oU.P r:

',th a n a,t,,t.h B, grade"lii X',

l:,~~~. Nonethe~e~s~ '90~

studen ts'ha dms r~ e dlydifferentle a rn i ngex pe ri e n ce s compared wr.th:others. The ',authorsStl!"

',thi~ ~artlY 'as a~

aspect,'of t4e

\

1

i i 'j

1

I

I'

... _{. 18}

single school in November. Theeechild re n hastrans~erred fro m~^K-6'a.cho o l in Septembe r . Ithadbeenfou ndin an e~rlie~st u dyin~hisseri es tha t whenchildrenwere asked to des c ri betheir classroomexperiencesth e y automa t ically descr i bed their'teach~r$ . .Mergendoller.and~i s ool ~ eague5, ina.~k ingabQut teachene',exp e c t.e d toget in forma t i o n'about clas s r o o m'l ife generally~:."

.More speci~icaliy•.thi.s studywas?esig~~dtofLnd out howseventhgraders saw'their eeecnera, St ude ntsI

responses werean~ly zedacc6 td1ngto the meanings'they gave

.

^{' .' ""}

to_the teachertype st-mea~ teacher,_hardeeecnee,easy te~chert-goo d teache r,stri~tteacq.er. boring te a c her . fun tea;~:r^{andnic eteac he,r.} These eigh t fre q u e n t l yus e d -d~s'criptionswe r e~s.edin openended,interviewsand they were

4s k e 4 todescribewhat'ame~n.hard.'e t c:. teacherwas like, Th e study has revetl ledmany important''andin t e r e s ti ng fi1\dings :egarding, "the

'~ftects ~at. teachl!tr

^{type can}

.

^haveon'the

transitio nof students,'"For most studen~sthe characteristf"c&

otthese eeachere deff"ne theqU~lity'o f.th,e irclassroom

,exp~rience s , Other factors.suchas

the

nature of the~

assigne dwork orinstructio~alorganizationwere Been as.

r,esultlngfrom thesetea ch e r

character.:l.sti~s

ratherth a nas.

"a'separate

fe ~ature

^o'f

·Bt~dent

^experdeneea (Mergendoller,

et al.. 1982:65)•

• Studen temphasis.onthe characteristicsofdifferent tea,charswou.ld s;em toreflec t'a o c u r a t el ytheteacher 's

. \

"

signific a n c eof defini ng thequali tyof students'clas s room lives. Tbe majorthe mes ",tlic h weredrawn from students' COlllmentsshowthllltteachers are seen a. behavio r altra i ne r s, ene eree ineee and friend S, rather th an in t e llect ualauthor iti es VithS;meth inq"worthWh ile"to say. Referrin g to specific tl7ac he r ty pe s,"mean", "har d",~rid"stri ct"tea c her s made ..' stu de n ts do more work, "easy" teac.hers , le s swork. Te achers ..canbe"nice".IIInd"fun" if theydo not work.studentstoo

har d ,an dthis in turnadds tothe'e n j o ymen t ofthe

transitio nex pe r i enc e . Bloc k.(1981) aLec found that

stobd ents ;

_pref e r tholllecl a sse s which dono t de mand great eff o r t•.The charac ter istics of mean teachers

as , U~9

wou ld.se:mto.

followasa consequenceof the instruc tional.mana ge r i a l and di-s c i pli n arypractices which studen tsdes c ci~eas unjust and arbi t ra ry exerc is esofpowe r. -Good-,-fun-, and -nic e- teacher sar e caring. Insuch clas s e sstude n ts seemee app r eciatebeing givena littl e freedOllee-eere s pons iblefor theirwork, tol'asso c ia te withthe ir: peers andto feelthat the teac hercare dabou t them.

Wit hre ga rd tothe amount of free do mtheywere permitted andthedegree to.,Which theteac herlimited,t~i~

fre e dOm, i t

was

found that studentsspo kepositivel yabo~t te a ch e rs,whoen cou ra g e dmo ve ment and selfexpre s sion. This alsoincrea8e~'^{stu.dentenjoym e ntof and}commitment.'to,..the work.they were doing'(Herge ndoller , at al., 198 2 :3JJ.

Fur t he r, thesestudentsreportedthat th ey exp e r i e n cedbo th

20

engag e me ntand enjoyaent inthe cbsses

?f

te ach e rs~ho provid ed for self manllqem.ent. Foroneth ing , such classes alloved moreopportunitytotillkwithfri e nd s andthus providedsomesatisfactio n fo rthe ne e d of pe e rroeu eed:• int e r r elationsconsidered byIllOst developmental ps y ch o logists to beamajor adolesce nt moti va t ion. Resear c h hasals o shown tha t illneed fo rauto nomou s se l f exploratio~generally manifes ts.i t s e lf durl nqadolescenceand finds express ionin defian t,st ubbo rn and selfabs o rte dbehavi o ur . Mergendol~e r andhiscolleagues-(1992:40 ).ft.s pe ct that the initia l strivingsof thaimotivation might

b e

behind the in t e n s i t y withwhic h st uden t s criticized thelIlOr~cons t rai n i ng teachers . Fo r thos ~ boy~and l{Jirlswho feelillpowerfulurg e toexpre s s thems e l v e slindto man aq e theirown affairs , denial of theright t

.

o sharpen a pencilis mor e than^.asilly inconvenie nce;itisan affront totheirevo lv i ngst atu sas in d ividualscompet e nt to mana qetheir

r: ...

^{ffairs .}

. Insum,stude n t s lIeemed tobe ..."are of the need for awell run cIa••,were willingtodo ... reasonablealllOunt of work ,but expected...?dweremuch happjerwithte a chers.who werereasonab l e,understandingand ca r ing about them·. 'I'here islittl e doubt that·S~ChteAcherswouldimprovethe tr.a n s it i o n perio dfromthest ud ents 'point ofview.

Everha rt(1979) con du cteda stud y~n""hich he attemptedtoun de rs t a ndthe fabric of meaningsh are d by teach e rs and pupUs. seveeejofhis find i ng s correspond

-:-:---,-__L

\ ,

21

I · ,

wi th thoseof thesestud i e s. Fi r s.t , the studen tsspoke favo u r abl y and accee posi t i v e l y towardsteachers

"!t

commu ni c a t e d wellwith students, treated themfai rly,and wi th respect.and tr us t e dth em tocompleteworkon thei r

,... .

own. Se c o n d l y.studentsexpectedto do thewo r k assigned.

tort.hem,butfel tth iscouldbeaccomp l isliedwith eeme degree of enjoyment . Students,in evaluating th e i r teachers, basicallyconcentratedOn personalre l a t i o nsh i ps between the te a c h e r and themselves (Everha rt,19 7 9 : 156).

It does seem, th e n , accor&ing'to th e s e authors,that teache rsareable to provide adolescents'wi t h a positive

.

experienceingra d eseV':Inwhenthe y adoptst rategieswh i c h inc ludea reasona ble~unt^{of schooiworkcoupledwi th some} studen tfree domfor sel f expre ssionand decision making. As pointe d out earlie r,studentsputgreat emphasisonth e social sideof schooling. This necessitatestha:tt~acher's showinterest in students.as personsan dta ke timeto be conc ernedabout thei r in d i v i d ual andsocial needs.

Inte r a c tionofph y s ical Mat u rityand Trans ition

A number-of investigat ions'ne ve proposed that cni1d ren's tra nsi t i ons fromelementa ryto junior high

~hOOI

have.si'g'ni fi cance be yo nd envif;'nmentalcha nge. Among ot hers.

Hambu r g{19741 . Simmons,at al. (l973.1977,1979 ),Notte lman (1982),Dowlin\J (1980).and Blythe, ee a1. (19 7 8 ) have, stressed the interac tion ofphys i cal maturityand environmental

aa

change. These writershavepropo s e d.thatin.our society.

which defin esadolescencemore in termsof culturalrather

- - .

than bi o log icalevents , thetrans itio n from elementary sc hoo l to juni orhi gh school has becomea.conven ient de ve l o pmen t a llIIa r k er fo r chil dhood

anfa

^{c Ie ecence. Thus,}

itintroducesmajorchanges in t ochi l d r e 1slives. On ce in juniorhighsch ool, it is expectedth will ass umethe social role ofadolescenceand confor to demandSfo r increased academic and social

co~peten

^{e. bothinsideand}

outside

of

school.

At thisperiod inch i ld r e n ' s lives, biological chanqes play an importantrole. SlIch biologi.calchanges begin to affect children, buttheir onset andra t e vary widely,accordin~toindividuallyset~logicalclocks. Il:- islikely, therefore.that suchdevelo~ntwill be less uniform thanthe cul turallysynchronj,zedi-~ran8i tionPfriOd. Therefore, the impactof echccj,transition isli k e l y to be greater for pubescent. children who must cope with their changingbodies and theirdevelopingsexuality in addition tothe demands of their new physica l.and social environment. Accordingto Nottelman (1.982: 4)-'"Transition,f ro m el e me n t a r y tojun i o r highschool represents a sharp discont·inuity .in chil(lren'09,lives because i t occux:s dur:ing

this,s e n s i t i v e period,ofdevelopment.. a time of jplPortant

biOlogical changes". Pubertybegins, for girls,'on the average,about a year to a year and ~half before i t begins

,,' ,-..

23

for boyswhichme an s that mo regirlsar eli ke l ytobe und ergoingpuberta lch an gesas they ar emak i ngthechange fromelementaryto junior highSchool. It fol lows that 'I boy s Shou l dbe les slikely th an girlsto experienceshar p

discon t i nui t y . Research find i n gs supportthispos i ti on.

simmOnsand herco lle ag u e s (1 9 77)show tha t trans iti o nto ju ni o r high school ismoredi f f icu l t th a n latertra nsitio n

,t o secondary.sc hoo l ,lindth at , indeed ,itismoredi f fic ult

for girls,especial~yea r l ymatu r inggi r ls.

OOwling(1980) didast udyofte n andelevenyear aIds·in their·first year ofju n i or high school to determine ge ne ra l adjustll'lerit toschoo l and behavioralch an ges. I t was found thatthemoredr 4lllati cch a n gesoccurredinthe fi r s tyearof tra n sfer . Theauthorpointed out tha.tth is mi ghthavebeen ca us e d pr imaril yby thetra umaticand st im ula t i ng ef fect softran sfer,but iswa$moreli k el y

"'--partly due to thech a n ges takingplace in the childrenea a

resul tof the onset ofpuber ty. Obviously, in t e rll cti o n a l combina tionsof bothwould apply.

Nottelman (1982 ),in a study to clar ifythe complica ted re la t i o n s h i p'b e t we e n the onsetof pubertyand th etr a n si t i onfromel e me n t a ry toju nio r high school , had

r~ .

.

child r.e :rat:/themselvesonthree domains: (a).their cognitive-competenc~inacademics: (b) theirsocial competencein peer relationships : (eltheir~hysical compe tenceinsports ,etc•• The y were alsoasked to rate

\

I

I

! \

J

l:

"

the lllseive s ongen eral competence wnich represe lltsi!lee ea ure ofselfeaeeea. Teo\chers alsoratedthe childre n. These scaleswen! admi n is t ered threetime s : Ca ) prior to transi tio~(b)ten weeksafter trans i tion : and Ie)atthe endOfihtlgrad e seve nyear. In analy zingtheres u lt s she found that bOyBtendedtorate themselves more~. i t ivelY,\__,~

than thei,rte achersdid.9;'r19consi stentl yrat e d them-.

selves lel8positively tha nth~ireeecxera -ruo;e dr amat i c a lly ongeneralcompetence andSEllf'esteem.

General ly,boysover-e.timllte~andgirlsunderestima t e d thems el v es . The s e.fi nd i n gs are si mil a r toother especiall y tho s eofSill1lllOns eti!l1~ (19131 andBlythe,eta1. (19 78 ) . Furt he ranalys e ssh owed thatmor eeeeureboys"and les smature gi r ls sawthe ma el ve s loSmor e compet entinacademi cmat ters thanthe ircounterp arts. Inphys ic al IUt u r it y thisds o app li e d. In thenon~t ransientgroup theopposit e wasfound.

Less ma t u re boy sandIllOr emat ur e gi rl s rlote themsel vesas quite high in .ph ya i c a lcompetence, Alao, inthenon- tran sient grou p.les8llIat u r egir lswe r e'lowe r thanIIOr e ma t u r eqirls•

.In

s~in. .

^{th,8f!', a}transition'eeL was ev i d ent in' theirpe rce p t i on . of their phy s i caland(locia~compe te nce, whicharclikely

to

be most cruc ia l forsuccess f u l pee r relation ships and consequent lyimportanttortheir ge ne rb.l adjustmentin school a.well.~8outsideot sch ool. These fi n d i ng s add suppor tto those ofSimmo n . and ll.srcolleaques

I

J I

^I

---_.~:

25

(1977 , 19 7 9) an d Bl y t he, ee a1. (1978). (19 79 :28)commen t ed:

,..'-'

{ .

Si mmons , ~tei•

Thel ife sty l enec e ssarily presen ts individuals wi th seve ralmaj.or role tran s ! tions ,someofwhich coincid e with perio dsofsigni,f" i ca nt physical cha n g es. The \flOvell'lent jtito ea rl y adolesc en c e is one,such rore., transition .

As are s u l t ofhe rstudy ¢he pointedout that apparen ti,1 the.'ha n9< fromth erolj o f a ,h11'to that ofan ear, f adolescentis more,

st~SfUl

for girls thfJ.n boys and

it

is ', .par ti cul arl y

s t~l

^{if it.coincideswithamajor'environ£'}

menta l ' disc:ont1nuityandifthe girl has notmast"eredor

.

-

excelled atthe tasks of childhood. S~on to,say that pr i o rvuln erabi l ity re nde r s.t h echi~di~.scapable of making

thi s.t r a n sit i o nwi th o u t damageto the self.-e~teem.

Accordingto Simmons,at ar• (1 9 70) theexactreason ....hygi r l s aremore vu l n era ble isnot clear. But, as Nott elman sa idea rl i e r it is probablydue to 1;hefa o t that girls are ote'toone and ah~lfyears aheadof boys in maturityand,at th e transitiOn to juniorhi g h school,,bo y s have notrea l l y entered. pube r t y. Itis probably difficult forgi r ls tocope....ith sever";l majorchangessilllul taneously. .Th'combinationof environmentaldiscontinuities, pubertal

changes'andnewsocialb~h~viorsmay eng e n d e r stressJmor'e especially,adoptingnew·socialand sexualbehev fof'elIlay be stressf ulfor those gi rl s who s e physical maturityis in ad v a nc e ofth e iJ :l..e mot i onal develOPment.

~ 26

Stud"en ts 'Concerns

In a major studyby Mitman, et al. (1981)an att empt wa s.ma de to investigatestude nts ' perception s ofthe junior high school transitionperiod. Studen t pe rce pt ions were measured in two wa y s. First.st ude n tscomp l ete da~ opinionSUrveyatthe endof gradesix,andag a i n at:theend of grade seven. TheS t u qent·Opi n ionSurveyis~n,instrume nt that meas ur es at t i tude towards sc hOOl by having stud ents

- .

,

respond to differe ntsta teinen~9.abou t school and byhav i ng them ra t e diff e re nt,sc hoolconcepts. Second.9tuden~s COmpleteda Concerns Quest ionnairedaringthe fifthwe e kof q r-ade seven an dinMayofthe follow i n gyear . The Conce rns Questionn aire presented stude n t s withalistof possible tra n si ti on concer n sfor whic hstudentsindicat edthe degree towhi c hth~ ywerecon c erned about them. Studentsresponded, to.~li s ttwi c eI once intermsofthe degreeof concer nat the timethe y first ente redjuniorhigh school and agai nin the spring, The sample inthe st~dYconaLa t.ed of theseventh gr a de r sin the junio rhi g hsch o olwho had at te nd ed six feeder' schoo l s withinth edistrict, wa v e rly School was locatedina suburb nea r San Fran c i s co and served a population tha t was large ~yWhitemiddl e class . Itwa s a gr ad e 7- 8sch ool.

Whe nst ud e n t s' responsestothe Stude nt Opi nion Surveyat the endofgrad ,:,six wetecomparedwit h the i r res po nsesat the end of the seve n t h,g r ad eIa ge ner a l tr e nd wa s foun d. This tr e ndindi ca t e dthat~tudent swereles s

)

.Ii-

-J

. ! "

satisfied wi t h school at the end of seventh grade than they\ ha dbe e n at the end of

r:

sixth grade. Theonlyareawhere \ students indicat,eda more positiveresponse to juniorhi~h I wa s in academic p,erformance. This more"positiveattitude J may have been in part a reactionto theun c h a lll:!n g i ng curriculum'offeredin thejunio r high.. StUd~tll^filled~ut _the COncernsQuest.,ionnaiJ:eat thebe gi nn in~r a d eseven. \.

Theywe r eas k e d·t o indi c a te theiinpor tanceofthir t y- t wo possib leconce r n s'aaso c iated wi t htrAns i tio ns from si xthto seven th grade•.InMa~they wereask e d howimportan t these

. ,

concerns we'rewhen the yfirst enteredan dhowimp o rta n t theywere at the presenttime. oescripe rve "statis t ics for both the Novemberan dMa yportio~!^ofthequestIonnaire incU~atedtha t most jun iorhig hchildrendid nothave....great concer ns abou t theitemslisted. Nev e r thele s s ,

it

;"a-s""

possi b leto disting uis hbet ween theite ms inee eme of the re l ati vedegree ofexpresse d colke r n . In geneltal,stu de n t s exp r e see dmore conc e rn ha v ing todowith ac ademic wo rkand relat ive ly l it tl e concern aboutth o se it emshavin?to do ..."""

wi th thesocia~as pe q tB ofjun ior hi gh \chool. When ~ students were Jiven a totalco n ce rnsscor e , resultssho wed asignificantdecrease in tot al ecneernsfrom Nove mbe r to Ma y. This su gge s t s that. child r en viewth~mselvls\asha v ing adjust.,ed towha teve r fewtrans i ti onal prob l ems.exis;edthe filts t fewwe e k s of junio r high schoo l.

The resu ltsof t.he two stud e n: perspectiveinstruments used in the Mitman , etal.

there issome similarity'be-t we e n the two findi ngs.

specificaVy,many of thetr a ns it io n concernslistedin the Conce rnsQue s t i o n naire touch on features of schoolthat alsoare the foc\:ls of iteUlson theStudentOpinio nS1!t"vt!y.

But,in rt;viewinq th eresu~tsfo, both instruments,,it appears that they ar e quitediffe~ent. The dit'h!re ncesmay be summarizedthus: (alSt u de nt Opinio nSurvey sh o wed students weredissa'tisfiedwi t h SChoolinma ny -wa ys ,

n . • ..

(b) concern.soue s t i o nnai re showe d up.ve r y few concern,.:

tct S'tudentOpinion Surveyre v e a l edacade~icwork wa s .cn e ar ea'inwhi c h'studentsf~ltmor~poCJitive;(d) in the ConcernsQuestionnai reacademic workgotni gh e s t·concern

Perh a ps the pest'e:ltplaqa tionforthediscrepancy in . ... "

the results-o t:the StudentOpin~onSurveyand the COncerns Questionnairehas todo'withth etimesthe y we r e adminis tered.

,I nsorting out these differencesitisiInpo r t a n t to remember thatthere s ult s~f..}he'Stud ent OPinio~Survey, whi c h was giv~nin NOvembe.l"nd Mayof the seventhyear,wou~d~e influenced by the i rwhol eye a r's expe r i ence. There f ore, the res u l tswould showhowthe y fel tatth~endof gr adesev;n-.

~e

fact tnat they !5howed themselves to nev e ma:ny d1slilatis- fac t i onswith schoo l,compa re dwith'on ly few cceeernaon the conc e r ns Que s tio nna ire inNov e mbe r~uggests tha t stude nts may havebe en favo ur a b lyin c li ned toward junior highechocj,

.

.

at thebe ginn i ng of the·y e a r (the Co nce r nsQuestionna ireis . . , I

bas e.d on th e.No vembersur v ey.

r .

~~:st',ld iJs tha t adm_~nistered

'j

I

, -

29

t.he St uden t Opi nion surv eyboth at the beginning ""Il,.d end of the firs t,y e a r o.f/j"lllli orhighschool lendsu,pportto this cl aim. BothEvans and-iU c hard s o n (1980)and Po ....er and COtterall (19 79) reporttha t student attitudeswerelmore favourableatthe beginningof thefirstyear-of junie:.rhigh sc hool than at the end. Theseauth o r s specif ically:sug g est thatthe,ea;IY

peri~d

^{of the firs t year in}

juni~r

^high.

SChOO~ ~the most satisfyingpe ri o d in

the

transi~ion ex pe rre n c e j t!he reason for this being~atstuden~sa.r e generallymore enthusiasticaboutchangeinenvlronme~t;for ex amp l e,wemi ghtsay ', the"no v e l t y effect" is ev .ident. With regard to academicwork, at the beginning.c rth e'yea r , the. nature of·acadethicdema~dS:may have remained anun k nownfo r some time,especia.tly because they expected ,i t tQ:.bemore

. ,

diff;rUl t . Thi s ex plai n s l=he high--tate ofco nc er n-on the Co~rnsQuestionnaireat the beginningof grade seven: By theend oftheye,artheStuden'tOpinio~Survey showed that academicwork was one are<fliinwhich studentsfelt more pos i tive.

By ~his

time,they had practica lly

~ne

th e year's workan d had 'realizedthat it ta sno t as d.1.fficul tas they had expec ted.

Gi'ven this reviewo fth e educational literatureon transitionfr o m elementaryto juniorhig h.school, ~e.riext taskis to outl inethe orientationimd focusof the present

,

researc h.

J '

. I

r•