Classroom Norm Characteristics from Students’ and Teachers’ Point of View

Abstract

Classroom norms significantly influence students’ behaviour. Our exploratory research aimed to examine the most common school behaviours observed in upper elementary students using a norm assessment method, focusing on the students’ personal attitudes toward these behaviours and their perceptions of their peers’ and teachers’ opinions regarding specific behaviours. Additionally, how teachers perceive and evaluate these behaviours within the classroom context were investigated. The norm assessment was conducted using the flexible norm exploration method developed by Szabó and colleagues (Szabó and Labancz, 2015). A total of 119 upper elementary students (F = 53; N = 66) and 14 teachers (F = 5; N = 9) participated in the study. The findings confirmed the presence of the pluralistic ignorance phenomenon among students. Students believed that their peers were less approving of expected behaviours and more supportive of behaviours contrary to expectations than they themselves were. The results also highlight that students generally accurately assess how much their teachers approve or disapprove of their behaviour. However, there are significant differences between the two groups in terms of perceived frequency of behaviours. Teachers tend to perceive expected school behaviours as more frequent and behaviours contrary to expectations as less frequent compared to their students. The results of this research may contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between the social environment and school behaviour problems. In practice, these findings can serve as a basis for designing classroom-level intervention programs, thereby supporting the effectiveness of school psychology interventions.