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The classroom context: A reflection of teacher communication style
Abstract
The premise of this research is that a teacher's communication style impacts the way in which the teacher structures the learning environment. The choice of how to structure a classroom is not usually an administrative choice but rather a choice that the teacher (individually) makes based upon his/her personal abilities. Classroom context is the way a teacher chooses to manage the daily concerns of teaching that indirectly shapes the perceptions of students. Treaqust and Fraser's (1986) College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI), containing 49 items, 7 items for each domain (personalization, involvement, student cohesiveness, satisfaction, task orientation, innovation and individualization), was used to operationalize classroom context. Individual style factors reflect the individual and aid others in knowing how to react to that individual. Students respond to a teacher in relation to the teacher's communication style. Kearney's (1980) Teacher Communication Style (TCS), containing 36 items, 12 items representing three domains (assertiveness, responsiveness, and versatility), was used to operationalize teacher communication style. The research questions sought to identify and describe the relationship between a teacher's communication style and the classroom context. First, using canonical correlation analysis, a relationship was found to exist between teacher communication style and classroom context. Second, all three domains of teacher communication style and all seven domains of classroom context were involved in the relationship. Therefore, further analysis was required to isolate the relationships. A stepwise multiple regression analysis, determined (1) the only contributor to TCS's assertiveness domain was CUCEI's satisfaction domain, (2) the only contributor to TCS's responsiveness domain was CUCEI's innovation domain, and (3) the only contributor of TCS's versatility domain was CUCEI's personalization domain.
Subject Area
Communication|Teacher education|Curricula|Teaching
Recommended Citation
Lawson, George M., "The classroom context: A reflection of teacher communication style" (1988). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8907531.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8907531