Expectation effects: Pygmalion and the initial 20 years of research1

ABSTRACT

This article reviews Rosenthal and Jacobson’s (1968) seminal study, Pygmalion in the Classroom (PC). We consider what preceded PC, the actual study, immediate criticisms of it, Rosenthal’s reactions to the criticism, and, importantly, the research that followed PC from 1968 to roughly 1990. Despite critical criticisms of it, we conclude that PC had a tremendous impact because it stimulated researchers to study expectation effects in the classroom that established that some teachers do form and communicate differential expectations to their students and that some students internalise these expectations in ways that manifest in their actual performance. The research that followed PC has yielded rich concepts and findings that are relevant for theory, practice, and social policy.     

The consequences of being labelled ‘looked‐after’: Exploring the educational experiences of looked‐after children and young people in Wales

The educational experiences and attainment of looked‐after children and young people (LACYP) remains an issue of widespread international concern. Within the UK, children and young people in care achieve poorer educational outcomes compared to individuals not in care. Despite proliferation of research documenting the reasons for educational disadvantage amongst this population, there remains limited empirical consideration of the lived experiences of the educational system, as perceived by LACYP themselves. This paper draws upon qualitative research with 67 care‐experienced children and young people in Wales. The sample was aged 6–27 years, and comprised 27 females and 40 males. Participants had experienced a range of care placements. Findings focus on how educational policies and practices alienate LACYP from dominant discourses of educational achievement through assignment of the ‘supported’ subject position, where children and young people are permitted and even encouraged not to succeed academically due to their complex and disrupted home circumstances. However, such diminished expectations are rejected by LACYP, who want to be pushed and challenged in the realisation of their potential. The paper argues that more differentiated understandings of LACYP's aspirations and capabilities need to be embedded into everyday practices, to ensure that effective educational support systems are developed.     

Predictors of well‐structured and ill‐structured problem solving in an astronomy simulation

This study compared the problem‐solving skills required for solving well‐structured problems and ill‐structured problems in the context of an open‐ended, multimedia problem‐solving environment in astronomy. Two sets of open‐ended questions assessed students' abilities for solving well‐structured and ill‐structured problems. Generalized, rubric scoring systems were developed for assessing problem‐solving skills. Instruments were also developed and administered to assess cognitive and affective predictors of problem‐solving performance. By regressing the scores on the cognitive and affective predictors onto students' scores on the well‐structured and ill‐structured problems, we concluded that solving well‐structured and ill‐structured problems require different component skills. Domain knowledge and justification skills were significant predictors of well‐structured problem‐solving scores, whereas ill‐structured problem‐solving scores were significantly predicted by domain knowledge, justification skills, science attitudes, and regulation of cognition. Implications for problem solving in science education are presented. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 6–33, 2003     

Moving across physical and online spaces: a case study in a blended primary classroom

With the introduction of digital tools and online connectivity in primary schools, the shape of teaching and learning is shifting beyond the physical classroom. Drawing on the architecture of productive learning networks framework, we examine the affordances and limitations of an upper primary learning network and focus on how the digital and physical elements involved in set design shape teachers' pedagogical approaches and students' learning processes. The findings suggest that blended spaces support teachers' distributed orchestration of classroom activities across tools and resources while also leveraging students' engagement in reciprocal teaching and collaborative learning.     

Reimagining Critical Race Theory in Education: Mental Health,Healing, and the Pathway to Liberatory Praxis

Long‐standing theoretical education frameworks and methodologies have failed to provide space for the role mental health can play in mediating educational consequences. To illustrate the need for such space, Ebony McGee and David Stovall highlight the voices of black undergraduates they have served in the capacities of teacher, researcher, and mentor. Building from the theoretical contributions of intellectual giants like Frantz Fanon and W. E. B. Du Bois, the authors attempt to connect oppressive social systems to the psyche of the oppressed in a way that is relevant to black students. McGee and Stovall pose a challenge to the current research trend of attributing the survival of black students at traditionally white institutions primarily to grit, perseverance, and mental toughness, noting that research on the aforementioned qualities often fails to properly acknowledge multiple forms of suffering. Utilizing the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT), the authors also challenge the construct of grit to consider the extent to which the mental health concerns of black students go undetected. Although critical race theorists have unmasked and attacked the racial trauma experienced at all levels of the educational system, the connection of CRT to mental health and wellness research is in its embryonic stages. For these reasons, McGee and Stovall argue that CRT scholars need to incorporate praxis to address mental health and wellness in order to address a fuller spectrum of black students' racialized worlds. Ultimately, they seek interdisciplinary perspectives that can help identify and foster strategies to support black students in the project and process of healing from multiple forms of racialized trauma they experience within and beyond their educational encounters.     

The not-so-free agent: Non-performance factors that contribute to free agent compensation premiums

In this study, the authors examine Major League Baseball free agency to identify whether certain factors beyond a player’s on-field performance contribute to contract premiums. These premiums are considered to be the difference between the compensation a player receives in free agency and the marginal revenue product (MRP_t-1) in their contract year. Using 345 free agent transactions over a four-year period (2012–2015), the authors examine the relationships between potential free agent contract premiums and the attributes of a player’s previous team, as well as how contract premiums may be influenced by the level of interest from other teams and certain facets of the acquiring teams. Results suggest that free agents tend to receive compensation premiums when they played for a successful team during their contract year. Playing for a large-market team during their contract year also influenced contract premiums. In addition, free agents tended to realize compensations premiums when multiple teams were bidding for their services, the acquiring teams were in playoff contention the prior year, and the acquiring teams possessed relatively more financial resources. Findings shed additional light on how factors peripheral to a player’s on-field performance may influence the free agency market. Recommendations include that effective control mechanisms are necessary to ensure free agent compensation is commensurate with the value of the player.     

Infants' Perception of Emotion From Body Movements

Adults recognize emotions conveyed by bodies with comparable accuracy to facial emotions. However, no prior study has explored infants' perception of body emotions. In Experiment 1, 6.5‐month‐olds (n = 32) preferred happy over neutral actions of actors with covered faces in upright but not inverted silent videos. In Experiment 2, infants (n = 32) matched happy and angry videos to corresponding vocalizations when the videos were upright but not when they were inverted. Experiment 3 (n = 16) demonstrated that infants' performance in Experiment 2 was not driven by information from the covered face and head. Thus, young infants are sensitive to emotions conveyed by bodies and match them to affective vocalizations, indicating sophisticated emotion processing capabilities early in life.