The diagnostic of social relationships in school

The social relationships between the persons in a school setting may be seen as a central element of school learning. Educational research has been intensively occupied with the teacher-pupil relationship, and has described the processes influencing these relationships (Hofer, 1979; Nickel, 1978) as well as their determinants (Betzen and Nipkow, 1973; Döring, 1975). On the other hand, the relationships between the pupils have been analysed less intensively and consequently, although an important function regarding socialization has been attributed to these relationships. Even though catalogs for social learning objectives exist, necessary information concerning social interaction, the determinants of such interaction and the characteristics of pupil groups can only be found in an inadequate form. Therefore, many teachers must depend on subjective theories when attempting to employ appropriate pedagogical measures concerning social contact within a group of pupils. Adequate means to diagnose aspects of the pupils' social field, to determine learning results and to give behavior-related feedback, are lacking.In the first part of our article, we intend to describe and systematize the most important components of social relationships between pupils, so that the diagnostic instruments at hand may be analyzed utilizing this grid.