Peer Relations in the Classroom

By: Marcie Dean, Aaron McBride, Jacqueline Thomas

Male Cliques

On general, male friendships are more easily formed and maintained than female friendships.– Avoidance of arguments– Generally more forgiving

Male Cliques cont.

Formation of cliques and “in-crowds:”– Develop around similar interests both in and out

of school.– Form around peers who grew up together which

can make joining the group difficult for others.

Male Cliques cont.

Typically male cliques have one leader (referred to as the alpha male)– Leadership is generally achieved through athletic

accomplishments (cause an increase in self-esteem)

– Males often use physical means and/or humiliation to express power of authority over others (Adler, 1995)

– Ideal student not necessarily academic, but instead a gifted athlete

Male Cliques cont.

Individuality and Popularity – Pervasive need to express oneself (can lead to

positive or negative actions)– Males Typically express themselves in several

ways: Positive: Sports teams, social clubs, or participate in

after school activities Negative: breaking rules to gain popularity or notoriety

– Drugs/ alcohol– Problems w/ authority figures

Females and cliques:

Banker: deals in human misery, goal is to collect rumors about other girls and dealing them out at beneficial times (rumors: money)

Floater: harmless and happy not to belong to any clique

Sidekick: “mini me” of the queen bee who does the dirty work.

Target: victim

-Fontana, Entertainment Today

Females and cliques

Queen Bee: – Usually the leader of multi-gendered cliques and

female cliques– Role model– Good looking, charismatic, and manipulative– Social and financial power

Bluestein, Jane. Pretty and Popular, 2001

Female Cliques

“Once a group establishes some set of standards, it is not uncommon for the group’s members to use various forms of direct and indirect bullying- such as ostracism, backstabbing, manipulation, cattiness, verbal and physical aggression, malicious gossip, rumor spreading, or other attempts to dishonor or embarrass an adversary- to maintain social control.”1

1. Siman, Michael. Application of a New Model of Peer Group Influence. 1977.

“Data for both males and females supports the idea that negative antisocial behaviors tend to be associated with the peer groups and peer influence.”1

Popular Students

The skills necessary for doing well in school are the same skills needed for being socially successful such as motivation, independence and confidence.

Popular students do better than average students in school partly because teachers are more likely to favor them over rejected students. (Ryan, 2000)

Socially Neglected Students

Students with who are not considered to be either well-liked or disliked by their peers (loners) normally do better than average students.

They are generally more mature and may have more respect for adult authority, which would help them to get along with teachers better in school.

Students who feel isolated are more likely to select academic activities rather than social activities. (Wentzel, 1995)

Socially Rejected Students

Usually aggressive rather than passive Socially irresponsible behavior is correlated

to academic problems, and aggressive rejected students do worse academically than their peers.

Rejected aggressive students are most disliked by their teachers.

Effects on Habits and Views

Members within a group are likely to be similar in their use of alcohol and tobacco, as well as habits like cutting classes.

Some habits can be positive or negative but are still common, like time spent on homework and outlook on the possibilities of college are also shared amongst members of social groups. (Ryan, 2000)

Tips for Teachers for Enhancing Peer Relations

Create positive relations in the classroom by providing for peer tutoring activities and cooperative learning environments.

“The systematic use of cooperative learning activities can reduce the number of students who are socially isolated and improve relations between students of different ethnic and social backgrounds.” (Meece, 447)

Cooperative learning strategies tend to cause an increase in scholastic achievement and motivation.

Cooperative Learning Strategies

Jigsaw Classroom– Split class into teams of six. Each team member

has a certain lesson and meets with members of other teams that share that same lesson. Then they get back with their original group to re-teach the lesson. (Meece, 448)

Cooperative Learning Strategies

Student Teams Achievement Division– Students are assigned to small groups to work on

problems together. They work on the problems together but take individual assessments. Each group is graded based on the improvement of each student in the group. (Meece, 448)

– This approach is good for math, reading, social studies, and helps with students of different levels of ability.

Cooperative Learning Strategies

Group Investigation– Teacher picks the main topic and students

choose subtopics. They individually research their own subtopic and make a report. After that, they come together and collaborate to make one big report out of their individual findings.

– Both group and individual projects are evaluated by the teacher and the student. (Meece, 448)

Beyond Cooperative Learning

For aggressive and non-cooperative students, direct intervention may be needed to teach them how to relate positively with others.

Social skill training programs teach children how to start positive interactions, to build and maintain friendships, think before they act, and resolve conflicts without using aggression. (Meece, 450)