ABSTRACT
School ethos has for long been recognized as a highly significant factor in pupil achievement, both in secondary (Rutter, Maughan, Mortimore, Ouston and Smith, 1979) and in primary schools (Mortimore, Sammon, Lewis and Ecob, 1988). The same is true of ‘classroom climate’, which bred a whole research industry in America following the pioneering work of Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939). Much of this work has been guided by quantitative or experimental research methods, which can establish the framework of significance and its generality without, however, getting to the heart of what school ‘ethos’ or classroom climate constitutes. For this, we need qualitative methods. In a previous attempt to characterize a particular secondary school ethos through such methods, Woods (1990, p. 77) conceived of ethos as ‘a moving set of relationships within which different groups and individuals are constantly in negotiation. It is expressed largely in symbolic form, notably in language, appearance and behaviour.’ In this chapter, we seek further characterization of the quality of ethos or climate in relation to primary classrooms.
