ABSTRACT
Bronfenbrenner has stressed the importance of studying the relations between the characteristics of learners and the environments in which they live. The reflective skills, regarded as so important by Donaldson, could well develop directly out of social exchanges, especially those occurring during instructional sessions. Control of reflective thought may come about through the internalisation of other people's comments during instructional communication. Children whose mothers were high on "acceptance" gave a higher proportion of useful information needed, fewer prompts to provide relevant information, and showed a higher degree of sophistication in attributing intentions to characters in a story. The family relationships experienced by children may well have other effects on their behaviour in the classroom. Some children certainly are skillful at using crucial cues to give the impression that they understand what is going on in the classroom. The study of the nature of teachers' thinking in the social context of the classroom is however a relatively recent development.
