ABSTRACT
Each separate research in this study of learning in classrooms has contributed to a central theme. It has been assumed that the essential cultural messages of the school are conveyed through an incalculable number of interactions between teacher and pupil. These messages are only marginally concerned with school learning in the normal sense of the term but they have everything to do with the child's status, with his self-image, and with his aspirations for the future. Again and again it has been shown in these pages that teachers' perceptions of their pupils are closely correlated with the children's ability and behaviour.
