An Investigation Concerning Personality Characteristics, Classroom Climate and Academic Achievement

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible influence of conceptual development and teaching style on academic achievement of Afro-American students; also, to explore the applicability of a personality interaction model using an after-the-fact design focusing on heterogeneous classrooms in public high school settings. A number of investigators (Anderson, 1970; Harvey, 1966; Hunt and Hardt, 1967) have suggested that relationships exist among personality traits, classroom social climate and achievement and have further suggested the need to find an effective system of integrating these factors in order to aid in the quality of educational instruction. Piaget (in Hunt, 1966) has also called attention to the importance of determining the appropriate match between the environmental circumstances and the nature of central personality processes. Establishing a theoretical basis for deriving a match between child and environment called for a convergence between Piaget's approach and that of social theorists. A conceptual level matching model attempting to provide such convergence was developed (Harvey, Hunt, Schroder, 1961; Hunt, 1966). The model describes students both in terms of their conceptual