Reading-related behavior in an open classroom: effects of novelty and modelling on preschoolers.
Eight preschool children were exposed initially to an unstructured (open) classroom in which, among other objects, a dozen different books were continuously available. Samples of the subjects' behavior over several weeks documented a very low frequency of reading-related activity (attention to books). Introduction of novel books into the classroom increased some children's reading-related behavior, but adults who modelled reading by reading aloud produced larger and more stable increases of such behavior. There was also a relative increase in frequency of independent and a relative decrease in mutual-peer reading-related activity, possibly as a result of modelling. The study calls attention to the need to evaluate the open-classroom setting in a manner compatible with the experimental analysis of behavior in other applied settings-a manner that is also consistent with the real aims of open education.
D001076:Aptitude; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D011588:Psychology, Educational; D011932:Reading; D012578:Schools, Nursery; D013195:Stanford-Binet Test; D014888:Wechsler Scales