CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION
The way students approach learning plays an important
role in determining the outcome of any educational
endeavor, characteristics of teaching, the environment and
the pupils are the three major components, which influences
student learning. Each of these has an effect on the
approach to learning adopted by the students, teaching and
variety of learning environments which cause the students
to vary their approach to learning (Bullough, 2001).
In spite of the fact that every learners differs with
each other in intelligence, aptitudes, and attitudes, they
still suffer from many unfavorable factors in social life,
customs, and environment interaction inside the school.
Classroom environment encompasses a broad range of
educational concept including the physical setting, the
psychological environment created through social context
and the teachers characteristics and behaviors.
Learning must meet certain conditions in order to take
place successfully. Formal education is not confined only
to activity inside the classroom wherein learning takes
place, but also outside the classroom, it can be affected
by some factors and to some extent, it can influence the
students performance, if the students do not know how to
handle this factors, problems may rise inside the classroom
and might result to undesirable level of academic
performance.
The researcher is interested in relationship between
environment, the learners and the teachers. According to
Urie Bronfenbren-ner (1977) early researchers recognized
that behavior is a function of peoples characteristics and
their environment. The layered environment system takes
place and emphasizes the importance of family, teachers,
school and the larger socio-cultural environment on the
developmental process.
As the name implies, two words are central to the
socio-cultural approach on psychological and educational
issues: social and cultural . When something is social it
is automatically interconnected and referred to other
people. One of the most important in the first half of the
20th century defined social acting in a way, that the
sense of the action is related to others behavior. The
meaning of the second word culture is a classical
anthropological issue. A row of different definitions
exist, which handle the term mostly as the kind of
individual quality, influenced by the social environment
(Cole, 2005).For instance, Taylor (1874) a cultural
anthropologist defined culture as that complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom and
any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society.
Goodenough (1994) influenced by a more psychological
point of view, described culture as something, which one
needs to know to participate acceptly as a member in
societys affairs. Furthermore he adds material objects
people create are not in and themselves things they learn
What they learn are necessary percepts, concepts, recipes,
and skills- the things they need to know in order to make
things that will meet the standards of their fellows that
means: culture is the interconnection between the
individuals and the objects in the environment through
their usage in a specific and socially legitimate way.
Moreover, culture is necessary to participate in the social
environment. Because of that, culture is both a contextual
and a cognitive phenomenon: the context influences and
creates human cognitive structures and vice versa. Thus a
socio -cultural perspective workplace learning underlines
the importance of the social working context and its
structure for the individual learning process. The basic
element of examination is neither the individual alone, as
typical for cognitive psychological perspectives nor just
the social complex by itself: the socio-cultural
perspective on psychological issues means a holistic
research that aims to understand the interconnections
between the intra psychological and interpsychological
mechanisms. Consequently, the social community and the
specific working culture at the workplace become essential
for individual development and learning processes at work.
Each community in a specific domain develops our ways of
tool handling to fit its environment. How someone
categorizes objects and how he or she behaves, is
influenced by the social environment at the workplace.
Beyond the physical arrangement of a classroom a
psychological environment is also created, based on the
interaction of key players in the classroom, namely
students and teachers. Many teachers equate student
engagement and on-task behavior with classroom
participation, typically a top concern for teachers
invitation of a difference in the participation style of
the different genders. Whereas girls are more likely to
participate as part of the relational responsibility they
feel toward the teacher, boys tend to respond more often if
they feel the class is interesting and less often if the
class is perceived as boring-indicating that for these
students, teachers may be equally responsible for the
participation level and learning.
The notion of feeling supported as students has also
been extensively examined literature. Helen Patrick, and
colleagues found that there is a strong, positive
relationship between students level of motivation and
engagement and their perceptions of the classroom
environment as being socially supportive. The perception of
a climate of mutual respect is required in order for
students to increase their use of effective study
strategies and increase feeling of confidence about their
ability to successfully complete assignments. Furthermore,
when students perceive that they receive emotional support
and encouragement from their teachers academic support
from their peers they are more likely to be on-task in the
classroom and use self-regulated strategies.
Hence, the researcher is motivated to conduct this
study in order to find out the socio-cultural and
psychological environment of intermediate classrooms in
Ligaya Elementary School in Gabaldon District. Some
students and classroom are more focused on obtaining grades
than on mastery of objectives; these student and classrooms
are said to be performance oriented. A multitude of studies
have examined this social-cognitive aspect of classrooms
and found that the classroom-level learning goal can be
linked to both behavioral and academic outcomes.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
LOCAL LITERATURE
According to Adelaida A. Ronquillo and Ana Ma. R.
Peralta (1989).We have seen that much of what children
learn is the result of their interaction with other socio
cultural environment. However, leaving their education to
change environment involves too much risk. A designed or
controlled environment is necessary to ensure the right
kind of education for the young. Such an environment is the
school. The school provides the special environment for the
formal, physical, mental, emotional and moral growth of the
young.
(Aquino, 1974) The teacher has many opportunities for
creating with and for children a classroom environment that
promotes cooperative group experiences through which
children develop skills for living in a democratic society.
Different environmental factor can affect
students academic performances and efficiency of
learning. Ramos (2005) found that the students
observe their classroom as emphasizing mastery rather
than performance goals were more likely to encourage
the students to develop orientation to learning.
Its environment do not only affect students
performance because of its physical settings but its
qualitative trait of the environment as we, when
students are interacting each other and learning
together. Quote as important in the class as in
the school as a whole is the development of that
intangible something which may be characterized as a
class spirit.

LOCAL STUDIES
It was recommended that the teachers should use varied
teaching standards and should attend seminars for the
preparation of teaching devices for effective teaching.
Cristobal (2000) believed that since the teachers,
professors, as well as the school guidance counselors and
school administrators are the substitute parents of the
students in school they cannot deny the fact that the
students under them are their responsibilities especially
in terms of education. This means that these teachers and
professors should teach their students to acquire good
study habits like spending at least 2 hours of studying
their lesson at home before going to bed at night.
In school and universities according to Cristobal
teachers and professors should encourage their students to
read their books, lectures and other learning materials and
study their lessons and assignments before starts of
classes instead of going around the campus and chatting
with peers.
It was pointed out by Cristobal that if possible the
administrators of the school as well as the teachers and
professors with the cooperative efforts of the official of
the community and local government should put up a well
ventilated and conducive, well lighted school libraries in
every school with complete set of necessary books and
magazines related to the course offered for the students to
read and study, in this way, the author stressed that the
students will develop a good study habits.

FOREIGN LITERATURE
Socio-Cultural perspectives matter to teacher
educators, in-service practitioners, and pre-service
teachers. Those using these perspectives call attention to
easily overlooked issues that influence teaching and
learning. For example, through these lenses one might seek
to uncover the dynamics of the social contexts and multiple
identities in and through which students and teachers
negotiate schooling. One might point to questions about
educational equity and its effects on student achievement
and/or expose links between socio-economic status, public
schooling, and the distribution of power and privilege
throughout the larger society. Those using such
perspectives could investigate teachers responsibilities
to understand and connect to their students lived
realities beyond the classroom. In these senses, socio-
cultural foundational perspectives serve as the heart and
soul of teacher education, because they interrogate the
very purposes of education in a democratic society and
remind us of why we do what we do. Such a perspective gives
voice to the concerns of classroom teachers and educational
researchers who care about optimizing the conditions for
learning and increasing educational opportunity for greater
numbers of students.
Socio-cultural foundations coursework brings together
faculty and students from across disciplines. Teaching and
learning are considered from varying perspectives, such as
anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies, history,
philosophy, policy studies, and sociology. Socio-cultural
perspectives enable students to think deeply about the
relationships between education and society. Students are
encouraged to use critical judgment to question
educational assumptions and arrangements and to identify
contradictions and inconsistencies among social and
educational values, policies, and practices (CSFE, 2004).
Collectively, coursework aims to foster a broad and deep
understanding of educational practice that (a) informs
instructional and curricular philosophy, planning and
enactment; (b) develops teachers professional identities
and integrities; and (c) grows capacities to understand,
analyze, and explain educational issues, policies, and
practices to improve education.
According to WALBERG (1991) Classroom psychological or
social refers to the climate or atmosphere of the class as
a social group that potentially influence what students
learn. Since the classroom environment refers to the less
tangible aspects of the context of teaching and learning,
it is often inferred by asking students to perceive and
rate the psychosocial characteristics of their classroom
through sets of questions. These questions typically
concern the effective and social relations among the class
member, the efficient tasks, as well as the implicit and
explicit system of rules and organization of the class.
The socio-cultural context of classroom meaning
In order to consider meaning-making in mathematics
classrooms for participants, both individually and
collectively, we have to recognize its dependence on
individual experience and socio-cultural practices. This is
the subject of an area of study known as Activity Theory,
originated by Russian psychologists in the Vygotskian
tradition, and developed with rather different emphases by
socio-cultural theorists in the United States and Europe.
Referring to Leont'ev (1981), Crawford (1991) suggests that
Activity Theory "describes the process through which
knowledge is constructed as a result of personal (and
subjective) experience of an activity. Leont'ev stresses
the inseparability of human mental reflection from those
aspects of human activity that engender it."
The relationship between a constructivist approach to
mathematics teaching and social and cultural norms in
mathematics classrooms is explored by Cobb et al. (1991).
Their paper offers a critique of Activity-Theory, both in
its Russian and American manifestations, and in particular
the related socio-cultural movement currently exciting
educational interest in the United States. They address the
work of Ilyenkov, in the Russian school, who suggests that
'objects as cultural tools serve as carriers of meaning'
i.e. carrying meaning for their use in a practice. These
objects include formal mathematical symbols, and so 'these
symbols are for him (Ilyenkov) cultural tools that carry
meaning'. A consequence of this is the view that
'children's development of abstract mathematical thought is
supported by instruction designed to engage them in the
social practice of using formal symbols'.
This reminds me of the classroom work of David Hewitt
(Open University, 1991) involving his 'rulers' activity to
influence students' perceptions of algebra and their
familiarity with formal symbols. It is well known (e.g.
Kuchemann, 1981) that pupils have difficulty with the
abstract use of symbols and their manipulation. Hewitt's
very stylized approach is designed specifically to overcome
such difficulty by creating a social practice in which
symbol manipulation is logical and meaningful and in which
attention is attracted away from the symbols and their use,
rather than towards them.
Socio-cultural theorists view learning as integration into
a community of practice (for example Lave and Wenger, 1991)
in which social actions are identified (for example the
mathematical manipulation of abstract symbols according to
given conventions) and classroom activities designed (for
example the rulers activity). Cobb et al suggest that "the
teacher's role in this activity is to forge the last link
in the chain by ensuring that children execute the
specified social actions that make it possible for them to
isolate ideal mathematical forms when they solve tasks".
Social actions are seen to be more broadly based than
social interactions. Thus the interactions of children in
classroom activities are a small part of their
enculturation into the required social actions. This is
reminiscent of Bruner's work on scaffolding, with the
teacher performing the role of 'consciousness for two' (to
do for students what they cannot yet do for themselves) in
relation to Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development. (See
for example, Bruner, 1985)
FOREIGN STUDIES
Classroom environment encompasses a broad range of
educational concepts, including the physical setting, the
psychological environment created through social contexts,
and numerous instructional components related to teacher
characteristics and behaviors. The study classroom
environment has been widespread across nearly all sub
specializations of educational psychology. Researchers are
interested in relationships between environment constructs
and multiple outcomes, including learning, engagement,
motivation, social relationships, and group dynamics. Early
researchers recognized that behavior is a function of
people's personal characteristics and their environment.
In the educational setting, Urie Bronfenbrenner's work on
ecological contexts secured a place in educational research
for studies of classroom environment.
Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbren-
ner, 1977) encompasses the layered environmental system of
microcosms in which human development takes place and
emphasizes the importance of family, teachers, schools, and
the larger socio cultural environment on the developmental
process. Over the years this research has evolved from
examining purely physical elements of the environment to
more complex models of psychosocial relationships between
students in the classrooms as well as between the teacher
and students.
Research beginning in the mid-1990s has focused on one
or more of these aspects and has associated classroom
environment variables with numerous positive and negative
student outcomes. In addition to the wide array of outcomes
investigated in relationship to classroom environment, this
area of study has also been of interest to methodologists
as the data structure poses a unit of analysis dilemma; in
terms of examining classroom variables in combination with
student outcomes, researchers have had to determine if the
data would be analyzed at the classroom level or at the
student level. With the arrival in the 1990s of statistical
methodologies capable of handling data collected from both
levels, studies have been better able to include variables
collected at both levels. Various methodologies, including
survey, observations, and interviews have been used to
capture aspects of the classroom environment from student,
teacher, and observer perspectives. The Early Childhood
group based at the University of Virginia has an extensive
body of work that examines classroom environment as a
validated observation system of multiple dimensions of the
classroom.
Astin(2000) study that the common factors attributed
by failing in school include environmental, absenteeism,
intellectual incapacity, family problems and poor time
management. If the environment is not conducive for
intellectual growth, then the students suffers lack of
concentration and eventually failure in school. Family
problem hamper a persons academic pursuits as well as his
emotional stability. The most common factor is poor time
management or the lack of time. Rigid schedule should be
followed as what is the situation with achievers. Other
factors are being referred to the instructors attitudes,
from playing favorites to covering in much scope to insults
and sarcasm. Nevertheless the sum of all these reasons puts
the students intellectual weakness aggravates the situation
and the students suffer academic failures.
There was a study from other country where students
participate in both in the state and local chapters of the
Arizona Junior Classifiable League, and in the southern
Arizona foreign language according to them they will live
up to their motto by seeking to become a covered school
for the 21
st
century will return the valued traditions for
the past in school district 25, and employ the best
practices and innovations of today and tomorrow, to provide
a quality educational experience for every students and
will communicate high academic expectations to all country
students. There will be an emphasis on real word
applications and in providing college credit for their
students. The advance placement program will be a second
none. The tech pre program and articulation agreements with
colleges will provide students with many. Programs and
articulation agreement with colleges will provide students
with many opportunities for college credits; students who
participated in extra-curricular activities will be heed to
a higher standard than most of the other school in the
state and maintain 2.0 point grade average to remain
eligible.
Co-curricular (extra-curricular activities) will
develop a sense of community to the students. In addition
to making students and community members feel welcome,
members to participate in decisions about the school.
In addition to strong academic, century will be known
for its strong co curricular including all major sports,
speech arts, performing arts and clubs. Second is a century
goal to have students involvedness in at least one extra-
curricular program or club.
According to Bullough, (2001) Joining one to two co
curricular activities in the school is best but for more
may be worst to study habits and academic performances of a
students.
The Physical Environment
More frequently a focus in earlier studies of
classroom environment, the physical environment has
continued to appear in contemporary studies as an influence
on behavioral and academic outcomes. Current studies of the
physical environment have investigated aspects such as
class composition, class size, and classroom management.
Class composition studies examine classroom grouping
methods, including ability grouping of students, single-sex
classrooms and cooperative learning groups. Research has
found that classrooms with highly cooperative groups appear
to have students with more positive perceptions of fairness
in grading, stronger class cohesion, and higher degree of
social support, as well as higher achievement scores.
Female students have been found to prefer collaborating
with other students when studying and resolving problems,
and they have a stronger preference for teacher support
than male students. The primary school environments tend to
use collaborative strategies more frequently and have
higher levels of teacher involvement and support than is
found in secondary schools. Research on single-sex
classrooms has been more divided in terms of academic
outcome research. Some studies found that girls do better
in math and science particularly when separated from male
students; other studies found no achievement differences
between genders when either in single-sex or mixed-sex
classrooms.
Studies about class size have examined how class size
influences student and teacher behaviors. In general,
smaller classes are associated with students who are less
stressed and are more frequently on-task with fewer
reported behavior problems than students in larger classes.
Although teachers tend to use similar instructional
strategies whether teaching large or small classes, there
is some evidence to suggest that more class time is spent
on administrative tasks for larger classes, leaving less
time available for instruction. Some research has suggested
that differences in academic outcomes based on class size
are due to differences in student behaviors.
Overcrowded facilities, too many students in certain
classes, and lack of teachers' assistants are three major
issues cited as potentially creating problems due to
increased stress levels of students and increased teacher-
reported incidences of behavioral problems. These increased
stress levels and behavior problems found in larger
classrooms are frequently accompanied by lower levels of
academic achievement.
Teacher-to-child ratios are also of interest to many
researchers because the number of reported behavioral
problems seem to increase as class size increases. Many
researchers have observed that large classes, with 30 or
more students, tend to have a larger number of students off
task more often with fewer students engaged with the
teacher than children in small classes of 20 students or
less. Yet there may be a social cost for students in small
classes; other researchers found that smaller classes also
had high incidences of children engaging in asocial and
exclusionary behavior. Whether students are engaging in on-
task or disruptive behavior can also be influenced by
effective classroom management instructions and consistency
of teacher enforcement.
The timing of classroom management and organization also
impacts students' perceptions of the teacher as an
Classroom Climate
Part of the larger focus on school improvement is
School Climate or Educational Climate, which defines how
teachers interact with each other and with administrators.
This is different from Classroom Climate, which identifies
relationships among students with each other, the teacher
and how this translates into learning.
There are a number of tools available to determine
Classroom Climate and then to use the results as part of
the comprehensive plan for school improvement. Even the
most sophisticated measurement tools rely heavily on
opinion and perception. Opinion is generated from
information, statistics on student and teacher performance,
while perception is based on observation of the behaviors
in the classroom and the school.
In determining Classroom Climate, it is important to
apply information gathered from both opinion and perception
to form a comprehensive picture of student success and to
therefore create a meaningful school improvement plan.
Opinion is generated by reviewing student test scores,
grades earned, attendance, health and family. Perception is
formed by observation and by paper and pencil tools that
evaluate Classroom Climate based on organization of the
classroom, the attitude toward student achievement, the
attitudes toward school, the attitudes toward peers, the
degree of democracy experienced in the classroom, the
acceptance of diversity, the range of learning experiences,
the autonomy of the teacher, the competitiveness among
students, the consistency of interpretation of rule
infractions and their consequences.
Elizabeth Sobys Effective manager.
When students have been asked to describe effective
classroom managers, researchers report that these are
teachers who set clear expectations and consequences early
in the year. They also describe teachers who consistently
(and predictably) follow through with consequences, as
opposed to merely threatening consequences. These
characteristics appear essential in establishing good
classroom environment in terms of social support and mutual
respect. Additionally, the amount of time a teacher spends
in teaching organizational behaviors impacts the classroom
environment. Researchers have found that students in
classrooms that spent more time early in the school year on
organizational instruction substantially increased the
amount of time students spent in student-managed activities
later in the academic year. Intentionally providing
organizational instruction at the start of the academic
year is a characteristic of an effective classroom
environment manager.
The Psychological Environment
Beyond the physical arrangement of a classroom a
psychological environment is also created, based on the
interaction of key players in the classroom, namely
students and teachers. Research in this area has varied
greatly and proliferated during the early twenty-first
century. Studies have been particularly concentrated on
student class participation rates, teacher support, and
communication of learning goals.
Many teachers equate student engagement and on-task
behavior with classroom participation, typically a top
concern for teachers. Researchers support teachers'
intuition of a difference in the participation style of the
different genders. Whereas girls are more likely to
participate as part of the relational responsibility they
feel toward the teacher, boys tend to respond more often if
they feel the class is interesting and less often if the
class is perceived as boringindicating that for these
students, teachers may be equally responsible for the
participation level and learning. Most studies have found
that boys speak out in class about three times as
frequently as girls do; however, both genders typically
perceive girls as better class participants. Although
responses vary when students are asked what participation
consists of, the most common response, and one frequently
examined by researchers, is that participation is defined
as answering questions when specifically asked. Both boys
and girls seem to indicate a need for relational aspects to
be present in order for this type of participation to
occur; however, whereas girls more frequently participate
by responding to teachers' questions, boys are more likely
to participate as a means of obtaining attention or being
noticed by the teacher. Teachers who want to encourage
development of relational aspects for both genders may need
to utilize different acknowledgement techniques for male
students to enhance their perceptions of feeling supported
as a class participant.
The notion of feeling supported as students has also
been extensively examined in the classroom environment
literature. Helen Patrick and colleagues (Patrick, Ryan, &
Kaplan, 2007) found that there is a strong, positive
relationship between students' level of motivation and
engagement and their perceptions of the classroom
environment as being socially supportive. The perception of
a climate of mutual respect is required in order for
students to increase their use of effective study
strategies and increase feelings of confidence about their
ability to successfully complete assignments. Furthermore,
when students perceive that they receive emotional support
and encouragement from their teachers and academic support
from their peers they are more likely to be on-task in the
classroom and use self-regulated strategies.
Another large body of educational research has focused
on the communication of learning goals to students in
combination with the individual goals and expectations of
students. Some students and classrooms are more focused on
obtaining grades than on mastery of objectives; these
students and classrooms are said to be performance oriented
rather than mastery oriented. A multitude of studies have
examined this social-cognitive aspect of classrooms and
found that the classroom-level learning goal can be linked
to both behavioral and academic outcomes. Students in
classrooms where performance is emphasized are more likely
to engage in cheating, avoid help-seeking, and exhibit
lower levels of academic engagement. In contrast, students
who are in a classroom where the focus is on learning and
improvement demonstrate higher levels of self-efficacy and
engagement as well as more positive affect. At the personal
goal level researchers have found that whereas students who
are more focused on grades tend to have higher grades,
those students who are more focused on mastering objectives
tend to engage in more academically challenging tasks and
retain information learned for a longer period of time.
The Role of the Teacher in the Classroom Environment
The third focus of many examinations of classroom
environment has been on teacher behaviors, specifically
teacher development and school culture and how these
components affect classroom environment. Some research
suggests that due to the complexity of cultivating an
effective classroom environment, it may be beyond the
developmental scope of the newly graduated teacher. Some
researchers recommend that professional development for new
teachers should include intense mentoring and teaching
partnerships that reduce isolation and form productive and
meaningful relationships with other adults in the school
community.
Following the research studies on physical and
psychological environment many suggestions for teachers
have been presented in the literature, including classroom
management plans and recommendations for building better
relationships with students. Classroom rules and procedures
should be introduced early in the school year and
consequences should be enforced consistently across
students and throughout the school year. Research has shown
that routine and fairness have a positive impact on
behavior as well as academic quality. It has been found
that teachers who run respectful classrooms are in turn
more respected by their students, and students believe that
these teachers also hold higher learning expectations.
Teachers are encouraged to focus more on the learning task
than on the outcome or grade assigned at the end of the
task, although this becomes much more difficult if the
emphasis in education is placed on accountability and high-
stakes testing.
Although most classroom environment studies are by
definition limited to classrooms, a few studies have
investigated the impact of the school culture on classroom
environment. Findings suggest that schools with an
authoritative culture (e.g., clear direction, delegation of
responsibilities, accountability to and from all) tend to
be judged by students and teachers as being successful.
Schools that lack leadership or have a culture of multiple
micro-conflicts tend to be perceived by students and
teachers as undermining educational gains.
Measuring Classroom Environment
In studies of classroom environment a plethora of
measurement tools have been employed, including direct,
objective observational measures as well as more subjective
perceptions of the classroom environment. The types of
items that have been used range from low inference (e.g.,
frequency counts of behavior) to high inference (e.g.,
classroom members' perceptions about meaning of behaviors).
There has been a heavy reliance on perceptual measures in
much of the literature, supported by the argument that
observational measures tend to be low-inference based and
are of a limited time period, whereas perception measures
better capture high-inference constructs, and therefore
better represent day to day experience in the environment.
Moreover, advances in statistical analyses have allowed for
better incorporation of multiple student observations in
one classroom to be aggregated as a measure of classroom
environment. In contrast, an objective observation tool is
limited to a single opinion or an agreement statistics
between two or three independent observers.
Some of the most extensive work on measuring classroom
environment was completed in the 1970s by Rudolf Moos,
resulting in the widely used Classroom Environment Scale
(Moos, 1979). Moos's work, which has permeated the
literature on classroom environment, is based on three
essential areas of classroom environment: (1) Relationship
dimension, which focuses on the interpersonal relationships
between students and students and the teacher in a
classroom; (2) Personal Development dimension, which
centers on individual characteristics of the classroom
member; and (3) System Maintenance and Change dimension
which includes attributes such as classroom control and
order as well as responsiveness to change. As delineated
above, much of the research on classroom environment has
also been attuned to these three dimensions or combinations
thereof.
The mid-1990s was marked by a shift to more high-
inference measures such as the What Is Happening In this
Class (WIHIC) Questionnaire developed by Barry Fraser and
colleagues (Fraser, 2002). This scale focuses entirely on
student perceptions of a wide range of dimensions of the
classroom, including student cohesiveness, teacher support,
involvement, investigation, task orientation, cooperation,
and equity. Each of the dimensions in the WIHIC can be
mapped to three major dimensions of Moos's schema.
While these two measures continue to appear in the
research literature, there are many other ways to measure
classroom environment. As theories of learning continue to
evolve the need to create and validate more measures of
classroom environment continues to grow. Just as it is
difficult to provide a concise definition of what classroom
environment is, it is also difficult to define a measure of
the construct, resulting in a multitude of varieties and
variations in the literature.
Implications and Considerations
Classroom environment is a broad term and the research
in this area is far reaching and defined in many different
ways according to theory as well as practice. Regardless of
the definition, there are many important findings from the
research as a whole that can impact students' learning and
behavior. This is also an area of continued growth in
research as changes in technology and social culture alter
the dynamics of what is considered classroom environment.
One of these areas to consider is the environment
beyond the classroom. There has been debate on the impact
of school-wide environment on classroom environment. With
an increased importance placed on school-wide performance
in order to demonstrate school success in terms of annual
academic progress of students, there is undoubtedly
pressure on teachers to produce high scores on standardized
state exams. This school-wide demand filters to the
classroom and is communicated in various ways to students,
directly impacting their experiences in the classroom.
There is ongoing research to examine the implications of
the high-stakes testing for the psychosocial dimension of
the classroom as well as how this approach has influenced
instructional strategies used by teachers in classrooms.
Furthermore, the definition of classroom environment
continues to evolve with the development of online courses
and increased use of technology in learning situations.
Classrooms are now networked, expanding the environment
beyond physical walls, enabling students to interact via
email, video conferencing, and blogs. The addition of
technology to the classroom has changed the environment,
and research is only beginning to consider these new
aspects and their impacts on classroom outcomes.
Information gained from ongoing studies of classroom
environment continues to impact teachers' knowledge.
Learning about factors that may shape students' perceptions
of their learning environment, how teachers' actions appear
to students, and how changes made to the learning
environment may stimulate and encourage learning continue
to be of the utmost importance to classroom teachers.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The conceptual paradigm of the study shows the
profiles of the respondents and how it affects the socio-
cultural and psychological environment of intermediate
pupils of the three big schools of Gabaldon District namely
Ligaya Elementary School, Gabaldon Central School and
Gabaldon South Elementary School.



Figure 1.0 Research Paradigm of the Study

DEFINITION OF TERMS
The different terms used in this study are hereby
defined for better understanding of the research:
Socio-cultural environment- involving social and cultural
factors. (www.google.com)
Psychological environment- pertaining to, dealing with, or
affect the mind especially as a function of awareness,
feeling, or motivation. (Webster dictionary)
Big Elementary Public School- it has a large number of
population of pupils compared to small schools.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This study entitled, The Socio-Cultural and
Psychological Environment of Intermediate Pupils of the
Pupils Profile

a. Age
b. Sex
c. Grade
Level
Socio-cultural
Environment
Psychological
Environment
Teachers Profile
a. Age
b. Sex
c. Educational
Qualification
d. Length of
Service
Three Big Schools of Gabaldon District, S.Y. 2013-2014,
aimed to answer the following questions.
1. How may the profile of the respondents be described
in terms of:
Pupil-Respondents
1.1 Age;
1.2 gender; and
1.3 grade level?
Teacher-Respondents
1.4 age;
1.5 gender;
1.6 educational qualification; and
1.7 length of service?
2. How may the socio-cultural environment of intermediate
classrooms be described as perceived by the pupils and
teachers respondents?
3. How may the psychological environment of intermediate
classrooms be described as perceived by teacher and pupil
respondents?
4. Is there a significant relationship between the profiles
of the respondents and their socio-cultural and
psychological environment?
5. Is there a significant difference on the assessment made
by the pupils and teachers respondents on the socio-
cultural and psychological environment?

HYPOTHESIS
1. There is no significant relationship between the
profiles of the respondents and their socio-cultural and
psychological environment.
2. There is no significant difference on the assessment
made by the teachers and the pupils on their socio-cultural
and psychological environment.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is chosen as the subject of the research
for the teachers to understand the uniqueness,
potentialities, and strength of the learners.
The researcher is interested in the relationship
between the construction of environment and multiple
outcomes, including learning engagement, motivation, social
relationships and group dynamics.
The findings of the study will be a valuable
significance to the following end-users:
STUDENTS- they will discover and realize the sensitivity,
compassion and care in managing behavioral problems.
TEACHERS- the findings of the study could serve as a
valuable guide in designing teaching methods that could
match the different cultural diversities of the learners.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study will be conducted among the teachers and
intermediate pupils of the three big schools of Gabaldon
District namely Gabaldon Central School, Gabaldon South
Elementary School and Ligaya Elementary School,S.Y. 2013-
2014 to determine the perception of pupils and teachers in
their socio-cultural and psychological environment.
The researcher used questionnaire-checklist and
conduct interviews in order to gather the needed data.


CHAPTER II
METHOD
This chapter presents the methodology used in the
study. It includes the research design, participants,
research site, materials and instrument, data collection,
data analysis and statistical treatment of the data.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The researcher used the descriptive method of
research with questionnaire as the principal instrument in
gathering data. The questionnaire was prepared by the
researcher.
It is used to secure information from varied and
scattered sources and thought as the most comprehensive way
of gathering data. In order to answer the questionnaire
conveniently, it was prepared in such a way that it could
be answered by checkmarks ().



RESPONDENTS
Name of School Teacher
Respondents
(N)
Pupil
Respondents
(n)
Total
Gabaldon Central School 9 110 119
Gabaldon South
Elementary School
9 90 99
Ligaya Elementary School 11 120 131
Total 29 320 349

The respondents consisted of 29 teachers and 349
selected intermediate pupils from Gabaldon Central School,
Gabaldon South Elementary School and Ligaya Elementary
School, S.Y. 2013-2014 at Gabaldon District. The researcher
used teachers as respondents because they are the key
instruments in providing good and conducive classroom
atmosphere being the facilitator in the teaching and
learning process. The researcher used elementary pupils as
respondents because they need to develop their social
relations with the other learners and the teachers by
interacting with them.

RESEARCH SITE
This study will be conducted in three big school of
Gabaldon District namely Gabaldon Central School, Gabaldon
South Elementary School and Ligaya Elementary School, S.Y.
2013-2014.

Materials and Instruments
The data in this study were collected through the use
of survey questionnaire and interviews. The numbers of the
respondents are identified through purposive sampling.
Specific questions regarding the Socio-cultural and
Psychological Environment of Intermediate Pupils of
Gabaldon Central School, Gabaldon South Elementary School
and Ligaya Elementary School of Gabaldon District,S.Y.
2013-2014 were prepared.
The materials used to support this study were
gathering answer through survey, observations, reading
books and surfing in the internet.

DATA COLLECTION
A survey questionnaire was utilized by the researcher
in gathering data related to the study.
Part I described the profile of the respondents
Part II delved on the pupils and teachers perception
about the socio-cultural environment of their classroom
and the pupils and teachers perception of the
psychological environment.
Part III delved on the comparison of teachers and pupils
respondents on the socio-cultural and psychological
environment of selected intermediate classrooms.
The questions were formulated and arranged in such a way
that the logical sequence of each question is considered.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data gathered from the respondents were
interpreted and analyzed using descriptive statistics such
as frequency counts and weighted mean.
The following numerical rating and verbal
interpretation were utilized in the study.
Numerical rating Verbal Description
5 Excellent (E)
4 Very Good (VG)
3 Good (G)
2 Fair (F)
1 Poor (P)

Verbal interpretation
Assessment of sociocultural and psychological environment
of intermediate pupils of three big schools of Gabaldon
District namely Gabaldon Central School, Gabaldon South
Elementary School and Ligaya Elementary School.
Numerical ratings Verbal description
4.20 5.00 Excellent
3.40 4.19 Very good
2.60 3.39 Good
1.80 2.59 Fair
1.00 1.79
Poor