Organizational Features and Classroom Thoughtfulness in Secondary School Social Studies Departments

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This paper offers an empirical analysis of the association between organizational features and classroom thoughtfulness. The findings yield a mixed message. On the one hand, no association was found between classroom thoughtfulness and the organizational features of class size, total numbers of students, amount of planning time and number of courses for which teachers had to prepare. On the other hand, there seemed to be a positive association between levels of thoughtfulness and departmental common visions, curricular revision and instructional improvement programs to promote higher order thinking. While only an exploratory analysis, the evidence from this study suggests that what departments do within extant structures may contribute more to improving the level of classroom thoughtfulness in high school social studies than the mere presence or absence of specific organizational structures.