Classroom Climate and Civic Education in Secondary Social Studies Research: Antecedents and Findings

Abstract

A broad range of researchers probing complex learning processes have mounted sustained investigations of teaching focused on descriptions of classroom climate. This review presents an overview of the theoretical grounding and instrumentation used in traditional studies of classroom climate; explores the development of social studies classroom climate research; critically examines how classroom climate has been defined and measured in research on the climate of secondary social studies classes; and provides suggestions to improve classroom climate constructs through an integration of social studies literature and the traditional approaches to the study of classrooms. Suggestions for improving future research are presented.