of circumstances under which schools are operating and the large number of
variables involved, no formal 'measurements' were feasible and those factors
discussed in Chapter Fourwhich would have required tightly controlled
scientific research', such as aptitude, memory, children’s ∞nceptual levels or
literacy levels in their first language, could not be pursued. This is by no means
to suggest that factors such as aptitude, memory, conceptual or literacy levels
are deemed to be of less importance than others. Only those aspects of the
theoretical discussion which were deemed observable, analysable and
interpretable without having been formally measured or assessed, such as
enthusiasm and attitudes, attention spans, self-concept, children's social skills,
their likes and dislikes and views of the French language itself, for example,
were investigated in the case studies. A detailed examination of other
variables, such as teacher personality, for example, were not within the scope
ofthis study. Clark & Trafford make the point that a teacher's relationship with
pupils, teacher personality rather than gender, affect attitudes towards the
subject and, by implication, learning outcomes. As one girl in their study put it:
"You take more in, because they make it more, a lot more fun to be there you
know, you'd rather be there than you would say a different lesson, because it
depends on the teacher and what the teacher’s like really, and how well you
get on with them." (Clark & Trafford, 1996:44)
As far as this could be evaluated on the basis of one weekly lesson observation,
albeit in School Two over a period of two years, both teachers in both schools
seemed to have very positive relationships with their pupils.
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