ERIC Number: ED300872
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1988-Mar
Pages: 12
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Social Competency Training Goes to School: Pupil Involvement in the Classroom through Problem-Solving with People.
Hallarman, Prudence R.; And Others
The need for a "systems" approach to school-based social competency training has been highlighted by a national commission and the U.S. Department of Education. The Pupil Involvement/Problem-Solving with People (PI/PSP) curriculum has adapted numerous, well-researched social compentency training models targeted for elementary classroom use. Designed as one portion of a four-level intervention (the Quality of School Life for Elementary Schools or QSL-E program), PI/PSP aims to promote a beneficial school climate through improved student and staff participation and more positive mutual expectancies. The program derives from industry's well-known quality circle programs, which provide training, structure, and legitimacy to employee participation in organizational problem-solving and decision-making. This paper describes PI/PSP, outlines the 5-unit curriculum of 21 lessons, and discusses implementation issues. The paper also briefly reviews research on outcomes. Observable benefits include increased student motivation and participation in class activities and increased ability to solve typical school-related problems. Teachers found PI/PSP to be an effective, systematic method of dealing with students' concerns and "buying back time" formerly spent disciplining children and reminding them of expected behavior. While PI/PSP had much to offer teachers, it was not a comfortable model for authoritarian teachers. However, the participatory model does not remove teacher authority and has great capacity for replication and dissemination. Included are 28 references. (MLH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Orthopsychiatric Association (65th, San Francisco, CA, March 1988).