Classroom and Staffroom Interaction / הכיתה וחדר המורים: אינטראקציות והגדרות מצב

The effects of a charge in the directorship of a comprehensive school in an Israeli development town were observed. Attention was focused on the interaction within the classroom, the staffroom and the director's office. These observations revealed specific patterns of behavior among pupils, teachers and the principal, as well as each group's general attitudes and perception of the situation. The behavior of individual teachers in their classrooms was compared with the collective behavior of the teachers in the staffroom. The relationship of these two behavioral patterns was analyzed in light of the expectations of the administration. The collected data indicates that while the teachers outwardly accept and adopt the new director's innovations, they still adhere to their own previous attitudes and beliefs concerning the school, the educational process and the pupils. As an outcome of coerced change, various "survival strategies" were formulated to deal with situations of conflict at school. The behavior of those observed is described and classified as collective or individual, and as overt or covert.