Complexity Context to Classroom Interactions and Climate
outputs . The innovative combination of qualitative , quantitative , and network analyses , as well as ABM methodologies , extended and transcended the limits of traditional research , which Mason ( 2008 ) described as more concerned with inputs and outputs . Accordingly , school leaders and teachers must realize that actors in a CAS can influence almost everything but control almost nothing ( Page , 2009 ). The role of school leaders , teachers , and policy makers should not be about making attempts to control outputs and outcomes . Their actions should be about cocreating and sustaining a facilitating and accommodating climate , whereby students are engaged and learn more ( Johnson , 2016 ).
Climate and interaction assessment
The recognition of effective teacherto-student interactions also can further explicate classroom climate and achievement advancement ( CASTL , n . d .; Rolland , 2012 ; Thapa , Cohen , Guffey , & Higgins-D ’ Alessandro , 2013 ; Trickett & Moos , 2002 ). Haggis ( 2008 ) argued that causalities of interactions may be intractable in classrooms . In opposition , this study showed , through a network analysis , which the teachers were at the atop of classroom hierarchies , initiating and directing a majority of interactions during six of the seven observation sessions . Carolan ( 2014 ) argued that educators know little of how the processes of change work and what form interaction patterns take . The CES and CLASS assessments provided evidencebased approaches to map interactions methodologically through the CES survey and CLASS observations . The results were then mapped into a network analysis and ABM simulations . Thus , more is known about interaction patterns and networks in these charter schools , but additional research is needed to further validate and expand the deeper meaning of these type of results ( Johnson , 2016 ).
Through the network analysis and ABM simulations , the research made visible detailed representations of interactions usually hidden or unavailable to educators about relationships and the strength of them ( Pianta , 2012 ). Given that the practice of teaching usually takes place in behind closed doors and with limited objective feedback , this study showed that the combined instruments and methodologies can provide effective feedback to improve practice and reinforce positive behaviors that are effective ( Lampert , 2001 ). Lampert ( 2001 ) claimed that the practice of teaching is about working in relationships , building positive norms of interactions . Yet teaching requires more than norms ; the practice requires cocreating a culture of learning with students . The teacher – student results in this study showed trusting relationships and positive interaction relational patterns and positive norms in the classrooms . This finding is important because an “ emotionally and intellectually engaging environment ” is linked to achievement increases in adolescence ( CASTL , n . d ., p . 3 ). The use of dual instruments and multimethods allowed for breaking down the complexity in classrooms and identifying effective interactions , as recommended by ( Pianetta , 2012 ). ( 2013 )
Predictive ABM . Combining the achievement factors through multimethods and multiphases that built upon each other contributed to developing a predictive ABM of classroom achievement averages . The ABM visually and symbolically displayed the density of instructional networks and emotionally supportive behaviors , as well as changes in classroom climate .
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