Classmates as Workmates: Informal Peer Activity In the Elementary School 1

Abstract

Drawing on case study data from an American urban school, this paper examines the elementary school classroom as a setting for children's learning of culturally appropriate modes of informal work group behavior. Rather than representing an intrusive, disfunctional element in schoolroom social organization, pupil peer activity is strongly conditioned, in form and function, by the classroom situational context and by school‐sponsored norms for peer conduct. School norms are communicated to children through both informal and formal channels, and are sanctioned in the classroom disciplinary process. Although several forms of peer activity occur at the expense of organizational goals, peer group activity takes a number of forms that evince cooperation with school goals and authority and that lend support to individual achievement. SCHOOLING, ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIALIZATION, PEER BEHAVIOR, HIDDEN CURRICULUM, ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION.