Labeling Process and Its Effect on Teachers' Interactions with Emotionally Disturbed Children.

Sixty-eight kindergarten teachers (from a town in Austria) who had previously labeled selected students in their classes as either aggressive or socially competent completed a questionnaire and were observed in their classroom interactions. The questionnaire yielded biographical and sociographical data of the teachers, assessed teacher attitudes, and collected responses to nine descriptions of hypothetical problem situations with aggressive children. Teacher-child interactions were observed in a scenario in which teachers were asked to produce picture in concert with the children, using a large piece of paper mounted on the wall. Teacher behavior toward those children previously labeled aggressive was significantly less adequate (compared to behaviors toward those labeled socially competent) in terms of the following responses: reinforcement, punishment, ignoring, explaining, questions, and comments. (JW)