A Study Of The Impact Of Peer Group Relationships On Classroom Participation In Higher Vocational Schools

In 2019,the gross enrolment rate of higher education in China will reach 51.6%,and the development direction of higher education in China will shift from the increase of "quantity" to the improvement of "quality".With the rapid expansion of higher vocational education,the issue of quality of vocational education has entered people’s view and received wide attention from all walks of life.The core of higher vocational education quality improvement is talent cultivation,and the key to talent cultivation is to create efficient classrooms,stimulate students’ interest and promote students’ participation.Moreover,peer groups are an important influence on student learning at the higher education level.Therefore,this study,based on group socialization theory and interpretive reconstructive theory and using qualitative research methods,was rooted in Class J of Jiangxi S College and conducted a one-and-a-half-month field survey using data from the class as the main source,in an attempt to examine three informal dimensions of peer group relationships naturally formed by students in higher vocational institutions-reciprocal binary friendship,social status(peer rejection and peer acceptance),and social centrality,to explore the influence of peer group relationships on classroom behaviour,affect,and cognition,and to find out the mechanisms of peer group relationships on classroom participation among students in higher vocational institutions.The study found that,firstly,the peer group relationships of students in higher vocational institutions have three characteristics: valuing mature traits,emphasising human feelings and advocating pragmatic concepts.These three characteristics influenced the establishment of peer group relationships and individual classroom participation.Secondly,close binary reciprocal friendship relationships result in a high degree of convergence between the two parties in the relationship in terms of the behavioural,affective and cognitive dimensions of classroom participation,and this high degree of convergence polarises classroom participation and non-participation,and brings about’limits’ on individual differences.Positive binary friendships that tend to be learningoriented promote individual classroom participation,while friendship relationships that tend to be non-learning-oriented hinder individual behavioural,emotional and cognitive engagement in the classroom.Third,the core of peer rejection in social situations is ’compartmentalisation’ and the core of peer acceptance is ’integration’.Peer rejection ’compartmentalises’ the individual from the group,allowing positive individuals who are rejected by nonlearning peers to increase their participation in the classroom.In general,however,peer rejection reduces individual participation in all aspects of the classroom.Where peer rejection affects an individual’s psychological well-being,peer rejection may increase an individual’s emotional engagement in a specific lesson.Peer acceptance leads to the gradual ’integration’ of the individual HEI student into the group concept,with acceptance by active learners facilitating individual participation in the classroom,and the opposite being true of acceptance by non-learning peers.Fourthly,the influence of the central member of the group is self-centred and spreads around according to the closeness of the members of the group.Negative central members of the group may reduce the behavioural and cognitive involvement of other members of the group,or they may increase their emotional involvement in the classroom,creating a playful atmosphere in the classroom,but this emotional involvement does not stimulate the interest and enthusiasm of the members of the group in the classroom.Fifthly,the informal peer group relations of students in higher vocational institutions are mainly through the selection process and influence process,which constitute the influence mechanism of classroom participation.The selection of peer group relationships is not only a choice of classroom location,but also a choice of classroom participation.The influence process of "those who are close to the vermilion are red,those who are close to the ink are black" refers to the fact that the behaviour and ideology of the individuals in the group influence the other members of the group,with the influence of the central members of the group spreading from the centre to the periphery.This influence leads to behavioural and psychological convergence in the group,a process that follows the ’three degrees of influence’ principle.Sixthly,the differences in the relationship between male and female students’ groups show different classroom participation styles;the closer an individual’s classroom seat is to his or her peer group,the more he or she is influenced by the behaviour and perceptions of the peer group;the personal experiences and family backgrounds of HE students influence classroom participation behaviour and attitudes;the power of tutors and class leaders influences the changes in peer group relationships and the classroom learning atmosphere of HE students,which in turn affects classroom participation.The power of tutors and class cadres affects the change of peer group relationship and classroom learning atmosphere,which in turn affects class participation.