Teachers' instructions and children's compliance in preschool classrooms: a descriptive analysis.
Preschool kids follow directions when the classroom context is smooth, no matter how the teacher phrases the cue.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched preschool teachers give instructions. They coded every instruction by form: command, question, or statement.
They also noted the context: group size, activity type, and timing. Then they scored whether each child obeyed.
What they found
Kids obeyed more when the setting helped them succeed, not when the wording changed. Commands, questions, and statements all worked the same.
Small groups, smooth transitions, and clear routines drove compliance. The teacher’s tone mattered less than the classroom flow.
How this fits with other research
Lovitt et al. (1970) showed teacher praise after compliance lifts kindergarten following from 60 % to 80 %. That experiment proves attention works; Joyce et al. (1988) shows when to give the cue so attention can land.
McLean et al. (1981) found autistic kids thrive under high structure. B et al. echo this: favorable context beats fancy wording for all preschoolers.
Holmes (1990) mapped mom-child three-term loops at home. The same ABC pattern shows up here: teacher cue, child response, classroom consequence.
Why it matters
Stop obsessing over perfect words. Arrange the room first: small groups, short wait times, visual cues, and steady routines. Once the setting is safe and predictable, deliver any clear instruction and reinforce the first compliant act. You will get more done with less effort.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Shrink group size to four or fewer kids before giving the next instruction.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study presents a methodology for collecting detailed naturalistic data on preschool teachers' instructions and children's compliance and a descriptive analysis of variables related to instruction rate and compliance probability. In preschools, teachers and children were observed across a variety of classroom activities. Kindergarten and first-grade teachers also were observed to permit a comparison of instructional behavior between preschool and early elementary settings. Among teachers, instructions varied in frequency but displayed consistencies in form. For example, teachers more often phrased instructions as imperatives than as questions or declaratives and directed more instructions to individuals than to groups. Teachers' instructional behavior varied across preschool activities and between preschool and elementary grades. Children's compliance was related to the context of an instruction, but not to its form. In addition to providing information about naturally occurring instructional events, the results illustrate the effects of context on teacher and child behavior and suggest directions for future descriptive and experimental research.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1988 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1988.21-157