The field of social psychology spans the boundary between the disciplines of psychology and sociology and has traditionally been associated with empirical research. Many studies of human behaviour in education are conducted by persons who identify with social psychology or whose work falls into the social psychological ambit. Several textbooks have been published and a variety of courses are being offered on the `social psychology of education', but no journal has hitherto appeared to cover the field. Social Psychology of Education fills this gap, covering a wide variety of content concerns, theoretical interests and research methods, among which are: Content concerns: classroom instruction decision making in education educational innovation concerns for gender, race, ethnicity and social class knowledge creation, transmission and effects leadership in schools and school systems long-term effects of instructional processes micropolitics of schools student cultures and interactions teacher recruitment and careers teacher- student relations Theoretical interests: achievement motivation attitude theory attribution theory conflict management and the learning of pro-social behaviour cultural and social capital discourse analysis group dynamics role theory social exchange theory social transition social learning theory status attainment symbolic interaction the study of organisations Research methods: comparative research experiments formal observations historical studies literature reviews panel studies qualitative methods sample surveys For social psychologists with a special interest in educational matters, educational researchers with a social psychological approach.
