The observation of hyper-adapted behaviour of pupils

By taking a brief look at the literature in pedagogy and psychology, it is obvious that there is no paucity of studies concerning the manifest and evident forms of pupil discomfort. What does seem to be lacking, on the contrary, is the number of surveys regarding certain somewhat insidious forms of discomfort, which are generally less noticeable, that can be identified behind hyper-adapted behaviour. In this paper, therefore, I intend to focus my attention on this important issue. In particular, after a brief introduction, I will present an observation form designed to be used by pri- mary school teachers to assess hyper-adapted conduct that is variously marked by the intention to measure up to the perceived expectations of significant others. The observation form includes five typologies of essential signs of the behaviour under study: a) perfectionism, typical of the student who tends to favour an overly polite, careful, and controlled attitude, that could result in shyness, inhibition, blocks and even inaction; b) excessive complaisance and docility, identifiable in the pupils who, in order to conform to the expectations of significant others, tend to prefer some exceedingly obliging, obedient, and compliant style; c) persistent tendency to strive, which characterizes the style of those pupils who, despite their constant efforts, nevertheless fail to reach the goals set; d) exaggerated show of force, which describes the typical disposition of those who tend to show themselves excessively and persistently to be strong, vigorous, energetic, etc.; e) accentuated hurry, which is another way that students sometimes display to comply with the expectations of significant others; the aim is to show these others just how exceedingly agile, quick, swift, or zealous they are. The paper proposed, therefore, will present the observa- tion form and the procedure followed for its validation.