Leadership in Mixed-Age Children's Groups
The decision-reaching behaviour of children in mixed-age four child groups were investigated in this study of leadership. A total of 120 children were assigned to mixed-age groups that were composed of either two 7 and two 9-year-olds, or two 9 and two 11-year-old children. Children were observed as they attempted to reach consensus regarding the ordering of a set of pictures. They were videotaped, and their utterances were subsequently coded. Familiarity and developmental level were controlled by comparing 9-year-old children who were interacting with either 7 or 11-year-old children. Nine-year-old children in groups with younger peers exhibited more organisation statements, solicitations of preference, group choice suggestions, and recording, and less following than did 9-year-olds grouped with older peers. These results are consistent with previous findings and demonstrate that findings of leadership asymmetries in mixed-age groups are not artifacts of familiarity confounds. Using within group analyses it also found that older children in the mixed-age groups engaged in more organisation behaviour, solicitations of preference, and recording than did younger group members. These results are consistent with the argument that mixed-age peer interaction may be a particularly important context for the learning and practice of leadership skills.