The Greek elementary “What Is Happening In this Class?” (G-EWIHIC): A three-phase multi-sample mixed-methods study

•Preadolescents' perceptions of their classroom's classroom climate was investigated.•The classroom climate was measured using the “What Is Happening In this Class?”.•An elaborate three-stage mixed methods design was implemented.•Qualitative and quantitative results corroborated the seven-subscale structure.•The theoretically proposed second-order factorial structure was in part supported.

Students' perceptions of their classroom psycho-social climate (CPSC) have been found to relate significantly to students' learning outcomes. The What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) being one of most prominent instruments in measuring these perceptions. The purpose of the present study was to thoroughly examine the structure of preadolescents' perceptions of the CPSC, through an elaborate mixed-methods three-phase design, in the Greek elementary school context. The study included semi-structured interviews with students and teachers, and two large-scale administrations of the qualitatively adapted WIHIC version. Both qualitative and quantitative results supported the seven-subscale structure of the instrument and identified potential issues with the conceptual content of two of the subscales. Quantitative findings also supported the theoretical second-order factorial structure of the instrument, but with different subscale allocation. The advantages of mixed-methodology in the cross-cultural examination of student's perceptions of the learning environment and implications for research are discussed.