Summary.This study was carried out in conjunction with the Teaching Styles project (Bennett, 1976). A behaviour observation schedule was devised and utilised to investigate pupil classroom behaviour in relation to differing levels of anxiety and achievement motivation. The observation sample comprised 104 10‐ and 11‐year‐old pupils in formal and informal classrooms. Based on the premise that self‐report measures of anxiety and achievement motivation may be indicative of coping strategies, zonal analyses were carried out separately by sex and within teaching style. Results, which varied slightly according to teaching style, indicated that an inferred coping strategy of ‘approach’ (high anxiety, high motivation) was associated with a higher frequency of work activity whereas an inferred coping strategy of ‘avoidance’ (high anxiety, low motivation) was associated with a higher frequency of social interaction, negative behaviour, watching other pupils, gazing into space, fidgeting and moving around the classroom. These results were much less marked for girls than for boys. Information on the home backgrounds of high anxious, low motivated pupils suggested a higher incidence of home problems. The parents of high anxious, high motivated pupils were frequently described by teachers as ‘pushing’ or ‘over keen’. The educational implications of these findings, together with the previously reported findings relating the inferred coping strategies to cognitive at