The tasks of elementary education as perceived by parents, teachers and pupils in selected Newfoundland communities

• Main Author: Stockley, Betty Ruth
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1968
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/7276/; https://research.library.mun.ca/7276/1/Stockley_BettyRuth.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/7276/3/Stockley_BettyRuth.pdf

This study was designed to determine the system of priorities held by parents, teachers and pupils regarding the task of elementary education in Newfoundland. An attempt was made to identify relationships that existed between personal characteristica and opinions held by parents and pupils. -- The study was carried out in seven Newfoundland communities which included (l) an urban community, (2) an urban-rural community, (3) a rural-urban community, and (4) four rural communities. An adaptation of the T. P. E. Opinionnaire was administered to 311 parents, 126 teachers, and 339 pupils in grades ten and eleven. The questionnaire was composed of two parts. In Section I, the respondent was asked to give certain personal information. In Section II, he was asked to rank 16 tasks of the elementary school according to his perception of their relative importance. The median test was applied to each of the 16 tasks for each group or category of that group to determine whether statistically significant differences of opinion existed concerning the tasks of the elementary school. -- Analysis of the data revealed that parents, teachers and pupils agreed basically on the tasks of the elementary school which should receive primary attention. These tasks were the social and intellectual elements of the function of the school. It was revealed that teachers and pupils showed most difference of opinion regarding the tasks of the elementary school. Personal characteristics of parents and pupils influenced their perceptions of the school's tasks.