Teacher perceptions of the expectations of parents in an oil development environment

Wiseman, Ada Shave (1982) Teacher perceptions of the expectations of parents in an oil development environment. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine differences in teachers' perceptions of the expectations of local Newfoundland parents, their perceptions of the expectations of incoming parents, who may move to Newfoundland to work in the off-shore oil industry, and their ideal perceptions of the teaching situation. In addition, the study compared the perceptions which teachers had concerning the degree of parent-teacher contact in each of the above three groups. -- The effects of the teaching level and the geographic area in which the teacher taught, or the perceptions teachers had of parental expectations, parent-teacher contacts, and the ideal teaching situation were also investigated. -- The instrument used in the study was a Q-Sort consisting of 45 items related to education and the teaching of children. Questions concerning parent-teacher contacts as related to local parents, incoming parents, and the ideal teaching situation, were included. -- The data were collected from a sample of 321 primary, elementary, and secondary school teachers teaching in three areas of the Province which had been designated by the Provincial Government as potential oil development sites, and which had active development committees or proposals in process. -- The teachers were randomly divided into three treatment groups so that one group dealt with the perceptions and parent-teacher contacts with regards to local parents, the second group dealt with these aspects with regards to incoming parents, and the third group with regards to the ideal teaching situation. -- The data were analysed by means of a 3-way multivariate analysis of variance, with hypotheses being tested at the .05 level of confidence. -- The results indicated the existence of a significant differences between teachers' perceptions of local parent expectations, incoming parent expectations, and teachers' ideal perceptions, for 33 of the 45 items included in the Q-Sort. -- Based on these differences, it may be suggested that teachers believe that the incoming parent has experience with, and expects a more sophisticated system of education than that found in Newfoundland, particularly with respect to the variety of the school program available to students. Teachers may also feel that the incoming parent will expect greater attention to be paid to individualization of programming, as well as, greater availability and use of specialized resources for dealing with special needs of students. The belief that incoming parents will be more liberal and progressive with regards to their attitudes toward classroom discipline, testing, homework, and the teacher' personal appearance and behavior, was also suggested from the findings. -- Local events may be stereotyped by teachers as being concerned with more specific aspects of education, such as testing, homework, and discipline, rather than in with the overall education of their child. -- Differences also existed in the perceptions teachers have of parent-teacher contacts with incoming parents as opposed to local parents. Teachers seemed to feel that incoming parents will be more involved in the education of their children, and will initiate more interaction with the school. On the other hand, teachers seemed to feel that they were required to initiate too many contacts with local parents and that these parents did not assume enough responsibility for initiating and maintaining parent-teacher contacts. -- Differences also existed in the perceptions of the teachers in the three areas. These differences appeared to be largely related to the idea that teachers may have perceived parents in Area 1 to be more sophisticated and experienced in dealing with the education of their child, whereas those parents in Areas 2 and 3 were viewed as more traditional concerning their views on education. -- Differences found in the perceptions teachers have of the expectations of parents with primary-elementary school students, and those parents with secondary school students appeared to relate, in large part, to the greater participation of parents with children in the primary-elementary school level, as opposed to those parents of secondary school children.

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