A survey of public relations activities in the school districts of Newfoundland and Labrador as perceived by the district superintendents

Bishop, Claude Howard (1972) A survey of public relations activities in the school districts of Newfoundland and Labrador as perceived by the district superintendents. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The major purpose of this study was to investigate public relations activities in the school districts of Newfoundland and Labrador as perceived by the District Superintendents. Data collected by a questionnaire sent to all superintendents of the Integrated and Roman Catholic School Districts in the province provided the information for the study. -- The questionnaire consisting of sixty questions, identified mainly from related research and literature, was composed of six sections, the headings of which were: (1) General Information (2) Administrative Organization (3) Patron Activities (4) Faculty and Staff Activities (5) Miscellaneous Activities. Superintendents were required to respond to the various items, thus indicating the various public relations activities and practices being used in the province's school districts. The general information assisted in establishing whether there was any relationship between certain variables and public relations activities being used. -- Tabulation of data was done on the basis of total numbers and percents in the various categories. The results obtained were analysed first on the basis of the whole picture and then in light of the factors of type and size. In the analysis by type and size, the total responses were broken into categories corresponding to the categories in the questionnaire. Cross-tabulations of district type and size were done with every item in the questionnaire. The chi-square was used to determine the relationship between these variables. The significant level for each chi-square was the .05 level. -- Analysis of data revealed that there is little activity in the direction of the development of organized public relations programs in this province, and that organization and planned policy are rarely characteristic of public relations in Newfoundland school districts. There is little evidence to show that planned public relations is an accepted part of the administrative function. Under the analysis by district type and size, few differences appeared. There is some evidence to indicate that the larger districts have more comprehensive public relations, but when tested at the .05 level of significance, few differences are statistically significant. -- Recommendations growing out of the research include; 1) School Administrators need to recognize to a greater extent that it is now the case that School public relations is an important phase of school administration 2) Training in public relations should be provided for all school personnel, 3) Administrators should use students more extensively as a focal point for the presentation of information about the school's activities and problems, 4) All personnel connected with education in the district should accept their responsibilities as public relations agents, 5) Finally, it is recommended that school boards establish the position of co-ordinator of school public relations as soon as possible.

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