Date of Award

1999

Publication Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

M.Ed.

Department

Education

Keywords

Education, Administration.

Supervisor

Hurley, N.

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of a sample of southwestern Ontario secondary school and elementary school teachers towards educational change. This was accomplished through a researcher completed interview. The structured interviews were conducted with 40 secondary school teachers and 37 elementary school teachers working within the southwestern Ontario separate and public school boards. The interview focused on four broad categories forming the centre of concentration for this paper: types of change; the teachers' role in the change process; the impact of the change; and the teachers' feelings concerning the change. The first category investigated the types of educational changes identified. The origins of the change, the objectives of the change, and the timetable of the change were also investigated. The information was used to identify teachers' attitudes about present changes and their willingness to participate in future changes. The findings indicated that teachers as a block were negative towards educational change. The attitudes of teachers, whether positive or negative in regards to change and future willingness to participate in it was directly related to their degree of ownership of the change itself. Teachers feeling high ownership of the change were generally positive about the change and future changes. In turn, teachers with little or no ownership of the change were negative about change and pessimistic in talking about future changes. Teachers, as a whole, wanted to be involved in the change process. By becoming involved in the planning stages of change initiatives, teachers took responsibility for implementation and evaluation of the process, leading to positive attitudes towards change initiatives. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2000 .S34. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0320. Adviser: Noel P. Hurley. Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1999.

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