The relationship between principal teacher interaction and primary school climate in the St. George East Education Division of Trinidad and Tobago
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1989
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Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between teacher and principal behaviour, and the openness of school climate in selected primary schools in Trinidad and Tobago. The study was confined to the school climate profiles developed by Halpin and Croft (1963) and revised by Hoy and Clover (1986). School profiles were based on teacher-teacher and principal-teacher interaction. Teachers' characteristics were described as collegial, intimate, and disengaged. Principals' characteristics were described as supportive, directive, and restrictive. A set of hypotheses and research questions was generated in order to investigate teacher and principal behaviours in open, closed, engaged, and disengaged school climates. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 29 primary schools. The results indicated that: 1) the majority of schools could not be arranged along the pure model proposed by Hoy; 2) the hypothesis which tested for significant differences in the mean scores representing the Openness Indices for principal and teacher behaviour was partially supported; 3) the hypotheses which tested for significant differences between the mean scores representing teacher and principal behaviour in open and closed schools were supported; 4) there were no significant differences in the mean scores representing teacher and principal behaviour when open and closed schools were compared with the engaged and disengaged school types; and 5) no statistically significant differences were found between the mean scores representing both principal and teacher behaviour in those schools based on variables such as government, government assisted, "prestige" and "non-prestige" schools and principals of different genders