Teacher perceptions concerning their role and the efficacy of moral education in public elementary schools.

摘要

One hundred and seven elementary teachers in four randomly selected elementary schools in northern Illinois were selected for inclusion in this survey study to measure teacher satisfaction concerning current levels of moral education in public schools. The survey was also used to determine teacher perceptions of their role in moral education. A secondary purpose of the study was to determine the factors that have an impact on teachers' perceptions concerning their role in moral education.; A one group t-test was used to test the hypothesis that teachers perceive their role to be one of neutrality in moral education in the public schools. Results led to a rejection of this hypothesis. Single factor analysis of variance tests were computed at the.05 level of significance to test if teacher perceptions concerning neutrality were affected by the four independent variables of school location, i.e., rural and urban, the years of teaching experience, prior training in the values clarification technique of moral instruction, and the strength of religious practices of the teacher. Teachers with low strength of religious practice tended to believe more strongly in avoidance of moral education in the classroom than teachers with moderate or high strength of religious practice.; A one group t-test was used to test the hypothesis that teachers believe in the efficacy of moral education in the public schools. Results led to a failure to reject this hypothesis. Single factor analysis of variance tests were computed at the.05 level of significance to test if teacher perceptions concerning the efficacy of moral education in the schools were affected by the four independent variables of school location, i.e., rural and urban, the years of teaching experience, prior training in the values clarification technique of moral instruction, and the strength of religious practices of the teacher.; Teachers with more than 25 years teaching experience tended to be less strong in their beliefs concerning the efficacy of schools in teaching moral values than other groups. Teachers with between 11 and 25 years teaching experience tended to believe more strongly that schools are teaching moral values adequately and that the problems with moral instruction are more with the homes from which students come and with society at large rather than the schools.