MAY ONLY

TOTAL OF 10 PAGES ONLY MAY BE XEROXED

..J

DEVELOPI NGAND EXECUTINGAPLAN FOR A

SCHOOL-COMMUNI TYCOMHUNICATI ONS PROGRA.>i

ARepo rtof a Project Presentedtoth e Facul tyofEducat io n inParti a l Fulfillmentofth e Req uiremen ts

for the De gree of Maste rof Educat ion

©

^{Fa<ber Ro na l d}by^H. Bro ,",ey MemorialUni v e rsi tyof Newfoun dla n d

Augus t,1972

APPROVALPAGE

Theunde rsignedcertify th a t they havere a d andre co mmen dfo r acceptance the re por t ofthe projeccenti t led. ''Dev e l o pi n g and Executinga Plan for a School -CoTl\lllunityCormnunica tionsProg ram , "

submittedbyFa therRonaldM.Bromleyinpar tialfulfillmentof the re qu ireme n tsfor the DegreeofMaste r of Education.

Da t e _

(11 )

AIlsrRACT

ThiaprojectwaaaD. endeavourto. .tivate the schoolaDd the COIIIIIIUDi tytowar d

t _ .,.

coaaunication. Thewrite renvlaagedth is ala beiDg achievedthroug h an evolvedcomIIIUDic:atlonspr o gr . . . The pro gr am evolvedth r ou gh a proc e s s of ac tivitdialoguebetweenthe scbeef aDd theC:01DIIIUD.l ty .

Thewri t er '.method wa s influencedbyrecent the s e s and literatureOD the subjec tas wel l

&.

byta king In toaccount the cir c umstanc esof theparticularpe ople. and the sc h oo l. AnAt t itude s Su rvey va a conductedby per sona lintervi ew which ide nt ifiedth e areae ofeducationneeding :1mlIledia teat tention.

The tea c h e r a were.lIlot lv atedthr ou gh lIIeetlnga wi t hthewire rin the fora of semi na r a whichdealtwitb the ory and prac ticeof communications . Ro l es were identified and theexist ingprogr••

discussedan d evalu at ed. ThecoaaunityvaaSIOtivated througb gene r a l meet inga andp,aren t - teac he rmee t i n g••

The institutionof a Sc.bool-CO-Unit yCommun1c.ationaCoIaaIitte e formedth e basicfoundation fortheprogram. This ColIIID.itte eva. representativeof thesc ho o l and the cOlllDlUnityand wasestablished to meetth ewish e sof thepe ople . After severalmonthlymeetings of the Commi t tee the evolvedsystem wa s delineated.

Th e.programof cOlDlJlu n ica tionaacti vi tieswasoutline d and based on th e resultsof th eAt t it ude s Surv e yand knowledgeof theexisting problems gl ea n ed frolllthe motiva ting ef f o rts.

Durin gtheentiretime spanof th isprogramthe. proce s sof sehool-c 01IlIIIUnit y cOlllllnln i c ati on s was inprogr ess and was made IlIOre

(Hi)

(iv)

ev identthroughthe activiti esofth e school-communitycOfllllluni c a ti on s committ ee.

The Uaplicat ions ofth e project areverycl ear. The IlIOtiva tion of the schoo l personnel andth e membersof th e COlllllll1n i ty doe s generate in terest and bringaction. Throughthi s proje c:tthe COllllllUnityreac hed ahighlevel of awarenessof itsroleas par t ic:ipator inthe entire educat ionalpro c e s sle a dingeventuallytobet ter schools. Itcouldbe of in t er e st toscho o l boa rds to stimu la teint er est ina struc t u red cOTllll\u n i c'l t ionsprogram.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Aproj ectrequir e s the coo pera tionof ma ny people if it isto me et withsuccess. The writer exp ressesgrat itudeto Dr.Fred Buf fe t t, th e su p erviso r who helped re f ine ideas and kept givingencouragement.

An expression of th a nk s goes toth e RomanCat ho l icSchoolBoar d for ConceptionBay Centre,HarbourMain,Newf oun d land, fo r pel1lliss i on todev elop and carryou t th i spro j e ct inthe Harbour Main Schoo l.

Sister TeresitaMar t i n de serve s special grat i tude for her un t i r i n gef f o rt s in makingthe prog rOIllviable thro u ghth e cooperat ion of her staffwho alwaysshoweda keenintere s t .

Iwouldalsolike to express mythanks toth e facu ltyandstuden ts of th e Departme n t of EducationalAdmin ist rstionofMemorial University of Newfoundlandwho have helpedin many ways.

Fina l lythe School-Commu n i tyCommunicatio nsCommit teearewor thy ofth an k s for their interestand support.

(v)

CHAPTER

TABLEOF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTI ON AND STATEMENTOF THE PROBLEM ThePr o bl etl •• •• • • •• TbeProjectandDefin i tion Purpo ses• •• • • • • ProjectStudy Period. Delimi ta tions. Methodology ••

Te nt sof Refer e n c einthe SchoolDist r i c t . Responsib il i ty totheUn i v e r s i ty • • •• • ORGANI ZATI ON OF THE REMAIND'ER OF THE REPORT•

PAGE

II REVIEWOF RELATEDLITERATURE

THE MEANING OFSCHOOL- COHHUN ITY COMMUNICATIO NS• THE NEED FOR SCHOOL-COHM"U'NITYCOIfll1NICATIONS• 10 THE ''HOW'' OF SCHOOL-COMMUN ITYCOMHlTNICATlONS• 12 Knovin gth eCOlIIlllU n i t y• • • •• • ••• • • 12 PeopleInvolv ed in COIlDDunica.tionsProgralll• 13

The St a ff ••• •• 13

TheSt u den tGrou p• 14

Th eLocd COIIIIlIitte e• 15

Th eParent s • •• •• 15

Inf o rma l Cotlllllunit y Leaders 16

CollQllllni tyOrga.n iza t io ns. • 16

Howth e ComDlunityGetsth e Message 16

Pupils. • •• • •• ••• •• •• .• •• •• • 16

(Vi)

(vii)

PAGE

I t Mass Media•• • • • • • • 17

PublicMeetingsand P.T.A. 18

PersonalContact • •• • • 18

Howth e Sc:hoolGets th e Message 19

Opinio n . • • •• • • •• •• •• • • • • • 19 DiscussionGrou psand Prellsu reGroups. • • 19 Summarizationofth e Communicat ionsProc e s s . 19

Propo sed Para dip for Progralll •• • 22

III DEVELOPMENT AND EXECUTION OF PROGRA.\f

PreliminaryInvestiga tion . • • 24

GettingtoKnowth e COIIllIIunity • 24

The EducationalBackground• • • 26

The AttitudesSur vey• • •• • • 27

ExistingMod@s ofCommunicat ion 36

Tea c h e r Hotivat ion• •• •• • • 36

Effectiv e an d EfficientCo1lllllUn i c a t io n 38 CoamaJn i cationTechn i ques and St r a teg ies 40 Barr i ersto Ef f e c t i v eCoDnun1cat ion• 41

PersonnelRol es• • • 42

Disc uss i ng the Plan• 43

COlCllun it yMotiva t ion • 45

CO\llDlunityCounciJ.Meeting. 46

Gene ral Me etingand FOrlllatio n of COllllllitt ee 47 Th e Sc:hoo l-COIIlIIIUoityCOCIIIllUoicat lonsCOIIIllI!ttee Re po r t A48 Summaryoft'".a jor Co1mDuni catioDsAct i v i t iesfrolll Mayto neceeber 31.1971. • •• • •• •• • • •• 52

(viii)

CHAPTER PAGE

III The School-CommunityCOTlllllunications COTlllllittee Report B• • . • • • . .. . . . • .. . • . • Summary of Major Corrununica tionsActivitiesfrom January 1 to June 17.1971 . . .. .• .

IV SUMMARY. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary• . .

Conclusions• Recommendations . BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES •

53

56

58 60 62 63

LISTOFTABLES TABLE

Heanof th e Score s forEachof th e l'\I'enty-F ive Itelllsofthe At t i t ude Seal efor th e Har bou rMai nCO\llIIlun i ty•• •• •• •

PACE

2'

II Heanofthe Categor yScore sof th eAttitude sealefortheHarbour Main COlIIIIIUni ty. I I I Mea nSCo re• • • •• •• •• •• • • ••

(Ix)

J2 34

FIGURE

LIST OFILLUSTRATIONS

Two-Waycceeun tcectcns • •. •

Pro posedParadigmforProgram.

Para digmof the Evolvedcceeentcaetces System

(x)

PAGE

21 22 44

INl1tODUCTION AND STArEKENt' OF THE PROBLEM.

We ar e livinginathe when thepeoplearedemanding IDOreand.

IDOrefrOll th e school. Teacherscomplain of a highpupil-teache r rat iothus an inab ilityto cope wit h the classr oom le arning si t uat i on.

Adlllinis tra torsareconstant lyseekingadd i ti ons toth eataf f but only tobetold byth e schoolboard tha t acneyis not available. Studenta aredisgruntledon accountof the teachin gth e y arereceivinguDder such conditions. It is evident thattheraia slack ofund erstanding inmos t instances ,evenabreakdownincOllllllUt11cationa. ThOllKboo l needsto understandthecOBDUnity,andtbecOlllDlUDityDee d etounder- stand theschool. Sucb under sta n d i ngevokesinvo lvementbyall parties.

Involvement by al lpartiesin a democrat ic societyensure sa fairsha re of pub l icsuppor t for the service ofeduc a t i on.

Anystudentof CO!lllllu n 1c a tion will adlll.it that peoplewi ll aee give financialsupport forservicestheydonotdeemneces sary. or for serviceatheydonot underata nd. Tode ve l o pand_ inta inadeq ua t e schoolain ou r provinc e ci t ize ns need to cOCllpre h end th e apo r t a n ce of gi v i ngsu ff i c i en t attentionandmone,. toeduc a t i on. I

TheProvincial Governme nt spe ndsa cons iderab l esum ofIIIOneyon educ at i onbuteduc ator sareskeptic alasto whetherthetaxpayers know howthi s1I10n e y isbeingspent.how itsh oul d be spe nt. and whethertu :es should beincr e a s e d in thenameof educ ation. The publi c

1Gor d onE.McCloskey .Educa t io nand Pub licUDderstand ing (N.Y.,Hayes and Row, 19 6 7).p,II.

- 2-

hav e alIlor alri !httobe1nt ome tlend brought eean understand ing of the financin gof the scho o l.

The re iseveryindic.a tio nboth socio l ogically an d phy s c h olo gi call ythat fre epeople award int e res t.effo r tand funds tomatters they un d ers t and andvsl ue.2

Educa torsareawareofala c kof und ersta nd ing , info rma t ion.and involvemen t onthe part of thepublicofthecommunit y when th e y set out to formulate pol i cy.estab l ish ne ed s and introdu c e ch a nge .

Many wou ldhold th at:

Publicschool teachers andadmi nis t r a tors would seemtobe caught betwee ntwo force sin th e consid erat i on of educationand publicunde rstan d ing- namely , tho se valuesand traditio ns whic h bythe inhe r i ta nce of the cult ur esho uld be passedalong totherising genera tion in thel ight of a chang ing soc i a l or de r ,and tho s e forcesandpre s su r e s re pre s ented by extr aschoo lintere s ts which seek thr o ugha.l thru isi:icor selfis hpurp osesor both to thr ottlepublic education'llsbil i ty to acbieve th e s e ends.3

Thi s pr ojec twasunde r t aken be c au s e its initiato r re ali z edthat a cOUDDunica t ions ga p must bebrid ged,thatpubl icsen timent mu st be evoked,th at a schoolcommunitycOllllllUnica tionsp:,ogram must ha v e an impo r tant pl a ce among educa t ionalprio rit ies.

The Prob lem

Themajorpurpo s e of th i s projec twasto developasc h o o l communi tycommun icat ionsprog ramfor the ElementarySchoo l inthe communityofHar bo urMain,Concept ionBay,Newfoundlandandto carry

2

rsra. ,

p ,XII .

3Edward Char lesPino, "The RelativeEffectof Struc tu ra l Messages on the At ti tudesof Pare ntA Toward Schools"(un pub l i s hed Ph.D.dissertation,Sta n fo rd University , 19 65 ).

- , -

out the progr•• for one year.

The _ln o r prabl _ ain cluded a __sur_D t of theattitud e sof th e peopletowar d educa tionin gene raland ananaly st.of there sult .

a.

partial baaiaforthepr o gratll. Anothe raloor prob lem wa sth e proced u r es usedtndevel o pi ng aDd. execut ing~heplanforth e school commun i ty c.ollllllUn1c a tl oDsprograa.

The !»reiectandDefinition

In tbbproje ctthewriter end eav ou red tost imu l a t e the achool an d the community toward the activity of two-wa yc.ollllllunic:ationa. The writerenvis a ged ascho o l cotlllllUnity communicatio nsprogram .a a processofset h ' .dialogue between the achoo laDdtheCQlIIlllUol tyfor th ep.lrpos e of iDcrea.ingcOlnlNn i ty und er sta ndingofed uca t ional oe e d s andpracticesandene-our.s iDg cOIIllIUnltyincere at. co ope ra t iveand eeeec rue e.ave cr it i c is-inth e""'rk of t.pt'ov ing t.h e school.4

This pt'o jeee did not. eeeeeeeeunt. i l t.he policyof t.h e board (Conc epti o n Bay Centre) re gard ingsc:hool-c~ni tyrelat i on s was known.

Sin ce suchpolicywas lac kin g, the writer endeavoured to achieveth e followin g aims andob jec t ives:

(1) ••••todev elo p commonunde rs tandingsabo u t aUns and obj ec t i vesof th eschools .

(2)to eva luat eofferingsof th e sch oo l in termsofneeds filled.

(3) tounite pare n tsandteac he rs to meet thene e d s of the students.

4 LealieW.KIndred.How To Tel l theSchoolStOry.(New Jersey.Prentice Hall. Inc., 1963).p , 16.

- 4-

(4) t.odevel op aware ne ssof the blportanceof educationin ademoc r acy.

(5) to establishconfid e n c einth e school. (6) to bf oB thepubU.cabo u t th eworkof th e school.

(7)toraIl,.sup port for th e_ ln tenanceof th eschool program.5

Pro1 e ct. St ud yPeriod

ThePro j e c t commenc edon May Let ,19 71 and wa scompletedon the SalDedat eth e fo l lowingyear 1972.

Del imitat iona

(1)Sinc etheCOUUllUol tyschool wallan elementary schooland stud entsfrollGrad e six onwards attended cent raliz ed school . inthe ne i g hbouring cOIlIlIIUuityofAv ondale itwa . clear that pare nts coul d notplac e fullemphasison oneschool alon e. Insome inatancesparent s neededto be involv ed In three schoo l s.

(2)Thefuturesuc cess dep endsonthe fol low- t h ro ugh byth e ne wincoming staff and th e school cotllllllJnltycOIIIIIIUnicationa c01Il!lit tee.

(3) The orga n izedCOlllllklo i ca t lo n8 pro gr a mac tivitie s wereIt-ited tothecOllllllit te e and staff.

(4 ) The instrumentusedwasnot inte nd edby its e lf toformth e bas i sfo r theprogram, butwasus ed onlyto st reng the nrea s on s discov e red thr ough commun ic at ion betwee nth esch ool , facult y andthecommi t tee.

5 ClenF.Ovard.Adlllin is trari onofth e Cha ngingSeconda ry School . (NewYork: The MacMillanColapany.1966).p,448.

- , ^-

MethodologY

Thewrite r set:ou twith the fo llowingplan:

(1) Discov eryof what 18 known byadminis t e r ing a ques tionnaire to ara ndom sample of the cOIIlIllunity's citizens,and by peraonalin t e rvi ewswiththe te ac hers .

(2)Hot iva t i o n (Iof schoo l andco-un l ty bydhs eainatlODof lite r ature . holding~blie:=e etlog8. andarr an g i ng di.c:usalon period sfor the teachers.

(3) Organ iza tionof • cOllllllUn icationsgroup thr ou ghth e democratic processanddeveloping te rmsofrefer e nc e. ai ma and object ives for theelected c:e-i tte ean d tbe school.

(4) Actionbyseeking realizationofthe st.. and objective s.

TerasofRe f e rence in the SchoolDist r ic t

The School Board (TheRoman CatholicScho o l Boardfor Conception Bay Cent re) in accep t i ngthe candidate ' sapplicationnotedthatth ey hoped tobesu ppl ie d with the resultsofth e study and a copy ofthe c01llp l e t ere por t ofthe projecc •

The Board haa also re actedfavourabl ytoareque st fo r fund ato th e8UIIof three hund r eddolla rs(app r oz1JDat ely ) to help defra y travellingco ats.literatureezpe n s e a . etc .

Responsibilitytoth e University

The candidate' sunders tandi ngof hisre s po nsibil i tyto the Depart me n tofEduc a tiona lAdmi nist ra t i o n ofthe Uni versity wa sth e carr y ingout oftb epro j ect unde r the guidanceof th efacultyadVisor.

Dr.Fred er i c kBuff ett. aa vas ou t l ined in th e pr oposaland acc e pt edby th e Depa r tlDe n t. The report ofthe pro j ect i2 conta ined inthefollowing pa g e s.

- 6-

ORGANIZATI ONOFTHE REMAINDER OF THE REP ORT Chap te r 11ofthisre p o rt is concerned wit hrev i e wi ngth e literatureonschool-commu n itycOllllllUnleationsas itreferstore s e arc h onmeaning of theconcept.thene e dforcommun i cations as _11asthe method of dev elopinga pro gram.

The survey of attitudes towa r d svari ou s aspectsof th e educationa l pr o gr8lll wi l l be tre at ed inChapte r IIIsinceit1s concernedrichthe developtllen tan dexecut ionof th e program from MayI,1971to June I, 1972.

Chap te r IVis conce rned with a sWlIlllary.conclusionsand eeeeeeeedatrees,

CHAPTER II

REVIEWOF RELATEDLIT ERATURE

THE MEANINGOFSCHOOL-CamtJNI TYCOMMUNICATIO:~S

School Commu n ity Communicat ion aisaproc es sofactive dial o gue between theacheoland theCO-.Ioi ty. forthe purposeof increasing cO-.Joityund er s t and ingofeducationa lneedsand pract icesand enc ou ragingconmruni ty interestand actio n aswellascooperat iv e an d cons t.ruct ivecri ti cismin thework of improvi ng the school.6

In whateverIIlannerschoolc~ ni tycOllllBUnicationsisdefined ithaa toincludetwo-wa y channelsof inf o rmat i onand ac tionbetween the schooland the commu n ity .

Withinanycommuni cati onsprogr al!l oneIIlUstfirst.co ns i d era cle arpolicybased onthe cOlllDlUni t y 'scharac teristicsand educat.ional ne eds(Braun) .7 Thefirs t cons i d e ration10"11 1 beth e schoolpr ogra m as it is. Theper tinentquestionsare asfollolo"s:

(1) Does thecO\llll'lUnity understand the schoolprogra m?

Ifnot.why?

(2 ) Do es theschoolunde rst.andth eatt itude s of the commun i ty ? Ifno t,"hy?

() WhatisbeinKdone to inst itutea progHDof t\lO vay communications?

6 Le slie W.Kindred,Hovto TelltheScho o l Stor y . (Ne"

Jers e y: PrenticeHall. Inc ••1963 ),p.16.

7 Lou1.sH.Brau n ,"Public Relat ion s for the Secondary School", Nati o na l Associationof Secon darySchool Principals,Vol.32,(May,1948 ) . No.153.

- 7-

- 8-

In keepingwith th e above questio n s Kin dre d says:

As a eae eer ::)f policy,thel::c.al boardof education IIlUst rec o gniz ethatth e schoolhasan obligation to promo te intellig ent under s tand i n gofwha t it Is doin~and wingood w111fromasma ny grou psas possi b le re gar dl e s s ofthe size of the grou por th esexorageof itsmembers. Peoplewho belong toco-un i tygrou psarepayingthe schoolbill and they are entlt:led toknow what servicesthe schoolsoffe r andwhy , as well88th e problems con f ront i ng th em.

Thepolicymus tbe one of inte rpret l nt the school

~~:~~a~o~p:~~t~~~KSinth ecormauni tyand inviting

It Isalso said thatschoolCOIIIIIlUni t y cDmIIlUnlcati on aIsa welcomeworking relati on shipthatprovides the peoplewit h an under- st a nd ing of thephilo s o phy, purpose sand prog ramof th e school s and invi testheirsugg estions and criticls1!lS in makingth eschoo l progr31ll func tionalfor theyou t h of theCOllll1lUn H y .9

In conside r inggood commun ica tionsbetweenthe school and th e cOllllllun i t y welDu s t hav eaims and obj e ctive s. goe eof the s e_ l dbe asfollows:

(1)••••todevelopcommon unders tand ingabout aims andobjec tivesof the schools.

(2)toeva l ua t e offe ringsoftheschool in termsof ne edsfilled.

(]) toun i teparen tsandteac hersto eee c theneeds of thestud e n ts .

(4) to dev elo pawar e nessof the im.portan ce of education inademocracy.

8 Kind red ,~•• p. 16 . 9 Braun,~•• p,32.

- , -

(5 )to establish con fi d en ce inthe school. (6) toinformthe publi c:.about the workofthe

school.

(7)torally sl.p por t for th e ma i n tenan ceof th e schoo l proRram.10

10 GlenF. Ovard. Administra t ionof th e ChanllingSeco nda ry School,NewYork:(TheHacMilla nCompa ny,1966 ), p , 448.

-10-

THE NEED FOR SCHOOL-COMMUN ITYCOMMUNICATIONS Lifeasitbecomes morecomplexseemstobe ever~iv i nll:birt h to nevneeds. For many years educatorsrecel\"edtheireespecefve gove rnmen t gran ts,kept th e i r insti tut iongo i ngandthemajo ri tyof theci ti z en s acce pted the successes and fa ilures oftheseh ool wit hout 1IlUcbrea ct ion. There ar e 80_ny demandsforthew.~eearner'.dollar tod aythathenow beg in a toque stio nhiscont r ibu ti ons towardeducati on and is 1JlOre pro ne to criticize th e shortcomi ngsintheadmi l11st rat i oD ofpublic funda. The pub l i ckno wsthateducationiscostingalotof moneybu t :lre skept ic alas to whether itsho ul d cost moreeach ye ar. The r e arellIa nyquesti onsbeingasked, there isIllUchinforma tiontobe disselllina ted,ifthepubl i c istoacquirea favoura bleattit ude to ward s education andto become inv olve din it.

Are por t by Carterand Sut tboffdel!lOnstrates thatth e more und erst andingthere is conce r ningeduca tionthebetter thefinanc ial re c ord.llThereport sta tes :

The importanceof publicvalue s for educa tion cann otbe overs tated. Wi thou tsuchvalues, communica t ionw11lno toccu r;nebasisw111be establ is hed for und erstan di ng••• Successf ul suppor tfor the schools re sts on public understand ing•••• Suc ce s s f u l support is dependentonastateof understandinp:between schoolsandcOllllllUnity.12

11Ric h ard F.carte rand JohnSutthoff,Communities an d The ir Schools, (Stanfo rd:StanfordUnive rsi ty,School of Education. In s t itute

~ nicat ionRe se arc h,1960) ,p,73 . 12 Ibid.,pp,19- 23.

- 11 -

Pino inhis dis s ertatio nquotedtheforego ing st udyasindi ca ting tlult:

(1) The people have su ff ici en t valuefored uca t ion to try to understanditsproblems.

(2) An underst anding of the situation isessen t ial to any sta blesup po r t of pu bl i c: educ:ation. (3)Unders tand i ng isth eres u ltof effective

c01lllllUnic:a t ion s.13

--- - ---- -

13Edwar dChar lesPino, "Th e Rela t iveEffec:tofSt ruc:t u r a l Ue s s a g e s ontheAt ti tudesof Pare nts Toward gehoej.",(Un pu blished Ph.D.disser ta tion . St a nf or dUn i v e rs ity, 19 65 ) ,p,6.

- 12 -

TIlE"HOW"OFSCHOOL-COMMUNITYCOHMUNI CATI ONS Kno wi ng th e Col1llllUnity

Beforeany commu n ications pro grlUll is begunit iswel lto learn al l onecanabo ut the background of th eeOllllllUn ity . Agrea t\J1!al thof info rmat i onisto be had by employi ngeffo r t. The school boa rd . th e ec hc o j,eommittee,the lead ersin the c01DDlu ni ty, casualee swe rsa e rcn withth einhabita nts as 'Wellasthe historybooks areall sou reesof infonaat io n re leva nt totheknoving ofa pa r t1c: ular cOIIIIlUn ity . On sueh information together wi ththe infor1lla tionreeeivedwithin the school itselfth ewisein itiator will gleanfac:tstoindicate wbathas beendon eincomrnu nieat i o ns,aswel las,what needsto bedone. Sue h knowledgeta k esinto eonsiderationthe p;eograph ical.educa tional , eeonolllical.eul tu ra l and social as pe et sof life withinthat eOlflllunlty.

andwill haveabear i ngon the programoneehoo s e sto pursue . Incar ryi ngouta sehoo l-ccnmnun l ty eOllllDUn i e .a.ti on s progr am th e In i t ia torof theprogrammustbe eonv ersantwiththeelementsof eOJlllllUnica t ionAvailabl easwell asth e st rue t u reof cOlIDunieation.

HeClo.key saystha t the kernelof theconcept;of eODeu n i e ati o nisthat b7exeha nginginfo rmatio npeopleca n developeOllllllOn understand i ng s .14

14 Gor do nE.HcClo sk ey.Educ at ionandPublic Unde rs tanding (N.Y.Harper &Row.196 7),p,67 .

- 13-

Peop leIavolvedin ColImunica tionProgralll

Aschool cOllDllunit ycommunicstionsprogra misno one-man-operation.

Themanat thetopis • coor d i na tG r ,since80many ind i v idualsare invo lved . Ausuall istwill be madeup toin cl ud e thekey figur es around which themachiner yof theoperation revolves. The Sta ff

Theteac h i ng st affiafi rs ton th elistai nc e it istotho a e peop l ethat the public look astheycon s id e r them knowled geablein such mat t e rs . No do u b tIIIOst teachersviIIbe in te res t edinPublic RelstioDS but theprinc ipalis1lIOre of ten th ecoo rd i nat or ofth e program .15 In manytextbook swe find thedutie aoftheprincipal l istedand weusu all y find highontha t lis tof prio r i tiesth e duty ofensu r i nggood public relatio n s.16

Ovard says itisth eprin cipalwho : (1) developswith the sta ff a progr amtofi t into the

frameworkof the generalpolicy.

(2 )adapt sthe pro gr amtoth e needsandcond i t io ns ofth e areaserved bythe achool.

(3) estab l is hea planof organ izati onandcont i nu es the in-s erviceeduc ation.

andtheteacherwh o:

(1) isth e in te r p rete r of th eacho ol syste mand coope r a tes in thedevel o pmen t of the program.

(2 )ac qu i r esathorough knowl e dgeof thesc h oolsystemand discu s s e s it with others.

(3)is • goodteac h er.

15Jo hnE. Che al ,HaroldC. MelsnesaandAr thurv.Ree v es Educational hl1d n i at ratio n: TheRol eofthe Teacher.Toronto: (The MacMillanCo. of CanadaLt d . ,1962),p,2S0 .

16R.Ol i verGlba o l1andHar oldC.Hun t .The School Perso nnel Admlnist racor , BOSCon: (HaughconMe f U i n Co.1965).

-14-

(4)worksconstan tlyfor good COlIUllUni catlons withpupils andparentsof the communi ty.

(5) supp lie s in f o rma ti on req uiredbyothe ra~entsin the pro gram.

(6) ta kesanact i ve int erestin communitylife.17

The StudentGroup

St uden tsact asimportantagentsor tra nsmis s ion cha n nelsthrough which in f o r mat i o nccnc ernfngtheschool rea ch e athe community. Car te r and Suttho ffsta te:

There is, for ins t ance,an in formal communication system thatruns from these.hools thr oughthe children to th epare nts. This system carr i e s la rg e amountsofschoolnews to th e community•• • IllOst lyaboutthe curr icu lw:land studen t activ- ities . We ..ight quest ionwheth er th i s system sho uldbe used to carryother info rmat ion,suc h assc ho o l rel eased info rmatio n onbu ild ing ne eds.I S

Anelec tedgroupfromalDOngth e studentsthems e l v e s usuallyknown asthe stu d e n tsad v isory commi t te eis animportant group. Very often we find thatpupils havemuc hto of f e r and th e ysh o uld be l isten edto by bot h coord i nat or and staf f . I fwe finda Rood e.omllllnie.a.tionasystem withinth e school its e lf, th en we have comea Long waytoward achiev ing good commun ity COfllllu n ications .

17GlenF.Ovard ,Adminis tr atio n of t.heChangingSe co ndary School, (New York:theHacMillanCompany,1966),pp,408-9.

18 Richard Carte rand John Sut.thaff,Collml.lnitiesand Thei r Sc hoo ls, (St.a n f ord : Stanfo rd Unive rs i ty,Schoolof Education,Inst i t.ute for Commun icat ionResearch,19 60),p , 35.

-IS - The LocalCOlDllli ttee

The local school corrlDlittee .houldbegr ea t ly involved insuc ha program . This COlllllit tee is notonlyconcernedwith buildingsaDd facilit ies whi c h they buildand equipbut shouldbe andveryoftenis concernedwithth e a asand obj e c t i v es of theschool. Us ua l lyschool cotmlitteemembershavesome prof essionalknowledge , no t necess ar ilyin thesu bjectof education,but still ava l ua bl esource i fchanneled.in the right direction. These COllllllitt e e.~ber sare very oftenthe ey e s andearsof th e commun i ty,are pr e s entat i v e body of people ,andcan be anasse t to the publicrel a t ion s prop:raJII.

The Parents

The parentsarethegrouplIllOstdi rec t lyaff e cted bytheeducati onal systemsinc etheir child renare thesubjectsof the.ast intensive educst iona latte ntion. Oftenparents ar etheon lycOlmlUnitygroup wh ic h contribu te directlyfinancially. The parents ar e theonlysour ce of personalinf orm a t i on concerni ngthestud en t sand student home enviro nmental co nditions and background. Parentsareilnmediately res pon s iblefor theed.u.:ation of their chi ld r e nwho fo rm the stude n t body,th eydictateor infl uencemostof thema j ordeci sionsaffe cting the st uden t spresen tandfuture plans ,andtheycan beinstrume nt a l throughappropriate cons ulta t i onindeterminingthe be stintere st s and the de sire s ofthe st ud en ts,andsu bseque n t lyindete~ining , evaluating andimprovingprog rams to su it theirne ed s.

- 16- InformalCollDUni tyLeaders

EveryCOlIlII!Un i tyhas indi v i du a l s whoac tasopi n ionleade rsand generat o rs andperpetrat o r sof ide as whi c hbecaus e of theirinfl ue n ce ar eoftenrepr esentat i ve of genera l cOfIlIllUnityfe el inp;. These indiVid uals are ge ne rs llypeopleuhoar e"'el l thou ghtof andare le ve lheade d. Theyareinclo setouc hwiththelife of the cOIIIIIlUnity so tha t theypos ses skeen insightsregardin g uhat is Rood for the cOlllDlUni tyandwha t theco~ ni tythinks 111 good forit.

Ccnrmun ityOrgan iza tion s

Th ecoreof in tere stedpeople inanycommu ni tyare to befou nd in the parent-cteaeh er as so c i ation .servic e clubs,churchgro upll.and communi ty organ izations. Here arefoundpeopl e dedi cated tovari ous c.usessuch es,helping the churchesand other groups to opera tewell.

and financingschoo l progr atn8 of varioussor ts. However.itis still importan t .asBor tnerwarns.thatthe principal proceedwit hcaution in selec ting lead ers andor~anizatiQnstobe inv itedtopar ti c ipate in aachoo Le-communLty cOllllllun ica t io napro~r&m.19

How the ColIIII\uni tygetsthe Message

Pupils

Besidesthecommu nicati o ns orga niza tionwithi n the schoo l bu ilding muchofthe inforlllationrecei ved byth e parentswilleeee frOll\the

19Doy le M.Bortner. PublicRe l at i ona for Te a chers (NellYor k : Silltl1lOn s-Boardman Public at i ons Corp.,1959 ).p- 123.

- _···- 1

-17-

pup ils. Weare aware of thefa ct thata child's perc eption is even more l imit ed thananadu l t'II 90we can right l yassumethatmess a ges decod edbythepupilare often not onehundred percentaccura te.

Ho wev er,pu p i lsare of ten questi one dbypar en ts andtheytryto Int.e r- pre t thetruemessa ~efro.th em. Nowif th i s were theonlyprogr am or theon lyst r uctureoftheprogramofpubl i c relati onsinthe echc e j,, wewould find sit uat i onswherethe schoolfights the cOl!lllllln l ty.

frequently . Ne verthe le s s th e pupilIsth eprime carri erof informa tion wh et.heritcons ist.sofa descr ip tionofthete acher. or someevent.of th e day .

Kass Hed ia

Themes sagetod ayIsnot alway s the spokenword fac etoface. Thr ough themedia of ra d i o,tele visi o nan dnewspa perthepub l ic:gets itsinf o rma ti o n. Wit h in thesc hool itse lf , th e school news pa per . le a fl et, etc.alsocar r iesthe mes s a ge. "'e fIlUst rememberthat. t.he message islimited bywhat the teac hers divulge. Theyhav eexper tise todrawfromsoth eyencode mes sa ge st.obetrans mit.t.e d tothepe o ple . Thesemes s a g e s mayt.akethefo rti of hockey games.spor tscasts.

concerts,drama or spe e c hes. butingenera lit isallpar t ofa cOllllDUn icati onsprogram.. The mass med iais usedt.o get.suppor t fr01ll thepublic ,basedonknowl·!d g eandunderst a ndin g. Themas smed iais us ed to cont.radic t rumor s,cl arifyposit.ions, halt.gen eral izati on s, aswell asfost.er favourable at t itude s.1 9

19William W.Savag e. Interpers o nalandGroupRel a t.ions in Educat ional Administratio n, (I l linois:Scott.ForeS1l.an&Co.,196 8 ). p,319 .

-- I

- 18-

Schoo lpublic ations ar eor~ an aof pub l i c rel a tion s. The schoo l paperwhether it be afew stencilledpages ora~1Plcaltventy-p a ged newsp ap er ope ns up new vist as to the pub l ic. I tmustnot befor gotten that sue h cCll'IIDlUo lea tlonseneeevcaes are real lylearn ingexperiences forallconc erned.

PublicMee t ingsand P.T . A.

Awel l pla nne dmeet i ngcanstimulate discussIonaswell as enge nde r enl lgbtll'le ntto allpresent . Such meet l np;s pre suppos e ear l ier gat h e r ingsan dfi nd ings. Topicsof ge n era l int erestper tain ingtoth e sch oo lareusu a llyin the forefro n t. Th e s e aregrea tsources of coanunication. It Is unfor tuna t.ethatmeetingsareveryoftenconcern ed wi thpolicyfor lllin g, espec i a lly new pol i cy.

Open House

Anot he reeausofenhancinggoodpu b l icre lat i on s isho l d i n(t a

"openhouse ". This provid esa grandoppor tun ityto meet some ofthe te a c h ersandto be on thesc en efor seee ofthe school activities.

PersonalContac t

Thereisno doubtthatthe highest quality ofcOllmUn ica tion is thr ough the mediumof personalcontact . However,wher e weAAvelarg e number s invol ved. andt1Jllebe i ngatapremium.,,~cannotalwaysuse thismetho d . But weshould beaware oftheusefulnessof suchper s on a l conta ctsnotonlytotra nsmi tin foIllla t i on buttorec ei ve as well. ThEre isno se eec e wayto get toknowthe pupils than to have persona l con t actwith theparen ts.

-19 -

How'th eSchool Ce tsthe Mes sage frOD.thePupils

Op i nion

A cO>nmu n ica t ionspro~ramwouldbenex ttous eles s ifwewereonl y concer n e d with one-vaycOllllllUnica tions. The school ne e d sfeedba c k so we ilIUstgototh e people. It isnotdUficu lt to ge t:public:opin i on i fwe go about it int.herig htway. By surveys .proje ctsandeae reens cotlll'lli t t e es we should get.afair aecun eof publicop1~ior••• Discussion p;rou psandpressuregroups

Itisa wel l knownfact that dis cussion gro u ps arevery educat.ional since the y pro v i de re c iprocal le arningexperi ences. It is dur i ng di s cu s sions thatwefinda di ssednat i on ofba c kg round knowledge.

Unfo r t.unat.elywe haveassociat.ed 'radical islII' wi thpres su r egroups but weMUSt.all beaware of th efa ctthat itof tenta k e sra d i c alact ion togetanyactio n. Suc hgroupspeceotespec ial int erests and nodou bt influenceeducat.i onal decision. Throughthe massmedia theyof t e nac t and nodoubt provide some cOIllIIlUn i tyviews for al l. From thi swesee aneme r gen ce of const ru c tive id ea svhic:h ai d treme ndo u s l ytoward having agoodcOT1lJlluni c a t i ons program.

Summar iz a tion of theCOllIIllUn i ca tio ns Proc e s s

Hostdef i n it ions speakof exchang i ng inf orJllationand undlllr stan d ing andHc Closke ysays that this iswhat makespossiblepublicconsentand join taction.

Everybodyl'l!' ...ks.eve rybodylist.ens ,freely interpret s.anal ys esandtredee offid ea s aboutmeaning andccrrs equen ceeof ...."aLis sai dandheard.20

20 McClos key,~•• p,67.

- 20-

Thisle adsustoconc ludethat cOllllllU nication isnota one -w a y pro cess but a two-\la y one. While one-wa y cOllllllllnica tlonIs hel pful.it is onlypartoftruecOIIIIIIUn i c at i on . Lasswelldesc ribed th e cOllQUnication processas"Whosays What. . in Whic hChan n e l. to Whom,with what Effect? ,,21

One-way c01lllllUnicationcan beex plain ed th is\lay: 40It.SOURCE....ENCODES MESSAGE~l'RANSHtTS IT-+TO RECEIVERWHO

DECODES-1>A.'IDRESPONDS.

By speech. symbolsand wordsweendeavour t.o conv eyt.h e mess age.

Bu t WORDS or INTENSITY do e sn 'tdeterllline th e Message Eff e c t . The individualisa human being.so t.h e qua l1t:a t.lve.e.IOtlonalprocesses are elemen tsofth eco nc ept of true communicat io nandaredet.ermining eleme nts.

Re searchhas shown thatfeedba c kisanimporta nt.element of cOllllllUnica t. ionboth forth e recei verandth e sender. Th i s ta ke sust.o Two-\lsy C01InUnication.

21~••p,74.

- 21-

TWO-WAY CCJM}tuNICATlONS

...1

^{Then YouClar ify}

,. .... YourJoIessaj;te

, / '

I

22 Ibid••p.72.

, -- -- ---- ^.... _"

\

\

I / / . /

22

- 22 - Proposed Paradiglllfor Program

Frolllrelatedliteratur e I wouldenv isagea par a d igm ofatentative cOlIIIIun!cation spro gr . .to looksomewhat likethis:

PARADIGMOF TENTATIVE COHHUNICATI ONS

PIAN

PRINCIPAL

~

. #'?'\.o~

1,~

.,y

~... ^LOCAL

o<p. COKMI TrE E

SCHOOL-COMMUNIT Y COMMUNICATIONSEXECUTIVE (WithrepresentativesfrOll1each of

the abovegr ou ps )

- 23-

TheCoo r d i na to r of theprogr amIstheprincipalof th e school whoshould beas siste dbyth eSuperi ntend e n t and the: Board. ThelItaff arene:ll:t in iJ:Iportaace.with thest ud e ntcouncil. and the local school coaait tee. To g etherwithre p r e s e ntat ive s fto.th e parentsorgaDuat ion an dany othercitiz en srep r es entati ve groups they fOE1llaschool- CODlllu n i tyco_ uni ca t i o Qs e01lllll1t:tee.

CHAPTERIII DEVELOPMENT AND EXECUTION OF PROGRAM Pre l iminar yInv e stigat i on

Thewrit er, a graduatestudent of MemorialUniv ersi ty wa s deeply concerned with thecommu n i cationsgapexis ting betwee n schoolsand thei r respe c t ivec01llDluni ties . Th isconcernwas based onknowledge gainedfr ombeinga scho ol boa r d member as wellas te a ch er and educat ionst udent. Suc hconce rn1IlOtivated th e. writer tound er t a k e the research pr o j e ct.

The init ia l ste p towardthe developmen tof a planwas ta k enin the 1IlOn thofHay19 71. The pro blemwas presen ted to thecitizensof Ha rbo ur Mai n ,Concep tio nBay thro ugh th e llIed i umof a letter circulated thr ou gh outthe entirecOflDD.unity. (See appendix)

This le t t e rmade llIentionof actae of th e morecommoneducational pr oblems su chasth e pr oblemsof establishing needs.formulati ng educational polic y and making educational de cision s. The people were made awareofthe chal lenge opened to them as wel lasth e part th ey cou ld playinbringin g schooland commun i ty tog e t her fo r th e enhance- llIen tof the educat ion pr o c e s s.

GettingtoKnowthe Colllllltmi ty

One monthwas spentinthecommunityitself duringwhichtime firs thandacquaintancewith the natu ra l env iro nmen t ,labour,social agency.loc a l governme n tandother groups ,provedhelpf uland enlightening.

- 24-

- 25 -

Fro-.th ehistorybooksof th e provinc:e it isa well kno wn fac:t that Harbour Main is an oldset t l emen t datingfr o m theyear1696 wit.h it.a 1II.emorf..,aof th e Fr en c:h set.tl era .aric:hpol it. i c:a1 hiBt.oryaDd at.

onet1m.e athriving fishingc:o_nity. At pre s ent.t.h e fiBh ing indu st.ry isratber a small on e andtbe aajor i tyofth ere sid e ntIIfiDdthea••lves lea v in gt.hec:~n i tytofindempl or-ent. The Yajo r ityof th e llleD have beeceetrsdeBllle n an dare highly skill e dand well paid. They work int.e a msand seem tofind empl O)"1llent opportun ities onth e Canad ian...inland and around t.be North Eas tAmllric. an Continent. The un f or t unateaspec t ofth is~loflllentisth e fact tha tonlyon epar ent.

thelIIOther . ist.he in flue ncingforc einchild re ar ingaswel laath e one bearingIDOstofth eonusofeduc a tionalre sp ons ib il ity.

Fro-personal interviewllwith people inth e collllltUni tyth~income s asybe tabu lat.edasfo l lows :

$10.000- $15 . 00 0 per anDUIII - 10%ofthe WorkingFor c:e

$7.000- $10.0 00perannum - 60% oftheWorking ser ce

$5,00 0 - $ 7,0 00 perannum - 25:::oftheWorking scree Below$5 , 00 0 perannum - 5%of theWork ingsoree tbe cDIIIIIIUnityofBarbour Main111the eeneee for t.he El ecto ral Dis t.rict.. I tc:ouldboastofbavingthefirstelec:tedComJun i t y Cound l io theEle c:t.ora l Dist.ri c t establ isbp.d in1964 . Itspopula tionof 1275wl',lle con side red cOlllpa rat ive lysma l l wasno tfo undwant i ng in organizat io na lefforts. th e RomanCatholi c Par ishhastwoChu rc:h aux il iarygr ou ps.ooeofmenandone ofwomen. there is aGirlGuidi;

Unit. and th e ConceptionBay CentreAthle tic.Association. Duetoth e proxim ityofneig hbo uring C:oaIlunitiest.h ere side nt.s seek membershi p inother eeev rce eju bs •

-26- The EducationalBackg round

Be foree184 0.educationwas not a publ ic.concern. I ftherewas inthe cOIlllllu n i tyan individual whopo s s e ssed a certainamoun tof bo ok lea r nin g.had ade sireto te a ch , and i fth e peoplewere wi l ling to su ppo r thiOll. then th echildren who sode s ire dhadth e oppo r tun i ty to obtain a rudim e nt ary educat ion.23

Itisdifficultto ascer tain the date of th eset ti n gupof a fo rmal school,buta schoo l existed inth eyear 18 53 . Dur ing tha t sameye a rth ePre s e ntati on Sis ters ope n e d a conve ntand began ope r atin g a scho olof 180 pupils. For years bothschoolsope ra ted side byside. The boys wou l d att e ndthe Conven tSch oolfor th e earl ier year s of their educa tion andth en theywouldgradua te toth e Boys' School. It isin t ere stingto note that pupi ls could ava i l of music classes as wellas a commercialcourse .

In 1943the Boys 'School of Harbour Mai nclosedand sinceth at time the educat iona lsystemhasbe en coeducst io na l.24

Some ofthe highl ig h tsof th e his t oryof educationa lsystemsin Harbour Maingleaned from a studyofth e Annals of HolyFamilyConvent . Thesein clud eth e fn llowing:

In194 6 a new sch oo lopenedandth er ewere six te a ch i n g saeeecs• h 19 58 Har bo urMain had a schoolof five classroomswithan enro llmentof19 6 pupils. Also.in that year one hu nd redper cen tofth e gradeelev e n students were successful in pass i n gth e prescr i bed exa mi nat i ons.

23 Journalof the As sembly18 6 1.

24 Persona l Interview,July 4.1972.

- 27 -

In1959 the r ewas anenro l lme n tof 223pupIls fromgrade on eto gr a de eleven. There were sevente a chers.

In 1964th ere was an enrollmentof 250 pupilsfrom gradeone to gradeeleven .25

Cent ralizat ionof Educa tionbeganto occur in theearly 60' s, The gi rlsfromgrade ani neto elevenle ftthecommunit y to attend th e High School in Avonda le.while th e boys fromgrades seven to eleven were cent ra lizedatRoncall i HighSchool, Avondal e. Both even tsoccurred during th e schoolyearof 196 7- 68.

Atth e presenttime (19 71 - 72) St. Joseph's School ,HarbourMain bas an enrollmentof 198 pupUsfrom gradekinderga r tento gradesix , plus a SpecialEducationclass. There areeighttea c h e r s inthe school includingth ete a c hin gpr i nc i pa l.

The Att i tudesSurvey

From the study of relatedlitera tureitwas deemed impo r t a ntto thi s project that a parental atti tudes'survey be conduc ted. The purposeof thi s surveywasto enablethe writer to identifythe areas of educationneedingspecia latten tionthrougha communicat ions program.

The instrumen tusedwas a questionnairedesigne d for an attitudes st u d y and wasof the Li k e r t fivepointscale. Que s t i o ns were answered acc ordingto whetherthepersonstr ong ly agreed,was inclined toagre e ,wa s undec id ed,wasinclinedtodi s a gre e or dis a gr ee strongl y.

25 Annalsof PresentationConvent.HarbourMain.

-28-

The quest i onswere arrangedonth e instrullent inthe usu a l positiveand.

negative forms.

The it e ll s on the ques t ionnairewerecollectedfrOll variousstudies andmad erelev a nt to the projec t byth e vriter. (SeeAppendh)

Samplequestions:

Agreatdeal of planningis done by

thesc hoo l boardbefo remoney is spen t. 3. SA lA un mA SDA Much of what istau g ht in ourschools

will be of nous eto a perso n inhi s

or her job . 4. SA lA UD IDA SDA

Thepopulation co nsist e dof approx imately seve n hundredre s i d e nt s whowereof voting age. A randomsampleof fort y was selec tedby matchi ngforty numbers wit h thecensuslistofth e parish.

The que st i o n nairewasadllinis teredbyth e vriterth r ou ghth e medium. of personal interviews. The respondentwasbriefedon itsnature aDdth e impor tanceof expr es s ing hisor her own opinion.

Agene r a l anal ys is of the ques tionnaireis conta i n ed inthe tableof mean sc ores whic hfollows.

- 29 -

TABLEI

MEANOF THE SCORESFOR EACH OFTHE TWENTY-FI VE ITEMS OFTHEATTITUDESCALEFOR

THEHARBOUR MAIN COMMUNITY

Item Number

1 2 3 4 5

,

7 8

•

10 11 12 13 14 15

l'

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

HeanScores

3. ' 4.3

3 .'

3.3 3.4 3.3 3.0 3.1 1.8 4.3 3.8

2 .'

4.1 2.4 4.3 4.5 3.4 4.0 3.8 3.5 4.4

2.'

2.8 4.5 4.0

IIlnilllUIII1 neutra l 3 maximum5

Numberof re s pondent s- 40

- 30 -

Table I showsche mean scores for eac h of th e 2S itemsof the at t i t ud esscalefor th e HarbourMain ColllllUn i ty.

Of the 2Sitema ,th e fol lowingitems re c e i v ed unfavourablescores (3 or less).

7. Thetyp e of educationwhich ourchildrenar e re c eivi ng is notgoodwhenweconaid e r th e amou nt ofmoneybe ing apent on educat io n . 9. Tea ch ers shou ldhave the righttocontrol the behaviorof students ou ts ideschoo l time whene v eritbec omesnece s s ary . 12 . Ourteach ersdonotappe a rtobe trainedwell

enoughto handl ethe problems whichthei r studentsarehavinginth eir studie li.

14. Student s in ourschoolsare not gi veneno ug h guid a n ce in choos ingacar e e r.

2S. Host parentsdonotwa nttoIIl8ke an effor t to 1lllprove the schoo l prograra.

It _ numbers7and. 14 are in Cur ric ulua.i t _ number 2S isinatt i tude towardsEduca tion.itemnuaber9 is in Discipline aDd item. number 12 is in TeacherImage. Only the Board rec eiv ed all favourablescores.

The follOWi n g iteas re c e iv ed a scoreof 4 orIIOre:

Educa tion

24. Adu l tsmust getint o th e schools 1Il0re.

27. I would like to help th e teacher to learn mo reabou tmychild.

28. I knowhow manypupils atea ch erusu a ll y hasina class.

Board

10. Sc hool official s shouldspeak withth e parents before lar g e SUlIIS of money are spent.

21. We should have a SchoolTa x Authori ty.

-31- Te a c her Image

2. Most peoplebecome te a c h er s becauseit doesnotre qu ire muchintel l igence.

15. Ourtea c h ers trea tparen tsvery court eo usly.

Curric u lum

13. Moreemphasisshould be givento developing the studen t's pe rsona l ity th a n is given at presen t.

Disc ipline

19 . For serious violat ions of th e school rule s .th e princ ipal shouldbe allowed to expe l a st udentfo ra pe r iodof time.

Obviouslyno one area had a monopoly on ei therhighor low scores.

Itmightbe inte res tingto notethat Discip l ine re c e i v ed thelowe s t and highest scores reco rded . An analysis ofth e results of the attitudesscale by categoryfollows in Table II.

- 32 -

TABLE II

MEAN OF THE CATEGORY SCORESOF THEATTITUDE SCALE FORTHE HARBOUR MAINCOMMUNI n

Part i ci pat ing Cunieulu- Educa t i on Board Db cipline Teacher Image Unit .inu.u. 7 minimum.

>

^ainUilum

>

^{.iniaJa 3} .inilllUllI

>

neut ral 21 neutra l 15 neutra l 15 neut ra l

•

^neutral15

.axbnm.35 &axiw.ua 25 _x1Jlu.25 maxi_15 maximum25

Harbour Main 23.8 19.4 18.0

s.s

18.2

Numberof Respondents· 40

-

))

-

In Table IIthe at t itud es scaleis div id edin to fivecate gorh! a withCur ric u lUIIIIhav ing 7iteas;Education, Board andTeac her Iaage bv i n g5itea sandDisci pline havin g 3itellls .

The _inUDum,neutraland_ximuascoreaaregiv e nforeach cate gory. Allfivecatego ries rec e i ved hvourablescoreswit:he Disci p l inehavingtheclos e st sco retone utral .

Ta b l e IIIshovs th etota l score for the scale intheHarbour Maincommunit y.

- 34 -

TABLEIII

MEAN OF THE CATEGORYSCORESOFTHEATTITUDE SCALE FORTHE HARBOUR MAINCQM!oOJNl n

Mi n imum • 25 Neut ral • 75 Maximum • 12 5

MeanScore • 89.25

Nuftlbe rof Respondents ., 40

-3S-

The lowestpos sible aecee1s 2S(areply ofoneby ea ch re sp on d ent OD eaeb item),andtb ehi g he s t posdblescoreis12 5 (are pl y of 5 by eachre s po nd e Dt on eac.hitf!ll ). A eeeee ofleuth an 7S 1ndic.atedan unfav ou ra bleat t i t ude anda eeoeeof more tha n 75indic. ated a favourabl e at t i t ude , whilea sc o reof 7S indic. at ed aneutralat t i t ude for th e wholeecake , The mean seoee of89. 25ind1c.atedafa vo ur a ble attitu de towar d s the catego riesof educat icnexallined.

- 36-

Exist ingHodes of CODIID.un!eation

Itwas fouad tha t cOlIIlIUnic at iofts fr Ollttt.schoo l were lilliteddue tothe size oftheschoo landtheSBlall ftWll.berof te acher s, Th e re was no c01lllllunica tions org a n ization,

The activit ie sfrOll Se p t_berto Hay 1971 veee •• follo",s : Meet ingwitbparent.at theendof Sept_berin a ''Meet-the- Te a ch er-Night ".

Heet ingpare n tsthroughGi rlGuid e Social.

Lettersto parents inDec_berinvit ing themtodi scus . child~en.·

pr ogre s s Decelllber 17th.1970.

Parent·Tea c ber Meeting Janua ry 11th,1971.

Sisters visited homesof pa r en l.:"",ho",ereuna bl e to attendMeet.ing . Let tersen t ee parentsconc e rn i ng f..!ucat.i on V'1ek.

OpenHou s e dur ingEducat.i onVeek.

SpecialEducat ionCla ssvisitedDistrict Vocii::i~=lSchool.

Notif ica t.io n t.oparent.sconc ern ingApril meeting wit.h tea c hers. Parent.-Tea c herMeetingApr il 21st .1971.

Te a c herMot.iva t ion

OnApr il 30th.1971. th e ini t ialmee ting wit.bt.h e staff of St. Joseph'sSchool of HarbourH.a.in, wall held. The pr obl em.of School CommunityC01IlIIIu nieat ion s",asintrodu c ed andth efo llowin g object ives veee set beforethe group:

(1) ".t.odevelopC01lllllOD unde rstandings abou t absand

object.ive sof the scbcols .

(2) t.oevalua te of f er i n g s of th eschool int.e rml!lof needs filled.

- I

- 37 -

(3)to un i te parent s and te a c h er sto meetth e needs of th e st uden ts.

(4) to developawareness ofth e importanceof educatio nin a democ racy.

(5) to establishconfidencein the school.

(6)to inform thepubli c abo u tth e workof theschool.

(7) torall y suppor t for th e maintenanceof th e school pro gr a m. 26

The twoimportant que st i o n s disc ussedwere:

Whatshould th e ci tizensknow about th e schoo lan dhowcan the ci tizensbecome inv olv ed inour pro gr am't

Inor de r to pro vokediscussion, mot i v a t e in terestand clarify one'sth ou gh t s onCOllllDUn i c ati onth e writer felt thatth ete a ch er s ' meetings sho u ld ta k e the fo rm of semina rs. The teacherscooper a ted and shared th eir ins igh tswithoneanother whileth e writercoordinated th e effortsand keptthe pres en ta t ionof id ea sin an order lyfashion.

Be g i nnin g September1971 and continuingth roughou t the firs t thr e emo n t h s the staffand th ewri t e rto g eth er considered th e sub ject of communi c at i on s .

Thepre s e nt situatio nwas charac terizedby a lack of re a l po s i t i v e concernby manycitizens .an absence of deliberateplanninganda pau c it y of plannedcommunica t ionsactivities . The groupfeltthat this conditionpreva iled du e to the fact that trad it i on a lly small-town Newfoundlandershave felt littl ene e d forconcernabouteduca tio n . Up un t il1969 local educationa lorgan izat ionsand plannedor act uallocal par t icipa tionin education wer e virtua llynon-existent . Now teachers werebe ing asked to motiva teactive part icipa tio nby the citizens.

26 Ovard, ep,cf.t..; p,448.

- 38 -

Effectiveand EfficientCommun ication

As are sul t ofth e effo rts ofth etea ch ers ame etin g was arranged where defi nit i on s ofccesecn t c ae tee as wel l as the processwere discusaed. Inthis connection.also.Chap terOne and Chapte rTwo served as a springboa r dfor idea s .

Also, at that meeting.th efollowi ng purposes and cueceeeswere cons i de red:

Th e Schoo l-Collllllun i tyStudyGroup at the OhioState University madethe followingobservat ionsconcer n ingcOllDD.un ica tion:

(1)The natureof communicat ionamong te a c h ers, between tea c h e r s and administrators.amongadminist rators ••••with pa r e nt s•• ••

is a messure ofth e qual i tyof livingand workingtogether.

(2)Th ere aresome grounds for be l i evingth atth e mass media cannot be solely reli ed oninbuild i ng lon gterm support for the schoo ls .

(3)Inf om al C01lllllUnic.ations19 jus tas importan t for the school asfo mal . 27

I twas sta tedthat educators areawareof the effectswhich edu ca tioncan haveon the peoples ofth e world and tha tnobody would doub t the pr incip le th atthe schoolis a powerfulagent in the formation ofth e citizenof the future. Educa to rsspeaking frODl an historica l point of view have reason forth eir confidence ",hen they say thatbetter schoo lswill help inth e formationof betterall roun dciti z e n s .

Suchthinki ngas stated abovecannot be maintained unlesschange andinnova tionhave a placewithin that fr8llleworkof thought.

27 Franklin H.Knower and Paul H. Wagner, CO\lltllU n i c atio n in Educat ionalAdminist ration,Co l umbu s , Ohio: Cent r e forEducational Administration. The OhioStateUniversit.y ,1959.p.53.

- 39 -

Thegr ou pfel t that chan ge must cOllieas awishof the people an d be expressed ill.thatway .notas areco _eDdatioo.fr~sOliebodyat the topofthepyra mid of the educat iona l organization.

Educat o rsar eawareof a lac kof understanding,info rmation and involvement onthe partof the publicof the cOfDlllunitywhen they set outto fonnulate polic y. establ i s h need s andintroducechange. seee- time sit appearsasi ftea c hetsarehinde red incarrying ou t the school 'aphilo sop h yby fo r ce aext e rual to educat i o n.28

28 Pi no ,op.ci t.,p , 16.

- 40-

CollllQunicationTechniques an dSt r a teg ies

Eff e c t ive communicationdemandsknowledg eof the med iathrou gh whichmessag e sare transmitted and interpreted. When wetalk abou t technique sandstrategiesweare concerned wit hth eplaceof indivi du a l s gr ou ps andthellISSSmedia.

Pers onto person commun i ca t i o n isthemosteff e ctive. Itis more direct aswe see the!us!!ee dfaasbeingindir e ct . Resea r c h has shown that pers ontopersoncOllllllun i ca t ion evok e s the gr ea te r re sponse . The fa ce to fac e commu n i ca t ion is su pplemen ted bythethou sand sof inf ormal gr ou ps.

The formal gro u p with itsclubs andor ga n izat ions influen c e ccesonrcecronand tak e agreatpart in the proce s s itse lf. Thereis a maze of networksof cOl'!l!llUni c a t ionwi th i n anygi ve nst ru c t u r e , th e pr o ble m beingtocon t ro l th eCOllDDUnication itse lfinsuc ha waythat me ssage sare at lea st coh e r e n tand rumorsaren ' t rampa nt.

Power structure a wi t h in the cOllllllUn itycanbe toocontroll ing and shutou t tranSlllitte d messages at its de sire. Onthe oth e rhan d publi copinioneaain f l ue nce thepower st ruc t u res, forifeno ug h pe o pleare intere stedthe yca ncerta inly exer t. in f lu en c e onany st ructu r e .

Toda y we canfi nd re sultsof re searc h asto what progr ams peo p l e l istento,vha t pap ersth e y readetc. Thi s hel psconside rably indev e l o p i ngou rst ra t egy fortheuse of the med i a incommun i cat i on s.

Anexeens tv e amountof l it era tureha s been writ tenconcerning st ra tegyforeverybo o kl e t andmag azi neon publicrelationsand

- 41-

cOllllllunicationspropounds itsOlm par t icularinll1ghtorvery often its Olm g1llaic. InIN_ingupweagr eed thatthe ablshou ld beto get the gre atest pOllsible support orre ac h thehighestlev elofcommunica tion orund e rsta nding. Weconside red thefa c tthatit iseasi e r to shape anopin iontha ntochange it. IncOllllllUn 1ea t ion one shou l dbemore positive an d constructiv eand recogn izelll11itat1.onsof problemsand ceatex e, Anef fort to involveotherstoclarif y. encode agai nand tore word isconducivetogoodschool-~ni tyc~nication8 . Prevent ingrUlllOrllbyprov idi ngfa cta is aIllUst. Kee pi ng mea s a g e s well constructed , cOllllDUnic at i o n goi ng cont inuoudyand reco gn izing othe r peop les'ri ghtto cr it icizearealso1.IIIpor tant st rategies.29

Bar rie rsto Effec t iveCommunica tion

Admitlbtra toraahouldreal izethat th e hi e rarchi ca lst ructureof the organ izat ionmight inhibitthe effectiveflovofcommun ication.

Cert a i n offic e s 111&1 spe l l the la stwordand aclosedc....u fo r a particula rmessage. Youcan have dOlmwar dcommunicati on but the channels availableforupwardcOIIDIIUni ca t io n .ightbe Haited.

Thein f ormal gro upcan also actas abarrier fOr1llingaspe c i a l clique 11miti n gth eflow of informa t ionor vit ho l ding some of th e fa cts. SoIIIet1mes there.i ghtbea dbtortionof th efa ct s. Somet bles th e above fOr1llofrebell i onisthere s u ltof thelee kef sha red re s pon sibility. Theadmi n ist rator shou ld bequick1'0find theemerging leader aadremov e thebar rie rs.

29McClos key.ep,cit •• p, tv,

..

- 42 -

The psycholo gical bar rier s werealso cons i de r edas af fec t ing the proces sofcommun ica t ion.

Personnel Rol es

This topic wasdealt with in somedetailaswellas an introdu ction to the organb:ational aspec t of theprogram. In the pre sen t organizat io n of Educati ontheprincipal isperceived asth eke y indi v id ua l. I tis th eprinc i pa l 's re spons ibilitytoactasinitiator , chieforRan izer, contr ollcrend co o r d inatorof the programaDdits activ it i es. Bor t ne r l inked th i styp e ofroleforth e pr i nc ipal with in a dec entraliz e d st ruc t u re, astha tof formu la t i n gand direc tingthe commun ica t ions pr ogramwith i nabr oa d gene ra l policyframe wor kesta bl i s h e d bythe su pe r int e nden t.30

As an in itiat or.th eprincipa l eit he ras di rec t ed bythe super- intenden t orwhereth e supe rin ten de n t'sdirect ionisnot eviden t, wil l firstmake hims elf awareof any broadpo l ic ies or programsalready ex i sting inhi s dist rict. The princip s l wil lattemp ttode l i n e at e th e special rolehi s school sho uldplayinth eto t a l programof School CommunitycceeumcacIces • The principal is also seenas at temp ting tomobiliz e his professionalstaffin th e making of in i tial plans for th e sett ingup of s communica tions org aniza t ion.

Alt ho ughwide pa rt ic i pation shou l dbe centra l toth e organization.

th e pr i n c i pa l . duetohispositionof responsibilitysh ou ld act as

30 Bor t ner ,op , cit•• p.104.

- 43 -

chief movingforce. notonlyto get the program go i n g but to ensure thatitkeeps going andthat contilD.lousevaluat i onandiIIprovetDent arepracticed.

Throughourdiscus sionstherewasunan t-Jus agreetDen t thatthe teachers' involvementva.very iIIlportant. Thebasisfor th isclsb re sted onth e factthat thetea cher s arein thepositionof having th e mostint:l1llate knovledgeof th e sehool intheare a s of: student lifeandactivi ty; individuals 'progress; student s'problellls, in te rest sand de sire s .

The students'partinth eprogram vasse enmoreas a comp lemen tary roletrithth ete a c he rsra therth a n anindependent one since the school consistedof studentsfromKindergar ten to Crade Six. The write rwa s assuredthat it vasnextto iIIlpe.sibleto organize a st ud en t council in these circumstanc e s .

Discoveringthe Pl a n

The first three we e k sof Septemberwereweeksof intensive lIOrk.

Lite r a t ure vasdistributedtothetea chersprevio uato the discu s s i on s and bySeptember26,1971 thewriterandtheschool staff agreedon apla n ofth e organizationabout to come into ex is t e nc e. The princi palwouldbecom ethecoordinatorvi thanassis tin g staff.

membersofth e LocalEducationalCommitte e and theparents. Thiswaa deemedquiterepre s e ntati v e of thecommun i t y.

-44-

PARADIGM OF THE EVOLVrnCOMMUNICAtIONS

srsnx

El- ---

~ I

^{PRINCIP AL}

l_,

L~L-~ r

LOCAL EDUCAtION OOHHlTTE£

- - - - - - . ----;;.

~ ~

:::

^~

i ^:

~ ~

~ ~

i _$

8

I ;! ^~

~ 1:

g

i;l

- 4S-

\.

Itvasagreed thatthe Execu tiveCoIrnittee eaneeithadthe input and flov of inf orma t ionfrm. the school a. well.ath e feedbackfro.

th e cOUIIllUnltycould bethemost impor tantbodyin foste ring good se hool-c OD1Ilu n lty cOlllllunlc_tions.

ComanInl tyMotivation

Anoth er stepwaa ta k en on Hay 31. 19 70 toinf ormre pre s e n t at ives

,

,~ of th e cOtllDlUni tyabout sc ho o l c01IlIDUnitycommunicat i o ns. Inatte n dance atthelIleeting wereth e Chai rma n of the Schoo l Board an d School Su pe r i n t e n d e n t. member sof the Local Educ ati onal COllllllit t e e. Principal and teachers .

The theory of 8chool-c otr.lllUoity c:c=u nic:.at l onsvas tre atedby the writer und e r th e beadingsof:

Who 18 responsible?

What Istobe cMDunlcated1 Howit18 to be COlnIIlUnicated?

The aimsand objectiveswerementi on ed and thou ghtprovok ing discuss ionensued. Teacher spresen tedthei rviewsasto whatlev e l ofcO=rlunic at i on s theyYOUld hopeto aetueve witht:heparen t:sand iden t if ied part:ic.ularareassuchasc.urr i c.u lulII and finane ialneeds wher eaeO=rluni c.at:ionlljobneededto be done. The parentspres ent sho wed a keen inte res t and identifiedtheptoblemofla e k of info nna t ion intheareas of Cur r ic. u l um , BeardandExt raeu r r ic.u lar ac.tiv i t i es.

The writer ind i ca ted that th esc.ho o l c.ommuniea ti ons program isc.onc.er ne dwit:hCOlllllluni c ationt:hro ugh the aven uesof:

- 46 -

1.Special even t s andpublicme eting s , school assemblies. talk s tostudents,campa igns and Educat ionWeek.

2. School subj p.ct sas st a t edinpub lica t ionsand discussed by par ent sin me e t i n g s andgro ups.

3. Pupil activ i t ies rep ort e dthrou gh themass media and at tended by pa r e n ts.

4. Schoolpublicat i on s,re por t ca rds ,school board reportsand cla s s r o om pub l ica tio ns.

5.Contactwiththe cOllllllUnity thr oug h parentsorganizat i ons , bo ard meetings,open house,mass media. parent-t ea che r inte rv i ews •

The proposedplanwas discussedand except for afe w alterations in numbe rof re pr e s entativ e s itmetwiththeir spprova l.

COllllllUni tyCounc ilMeeting

Atthe invita tionof COIIllllUnity Councilthe writerattendeda meetingMay 23, 1971 inthe Town Hall. The br ief ta l k concerned cormrtun ityinvolvement in edcce trcn, The needfor involvelllent of ci t izens in the cOlll!Dunity schoolandthe benefits derivedfr om such tnvofveeent wereoutlined. The prog ramwas discussedand a keen in terestwas exp ressedverba llyby some of th e citizens.

The fi na ncial aspect of educationa l support was discussed as wel l as therelevancy of the curric ulum towar d s engenderingfuture erapkcyeent,

-47 -

Gen e ral Mee t i ngan dFo rma t io n ofCOJlllllUn ica ti onsCommittee OnSeptember 26, 1971 a meet ing in connection wi t h the Sch o o l - Community C01IlIlIu n i cati on s ProgrSlllwas held in theParishHall atHarbou r Ma i n. ThePrincipal cha i r ed themeeting an d indicat e dthema i n obj ective,"involvemen tthr ou ghtwo-wa y dialogue ". Thisebee ewe nt throughthemeet i ngand parent swere made aware of thepart the y could play in improvin g educa t i on in th e ir schoo l. Theaims andobjec tives of th epro gr amwere sta ted bythe supe r i nt e nde n tal so . Hav i ngset.th e stageforan open discussionofeduca ti onal concernsth e pro blern of pupil - teache r ratiowas th endi s cu s sed.at len gth bythe paren ts .as well as pro blems pert a i n ing tothe pre sent scho ol tr an s portation eystee ,

Prob lems incurric ulum conc ernedthe pa rentspre s en t . espe cially pr oblems dealingwith t.h eNew Math Pro gr 8ll\.the ReadingProgram and the Rel ig iousProgram. The prese n t re creat.ional facilities wa s a topi cwhich stimula t edlivelydiscussion .

Anorg a n izat ional ch artwas producedindicat i ng t.he various le vels of ed uca tionalgovernmentand the vario uschannelsto use in lo d gin g complaints.

Itwas ind icat. e d by the paren tsth at theywis h e dto nominate re pr e s en t ative sto actonth e School-Co mlllUn ityCOfIlIl\unicationsCommi t tee.

Nominationswere acceptedand through secretballot fourmemberswere elected. Thes,;:membe rswouldnow provide li a s on between the paren t.s and t.h e school.

In closing it was indica tedby the writ. er that. the purpose of commu nityparticip ationshould neve rbe overlook ed. One does not

-48-

merel ylook for communitysupport and a pem iss iv e or ot herw ise fav ou rabl eattitu d e towards whatev erth e sc hoo l happens to be. Instead one attt!lllpts to se e kan under stand ing tha tcanbederived frOD!

coope ra tiveinvolv emen t wi t hthecOIlIlIIUn i t yin anenterpr isewhic h is the irs and for them. It isfrom such an und e r standin g that th e educa t i o na l sy st em !DUst evo lve;thesupportwil lthenfollow. Educat ion wil l then be similar to a democracyinth e sensetha t it willbe by the people.for th epe o ple and ofthepeople.

THESCHOOLCOMMUNITYCOMMUNICATIONSCOMMI TTEE REPORTA October3. 1971

The firstmeeting of th e School-Commun ityCOIIlIIlUnieationszxecuc ive Commit teemetOcto be r 3.1971. The purpo s e ofthe meet i ngwas to foster an awarenessofthe fu nct ions of thi s committeeas wel l 8Sto mot i vateintere stand act ion.

Si n ce severalof the membershadno t beensubj ected to the literat u re.presenta tio ns anddiscussions oncotllJllUnications,thewriter gave a br i ef ou t l i neofthe aims andobjec t ivesof school-commun i ty commun i catio ns,aswe l l as outlin ing thene e d forcceeuntcaetcne•

The pa r adigmof the Evo lvedCommunicationsSystemwas expl a i n e d and commen tsandcrid:'ci8llls were accept ed. It was agreed th a tth is systemwouldbe accepted .

The members of the commit tee the n proceeded todevelop the fu nctions of th iscommitteeand aftercons iderabl ediscussion five functions weredelineated.

- 49-

1.The COlllJll i c te esho uld beco nc e r ned with sha r i ngandexcha ng ing vi ews on allmattersrelatingto edu ca t ioningene r a las well as educationinits ownschoo l .

2.Itmustdev elop commun ica t i onsobj ec t ivesfor the scho o l.

3.I tmustparticipateinformula t i ngapro gr 81ll ofactivi ti es based on thedis co ve redne e d s ofthecOrDlllUnity and the school, takingintoconsiderationth ecircumstance sof time , per s on nel and financ e s avai l ab le.

4. This COlllll\ittee1IlIJst planvays and means of stimula t i ng int ere s t and sec uring maximumpa r t ic i pa tion of al l groups con c erned incar rying outthe program' s activi t ies.

5.I tshal l ende avo ur to evaluate the ac tiv i t ies unde rt aken and hel pdevelo p ne wid e a s In anatt emptto cont i nuo uslyimprove the Schoo l -Co mmuni tyColllDlunica t io nsProgram.

Itvas vo ted that.me et. ing sbe held by t.his COJJlII1it.teeonce every IIlOn t h.

Oc tober 14,1971

The next meetingwas heldon Oct.ober 14.1971 . The Commit tee spe n t.somet.i me cons idering t.h eque s ti on , ·'What.shouldthe cOllll!lunity kn ow about th e schoo11 " The outcome of the li ve ly de bat e took in ma nyareasofeducation. As are su l t of this debat e th e Committee fe l t thatth epe op l e shouldknow the financial statusof the board aswe l l as grantsre c eiv ed for St.Joseph'sElemen tarySchool. It indicatedan interest inbu i l di ng costs and maintenance.

- 50 -

being una ble toassisttheir child r en in the new Mathematicsand Th e general complain tofparen tswas aece r ta i nedto be one of

Mean Score .,3.0

- 2.4 The items were :

7. The typ e ofeducat ion whic h our child ren are rece i vi ngisnotgoodwhenweconsider the amount ofmoney beingspen ton ed ucat io n .

14. Students inour schoolsarenot given en ough guidanceinchoosing a caree r .

were con s i d e r edeleme n t aryite ms to be cOmll'lun i c ated toth e people.

Si nce th ere s ult sof the at t i tudesscale reveale dthat items Fur thermore th e numberof pupilsenro lled.thenumber ineach class. the number gra duating to high school andthenumbe r of staff

sevenandfour.te en on th eque s tion na ire.received unfav o urablescores thewriterdecid edto give sometime toth e disc uss ionof cur ricu lum.

Read ingPrograms. It was sugges tedthat some litera turebedi str i but ed to parentsonthe subjectof,"HowtoHelp One'sChildatHomework " . The COtIl!lli t teewas made awareof thelowre a din g level of manyof the pu p i lsas well asthela c k ofint e r e s t by mostof th e childrenin readingitself. The problem.s of educationalenvironmentand dearth of sui tab lebookswere consideredas aggravatingfactorsimpingingon a student's ri ght to learn tore ad.

Th e firstre c omme nd a t i on whichcatae forthfrom the meet i ngwas toborrowboo k s from the Public Libraryin St.John 's aswell as distribut ingto parentslists of books frombook clubs. whichwou ldbe deemed su i tablefor the home.

-51 -

Th esec on d re e omm.en dation was toinvit e are ading consul ta n tfrom theDepartment of Educa t ion to ta l kto the parentsofthe comrnunity.

Thethirdre c omme nd at i on was to invi teamat hematic s specialis t from th e Univers i ty in orde r to hel p the parentswithth e new program.

October 21,1971

Ata general me et i n g ofthe pare n tsand School-Community Commu nica tionsCommi t teeheldon Octobe r 21, 1971,amath ematic s special i s t fromtheDepar tmentofCu r riculum wa sthe gues t speaker.

This meet i nghel pe d find answe r sto the followi ng thr e e quest ions:

1. What isthene w Mathema t ics?

2. Why di dwe ch an ge ?

3. How doesnew Mathema t icsdifferin met hodfrom. thefo~er?

Tho s e qu esti on s br oug h t theaudience to manyof the problematic areas ofmathemat i c sto d a y. Concep tswere re f ine d and termi nolo gy was explained.

Toward s th e en dof th e mee tingtherewas every indication of satisfa c tiononthe part of bot h parent s and teachers ,with the mann e rand con tex tof the presenta tion.

Nove mber!:,1971

OnNov e mbe r 4, 1971 th e School-Communi tyCo:mnunic:ationsExecutive me t:for a month lymeeting. Atth i s meeting th e past effortswere evalua tedand new problemswerepresented. Moreover, the re c ommendat i on ofa previousmeeting, to invitea Reading specialist