INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATIONS IN TEACHER-TRAINING COLLEGES IN JAMAICA, WEST INDIES
Abstract
This study measured the impact of five organizations and program innovations in 10 teacher training institutions in Jamaica, West Indies, namely, student participation in governance, faculty and parent involvement, inservice programs for teachers and alumni and student teacher internship program. The study examined significant differences in the levels of (a) participation in and (b) difficulties pertaining to the five areas of innovation among respondents grouped according to status of (teachers, administrators, faculty) and school location (rural, suburban, urban). The Kruskal-Wallis one way ANOVA (H) test was used to determine if there were significant differences in the mean rank scores of the three or more groups studied. Nonparametric statistics was used to analyze the data because the scale used to measure the five areas of innovation is ordinal. The scores related to each of the areas of innovation were the dependant variables in each research question. Faculty membership, job classification and the location of each of the teacher training colleges participating in this study were the independent variables in research questions. An Innovation Questionnaire developed by the investigator measured the levels of (a) participation in and (b) difficulties in the implementation of five areas of innovation in the teacher training programs of Jamaica, West Indies. The target population consisted of 260 faculty, administrators and teachers who had graduated from 10 teacher training colleges in Jamaica. The major findings indicated that administrators were more likely to perceive greater student participation in governance than either teachers or faculty. However, teachers tend to perceive greater difficulties with respect to student participation in governance than administrators and faculty. Administrators were more likely to encourage faculty involvement in decision-making than either teachers or faculty, and administrators were more likely to support inservice programs for teachers than the teachers themselves. Teachers were more likely to support parent involvement than were administrators and faculty. Teachers were also more likely than faculty to perceive difficulties in the implementation of innovations related to parent involvement. A major conclusion suggested by the results of the current investigation is, that members of urban schools tend to be more innovative than members of rural or suburban schools.
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
HARRIOTT, MARCIANNE, "INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATIONS IN TEACHER-TRAINING COLLEGES IN JAMAICA, WEST INDIES" (1987). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8715803.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8715803
