An Assessment of the Self-Actualizing Education Program

• Main Author: Pope, Kathleen
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@USU 1978
• Subjects: self-actualization; education; positive responses; negative responses; teachers; students; Psychology
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/5824; https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6914&context=etd

Elementary school teachers enrolled in the Self-Actualizing Education training course were tested prior to and following the ten-week in-service course to measure to what extent teachers improved interpersonal communication skills in discussions with students. Teachers' positive responses (e.g., listening, owning personal feelings, offering choices to students), teachers' negative responses (e.g., judging, lecturing, rescuing), teacher talk vs. student talk, and the frequency of student misbehaviors were considered. Audio tape recordings were made of teachers as they dealt with student problems in a group discussion and in an individual discussion. Also, student misbehaviors were recorded during a 15-minute observation time. The data were evaluated using analysis of variance. The results showed that in discussions with individual students, teachers increased positive responses and decreased teacher talk. In addition, the number of student misbehaviors increased after the training course. No other changes were found to be statistically significant.