A study of teacher and principal ratings of priorities in social studies goals

The purpose of this study was to determine if social studies philosophical positions, as characterized by priorities in selected goals, differ according to job category. Job categories included elementary teachers, secondary teachers, elementary principals, and secondary principals. An instrument consisting of twenty-nine Likert-type items based on five theoretical dimensions suggested by Bruce R. Joyce, R. Murray Thomas and Dale L. Brubaker was constructed as the assessment device. The five theoretical dimensions employed were Joyce's Personal, Social, and Intellectual Dimensions and Thomas-Brubaker's Conservationist and Authority Dimensions. The instrument was administered to 124 subjects who had been selected through a random sampling procedure. Elementary and secondary teachers and principals from six public school districts in Harris County, Texas, participated. Responses were anonymous except for job category. [...]