A Qualitative Study of Principals', Teachers',and Parents' Perceptions about their Respective Roles in Children's Education at Two Jamaican Primary Schools-One Rural and One Urban

Abstract

To educate a child at any institution, three key stakeholders are required: the principal, the teacher and the parent. Even though this phenomenon is de facto (real), there appears to be a perennial controversy among principals, teachers and parents in rural and urban schools at the primary level in Jamaica. This controversy normally occurs when students perform poorly on the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) which is now the Primary Exist Profile (PEP) national exam. Thus, through the lens of the principals, teachers and parents of two Jamaican primary schools (one rural and one urban), this qualitative (narrative) multi-site study investigated the principals, teachers and parents perceptions about their respective roles in children’s education at these two un-named schools in the parish of Clarendon, Jamaica (a rural and an urban school). Fifty respondents (combined sample size) from both rural and urban schools participated in the study - 13 from the rural school and 37 from the urban school. The primary instruments that were used to collect the data for this study were observation and semi-structured interviews in addition to a tape recorder. The findings of the study revealed that whilst there are major disagreements among the principals, teachers and parents, regarding their respective roles in relation to who is responsible to ensure that the child gets quality education at both schools; there are also agreements among stakeholders concerning their respective roles. Thus, the findings of the study which are paramount to both institutions could serve as benchmarks to improve the principal-teacher-parent-communication, parental involvement, and stakeholder partnership, in that, the results of the study also revealed major stakeholder-weaknesses at both institutions in these quintessential areas. Hence, all stakeholders need to work together collaboratively to provide quality education for the children who attend these schools. This study should be impactful, not only to the stakeholders at both primary schools, but also to other stakeholders and policymakers at the primary level. The implications that the study has examined based on the findings are: implications for further research and practice; implications for the Ministry of Education (MOE) and school administrators/educational leaders; implications for teacher education in teachers’ colleges and universities (Jamaican context); and implications for in-service teachers and parents at both schools.