Self‐Actualization of Teachers and Teacher‐Student Rapport

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to determine possible relationships between selected background characteristics and degree of self‐actualization of home economics teachers of central Iowa, to refine a teacher‐student rapport instrument, and to test for differences in teacher‐student rapport between two groups of teachers differing in self‐actualization. Data on background characteristics and self‐ actualization (inner‐directed scale of Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory) were gathered by mail from 126 teachers. No relationships existed between degree of self‐actualization and the background characteristics. Two groups of the teachers, 10 who scored high and 10 who scored low on the POI, were selected for remaining phases of the study. Their ninth grade students responded to the Student Estimate of Teacher Concern (SETC), a measure of teacher‐student rapport. A 39‐item form of the SETC was developed from an 89‐item version with no loss in reliability. No significant difference in teacher‐ student rapport was found between the two groups of teachers.