THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRINCIPAL AND TEACHER PERCEPTIONS OF COMMUNICATION

Purpose. The purposes of this study were two-fold. First, the researcher desired to know the extent to which the communication of elementary school principals in the rural counties of Tennessee was congruent with what the teachers understood the principal\u27s communication to be in four areas of communication: affective involvement, information distribution, staff development, and teacher encouragement. Secondly, investigation was made to determine if sex, age, training, or experience made significant differences in the level of communication attained. Procedures. Data were gathered with a mail survey using the Audit of Administrator Communication sent to a random sample of teachers and to all the principals. Data were processed by use of a computer program at Tennessee State University. Results of this were tested by the statistical treatments of ANOVA, Pearson\u27s Coefficients, and Newman-Keuls procedures. Findings. (1) There was a significant difference between the principals and teachers in each of the four communication components with affective involvement receiving the poorest scoring with 54 percent expressing adequate communication. Other areas varied, with information distribution receiving the best ranking with 84 percent. (2) In the independent variables, age and experience indicated no significant differences within their groups. Men and women did indicate significant differences, with the men giving the better scores. Training indicated no significant difference in the area of information distribution, but significant differences were found between the baccalaureate group and those holding advanced degrees. Recommendations. (1) Since affective involvement rated predominantly the poorest, training in group dynamics and interpersonal skills should be inaugurated in the school systems. (2) Workshops on communication training are recommended as a part of the in-service programs of teachers. (3) Further study should be done in the area of developing instruments to measure the components of communication among professional educators