Changes in student-teacher perceptions following a residential outdoor program

Positive changes in student-teacher relationships have long been postulated to be one of the desirable outcomes of Residential Outdoor Programs. This study examines changes of students' perceptions of their teachers as well as changes in teachers' perceptions of individual student personalities and interpersonal relationships within their classes following a Residential Outdoor Program. A detailed description of the actual Residential Outdoor Program examined in the study is presented. The program was evaluated in terms of predefined criteria for conducting program effecting positive student-teacher relationships. The Program was judged to have- met these criteria. Using pre-program and post-program scores from the Teacher Pupil Relationship Inventory, students participating in a Residential Outdoor Program were found to have changed their perceptions of their teachers in a positive direction when compared to students who had not participated in such a program. Teachers participating in the Residential Outdoor Program provided the information required for Bales Interaction Process Analysis. Using this information, the teachers were found to have changed their perceptions of some individual student personalities following the Residential Outdoor Program. Although no commonalities were found in these perception changes, the individual perception shifts were documented and interpreted. Following the Residential Outdoor Program, it was inferred that the teachers perceived the interpersonal relationships within the classes to be more unified than had been the case prior to the Residential Outdoor Program. Isolated individuals and groups within the classes were perceived to have been drawn into the main relationship networks of the classes following the Residential Outdoor Program.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat