THE IMPACT OF HUMANISTIC EDUCATION INSTRUCTION ON SELF-CONCEPT, RACIAL PREJUDICE, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, AND DISCIPLINE

The major purpose of this study was to determine whether implementation of an humanistic education curriculum, called the Innerchange Program, could significantly change the racial prejudices, self-concepts, school attendance, school performance, and discipline of ninth and tenth-grade black and white students who attended an integrated public high school in Queens, New York. The influences of the Innerchange Program were measured on students with no, one, and two or more years of integrated school experience. There was a total of 206 subjects in this study, comprised of the following groups: 104 experimental and 102 control; 104 blacks and 102 whites; 106 males and 100 females; and 68 subjects with no integrated school experience, 69 with one year of integrated school experience, and 69 with two or more years of integrated school experience. The materials used in this study were: (1) The Attitude Scale was employed to measure racial prejudice; (2) The Piers-Harris Children\u27s Self Concept Scale was used to measure self-concept; (3) Official school attendance records were used to measure attendance; (4) School transcripts were used to determine school performance, and (5) School Disciplinary Referral Books were employed to measure infractions of school behavior. The following were the major conclusions of this study: (1) It was concluded that neither black nor white children had more positive self-concepts than the other, and that neither racial group benefited disproportionately from humanistic education instruction. Also, neither black nor white children were more prejudiced toward each other and exposure to humanistic education did not significantly lower the prejudices of any one group as opposed to the other. (2) Students who took part in humanistic education instruction had more positive self-concepts, displayed less racial prejudice, attended school more often, and had superior school performance when compared to control subjects. (3) It was concluded that humanistic education was more influential in changing the racial attitudes of children never exposed to integrated education, when compared to children with previous integration experiences