A Study of the Attitudes of Parents Toward Teachers

AbstractTwo hundred sixteen parents in a middle socio-economic area were studied to determine their attitudes toward teachers. To measure attitudes, a set of three interwoven projective techniques (a word association test, a thematic apperception test, a sentence completion test) was utilized.The findings indicated that parents predominately think of teachers as being female. Such an image is generally accompanied by negative attitudes. These attitudes are revealed through recall descriptions of unpleasant experiences. When parents think of a teacher as being male (under forced conditions of the thematic apperception test), the accompanying attitudes tend to be positive. The responses were similar among the tested male and female parents.