An Empirical Study of Attitudes Toward Open Education.

Overview & Synopsis

In order to evaluate the possibility that open education represents a revival of the progressive education movement, data were gathered on the attitude of experienced teachers toward open, progressive, and traditional educational practices. An attitude scale composed of 70 items was administered to a sample of 64 program assistants in the Tucson Early Education Model (TEEM). The data were analyzed through correlational procedures and indicate the high similarity between open education and progressive education, differing only in the respect that open education is less traditional. Among the implications of these data would be the importance of considering the frustrations and problems encountered by the proponents of progressive education. (Author/MLF)