Streaming : knowledge and attitudes

Abstract

Recently, there have been a number of contributions to the local press as to whether Government primary schools should be streamed or not. These letters discussed various issues such as the role of the teacher, the relationship between pupils and teachers; and the relationship between teachers and pupils of different abilities. Unfortunately, these opinions were only expressed by University lecturers, politicians and researchers. The voices of the teachers, parents and children involved in streaming were not heard. On 14 June 1988, the Department of Information, in a Press Release, stated that a committee set up by the Ministry of Education was attempting to investigate the opinions of parents and teachers on the system. However, no results have been published as yet. It was for this reason that in our study we concentrated on such an issue in order to open a new field where such attitudes are given primary importance. It was not the purpose of our study to make a case for or against streaming. The study was designed to gather ethnographical material on the knowledge and attitudes that the pupils and their parents have towards streaming. It also attempted to trace out the part played by these attitudes in determining the success of failure of a pupil's academic performance.