The role of the director of adult education: a study of degree of agreement on actual and ideal role of directors of adult education in North Carolina community colleges as perceived by deans of instruction, directors of student personnel services, and directors of adult education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was (1) to determine the degree of agreement among three role-defining groups concerning their perception of actual and ideal role behavior ascribed to the Director of Adult Education and (2) to determine the degree of agreement within each role-defining group concerning their perception of actual and ideal role behavior ascribed to the Director of Adult Education.

The three role-defining groups were Deans of Instruction, Directors of Student Personnel Services, and Directors of Adult Education. The six role areas associated with the position of Director of Adult Education were: Planning, Organizing, Promoting, Supervising, Managing, and Controlling.

A two-part questionnaire consisting of 58 role behavior statements, divided among the six role areas, was mailed to each of 48 members of the reference group. Forty-three responded to the questionnaire.

Each individual was asked to select the category for each statement that best reflected his perception of the regularity with which the director actually performed the behavior. This same request was made regarding his perception of the desirability of the behavior.

The results of the study indicated a significant degree of disagreement between the three role-defining groups in the areas of promoting, supervising, and managing for actual role behavior. A significant degree of disagreement existed between the three role-defining groups in the area of managing for ideal role behavior. Directors of Adult Education perceived a significant degree of difference between actual and ideal role for planning, organizing, supervising, and controlling. Deans of Instruction perceived a Significant degree of difference between actual and ideal role behavior for planning, promoting, supervising, and controlling. Directors of Student Personnel Services perceived a significant degree of difference between actual and ideal role behavior for planning, organizing, promoting, supervising, and controlling.

Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made: (1) the study should be replicated to add validity to the research procedure and methodology; (2) similar studies should be conducted to identify new and emerging roles of directors of adult education; (3) a comparative study would appear useful to determine if similar patterns of behavior emerge regardless of the setting. Other recommendations included: communication workshops within the institution, other studies that would include additional role-identifiers, technical institutes, four-year colleges, and more variables, and comparative studies dealing with specialized personnel within the field of adult education.