Perceptions of,and reactions to,the educational system and their implications for policy

The data to be presented was drawn from a survey of nationally representative samples of some 4,000 pupils, most of whom were no longer required by law to be at school, and 1,200 teachers, in the Republic of Ireland. The main purpose of the survey was to collect data relevant to evaluating the post-primary educational system as a whole. Providing such an evaluation was taken to involve, first, assessing what the goals of post-primary education should be, second, obtaining teachers' and pupils' subjective assessments of whether those goals were being attained and, thirdly, asking why the goals were not being better attained. The basic data, which has bee published in three volumes by the Irish Association for Curriculum Development (Raven et al., 1975/ 1976), can be used to illuminate a wide range of basic issues. The present paper deals with one of these. Some others are discussed in Raven (1977b).