Concepts and Practices of Tolerance among High School Students

Abstract

In this diverse world, the values of tolerance play a major role in attaining a culture of peace. As such, this study was conducted to assess the extent of knowledge on the concepts and practices of tolerance among high school students. Respondents’ tolerance were categorized into five areas namely Tolerance on Gender Issues; Religious Tolerance; Tolerance on Ethnicity; Tolerance on Difference in Status; and Tolerance at Home and outside. Using the 29 item Questionnaire, this study looked into the respondents’ profile; their knowledge on the concepts and practices on building tolerance; the relationship between the students’ knowledge and their practices of tolerance; and lastly, the difference between the knowledge and practices on tolerance of the students when grouped by gender, economic status and religion. This study used a descriptive research design on the description and interpretation of the data. The statistical tools used to present the findings of the study were frequency, percentage, weighted mean, Pearson r, t-test and analysis of variance.Based on the results, most of the respondents were generally knowledgeable of the different concepts of tolerance based on the five categories. However, respondents coming from families with low income were less knowledgeable of these concepts. Likewise, students practice a high level of tolerance on gender issues, ethnicity, non-conformity with standard, religion, and diversity of preferences within and outside the school. Lastly, in practicing tolerance, all the respondents have positive responses whether they were grouped by gender, economic status, and religion, having signified that they practiced all the items as often as possible.