An Analysis of Private School Mission Statements

This article is a study of private school mission/vision statements using content analysis. Statements from private schools in British Columbia, Canada, that provided instruction to Grade 12 students were analyzed to explore the diversity that lies within the private school sector. The concepts that emerged from the analysis were grouped into five categories: concepts that declared the school's distinctive beliefs, concepts that presented the school's goals and objectives, and concepts outlining the environment, services offered, and parental involvement. It was found that there is considerable diversity between private school groups in the school distinctives and in the goals and objectives pursued by the schools.