DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS THEORETICAL ORIENTATIONS TOWARD READING AND PUPIL CONTROL IDEOLOGY

A random sample of 437 elementary school teachers in the state of Utah was surveyed to examine relationships between theoretical beliefs tow ard reading instruction and attitudes about pupil control. Two survey instruments were combined for data collection: (a) The Theoretical Ori entation to Reading Profile (TORP) (DeFord, 1985) which classifies rea ding orientations as phonics, skills, or whole language, and (b) The P upil Control Ideology Form (PCI) (Willower, Eidell, & Hoy, 1967) which categorizes teacher attitudes about student control as custodial or h umanistic. A significant, negative correlation (r = -.41, p < .0001) w as found, indicating that as teachers' scores moved toward the whole l anguage end of the TORP scale, their PCI scores were more humanistic, since both views share common progressive philosophical roots. Convers ely, as teachers' reading orientations were classified as phonics and skills-based, their ideas of management were more custodial. Both view s stem from behavioristic thought. Practical implications, comparisons with related studies, and possible areas for further research are dis cussed.