Teachers' theoretical orientations toward reading and pupil control ideology: A national survey

Based on a sun ev of Utah elementary teachers (Authors, 1997), a stratified three-stage cluster sample of 418 elementary school teachers (grades K-6) throughtout the United States was surveyed to examine relationships between their theoretical beliefs toward reading instruction and their attitudes a bout pupil control. Two survey instruments were combined for data collectio n: (a) the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) (DeFord, 1985) which classifies reading orientations as phonics, skills, or whole languag e, and (b) the Pupil Control Ideology Form (PCI) (Willower, Eidell, & Hoy, 1967), which categorizes teacher attitudes about student control as custodi al or humanistic. A Chi-square analysis showed a very strong relationship ( p < 0.001), indicating that as teachers' scores moved toward the whole lang uage end of the TORP scale, their PCI scores were mon humanistic. This resu lt was not surprising, since both views share common progressive philosophi cal roots. Conversely, as teachers' reading orientations were classified as phonics and skills-based, their ideas of management were more custodial, a result that was anticipated since both views stem from behaviorist thought . Practical implications, comparisons with related studies, and possible ar eas for further research are discussed.