The impact of the teacher's theoretical orientation toward reading and writing on the orientation and performance of students with differing abilities

Abstract

This naturalistic study investigated teachers' theories about reading and writing in an attempt to describe the influence of these theories on students who have been classified and grouped into classes of good, average, and poor readers and writers. Students' theories were also examined to determine if they matched the teacher's theories and to determine the effect these student theories had on performance. Three sixth grade teachers, each teaching students classified into different ability levels, were chosen to participate in the study along with three representative students from each class. Observations and interviews of these participants formed the basis for the data collection phase that lasted seven months. The observations and interviews were guided by the assumption that teachers and students do have theories that are discoverable in the classroom. During data analysis, triangulation, member checks, and peer debriefing were used to validate the researcher's perceptions. From these emergent perceptions, the researchers wrote a portrait of each classroom. After analyzing the data, several conclusions emerged. First, teacher's reading and writing theories are consistent, being based on the same underlying assumptions. Second, the assumptions underlying teacher's theories remain consistent across different ability levels. In other words, teachers do not change their theories when teaching students of differing abilities; they merely vary their expectations while the underlying assumption remains intact. Third, student's reading theories seem to develop from initial vicarious and/or structured reading experiences. Also, student's writing theories seem to be developing at this age, thus these theories were not well defined. Finally, student theories did not always match the theories held by their teachers. Students picked up on the teacher activities that matched their own theory, while downplaying those activities that did not match their theory. Teacher and student theories do have an impact in the classroom, affecting both performance and perceptions.