AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPLEMENTlITION OF A GRADE TWO LANGUAGE l\RTS PROGRAM
by eSimeonJ . priddle
Athesi s sUbmitted to the School of Graduate studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Masterof Education
Department of Curriculum and Instruction Memorial t;niversityof Newfoundland
Hay,1992
Oirectiondes ~ et desservicestoblio;;lraphiques
....
--~~l
The auth or has granted an Irrevocab le non-exclusivelicence allowi ng the NationalUbrary of Canada
tP.
reproduce, loan, distribute or sen copies of his/herthesisbyany means and Inany form or format,making thisthesis availabl etoInterested person s.Theauthorretain sownershipof the copyright inhis/ herthesis. Neitherthe thesisnor substa ntial extractsfromitmaybeprintedor oth erwise repro duced without his/h erpermission.
L'aut e...raeecc rde unelicenc e irrevocable et non exclusive permettant
a
la Bibliothequ e nation ala du Canad a de reproduire,preter,dlstr lbuerou vendra des copi es de sa these de quelque manlere et sous quelqueformeque cesoit pour mettredes exernplaires decette thesea
la dispos ition des personn esInteressees.L'aut eurconserv e laproprietedu droit d'auteur qui protege sa these. Ni lathesenidesextraIts subs tantiels de celle -cl ne doivent etre imp rimes ou autrement reproduits sansson autorlsatlon.
ISBN 0-315- 82 623-1
1r.ckn owledg e ment s
The authorwishes tothankthe Q!,H:r.i£!Ll...HnL!ilJD'_t;iYqt-oup 01 researchers consisting of Prof essor Jeff rey Bulcock , ,Jo hn Humber and Gerald Gal wa y. Th e ir nu pp-or-t.hi'\> ;be-e-n vItul to t .s studyand is gra t e fu llyack nowledged .
Special appreciation is ex t en de d to pr-otcuacr ,h 'l ln~y Bulcockvnchasbeen an Lnspir-aticn fo rthe completion01thin thesis.
To my vtee Lindaandchild re naar-c(1m ].Jonot; , Ioxtor«tIlly deepe s t gratitude fo r their patienc o and llndl'l':;t.lI1din'l, dud for giving up the i r summe rs in order thilt thlu pr-ojoct Illi\jllt see completion.
1\bstract
Th i s study exa mi ne d the implementation of the nat sen Network s Languag e Ar t s Program, a wholelanguage approachto the te a c h i n g of la ng ua g e arts. Specifically, the study investigated the relationshipof health, teacher background and reflective tea c h i ng to quality of teaching life and
satisfaction with caree r choice. Further, the relationship
between the preceding variables and teache rs ' perceptions of tile impl e mon t at i on processused with the Nelson Nettwo r ksr and themanageme ntaspectsof the program va s fnvestiqa t.ed .
Th e....at.afor this study was obtained from the curril.:ulum ~!:YQY. Only the data per tainingto the aforementioned vcrrab rcs wa sused. This datawas collected froma sample of grade two teache rs in Newfoundla ndschools during the 1989-90 scho ol ye ar . Teac herscompleteda four pointscale survey at two po in t s in the school year. Only the da't a from the fir s t surveywas addre s s e d .
Ana l ys i s consisted of principal componentsanalysis of the instrumentitems, regression ana l ysis , path analysis and dir e c t t caet; squ ares. On the basis of this ann lysisit was concl udedthatteache r he a l t h wasagoo d indicator of ceecner sa ti sfa c t i o n with car eer choice. Reflective teachers wer-e mor e like l yto be satisfiedwit.h careerchoice , more positive toward imp leme n tat i on of new curriculum and more positive towardsthe management as p e c t s of new curriculum.
Teachers wh oweremo re setfatLedwi t hthC'iI"..-aroer- .."1\ 11j."., respondedecrenegativel ytotheimp lC'r.u:m t a t ion.uutm,IIl.lI'Il.'I1t<'[lt aspect s of the new program, s.atturacrton with':,I n' <' I""'l!"j,'" and qu ality ofte a c hing lire \,'('1" (' uiqhly r..-Lat;..-d, .1:: teache rs' perceptions of the Im~ l c mentation pro c (' l\l\ ,m tl ma na g e men t as pectsof th e new cu r ricu lum,
Table of conte nt s Ao knowj edqemcnts Abstra c t Li s t of'rabtes List of Figur e s CIIA.PTER THE PROBLEM
ua ckqreune to the Prob lem The Pr ob l e m
The Pr ovinc ia l Pi c t u r e The Loca l Pi ct ure Re sea r c h Questions
Supplemen t aryQuestions Limi ta ti ons
Pra ctical Imp lLcet Ions Defi nitionof Terms
II REVIEWOF RELATEDLITERATURE Introd uctio n
t.I eere eu reRel a ted toImp lem e nt a ti on Litera t ure Relat e d to MamH.leme nt Aspects of
wn cj.e Lang uage Teach erHe althTheo r y Page ii i i i ix xft t 10 11 12 12 14 15 16 18 19 2B )1
CHAPTER
Te a c h er Backgrou nd t.It er-a turo ReflectiveTe a chert.ft o rnt urc QualityofTe<1 chinlJI.if e'Lltor-atnr-o Literatur e Rel ,ltinq to :-;.Iti:;r ~ll'tion
j /
"
Hypotheses -1',
Hypothe$CsReLarinq to 'I'C,lC hC'l"uo.rrrn ·1' , Hypo th e s e s Rela ti nqtoB,' c ':q n .\Il1d F.IL"tun: Hypo th ese s Rcl ,' ti nq to no[ ICH:tivo
TC<lch in rj
Hypotho s e :irlc lil t i ll'j toQII.l l ity 'I I Teac hingLi
rc
Hyp o th e s e s ReLltinrlto.Jo b::;I tj,:I;I Lotirm
III METHODOLOGY
Introdu c tion ResearchDe s i gn
Descrip tio nof the 'reocn er tnst rum-n r The Instrument
'rec c n er Health Te ac he rBacJ.:qrou nd Reflecti veTeacher The Sample
Analysisof Data Ana lysis of the r nstrueentu
Na n a q o rne n t, 66
Impleme n tat ion 68
Reflectivo Teaching 70
TheDoma in s of Qualityof Teachi ngLife 73
TeacherRo l e 85
Revised Al ien a t i o n poma In 89
RevisedSta tus Domain 92
Reliability 96
ANALYSISOF THE01\TA Int r od uct i o n DescriptiveStatistics
98 10 0 Hypotheses Related to Qualit.y of 'l'eachinq Life102
Hy po t h esesRelatedto JobSatisfact ion 102
Hypo theses Relatedto Implem e n t a t ion 104 Hypo t.he ses Related to 11a nageme ntxspect;e 107
Summaryof the findi ngs 113
SUMMARY Jl.NDCONCLU S I ONS 115
In trod uctio n 115
Summa ry and Conclusions 115
Summar yof thefind i n g s 116
Effec ts of the Exogenousand Intervening Vari ab l es on Irap l emenua tLon..mel Manag e ment
vii
lI B CHAPTER
Effe c t s of the Inte r ven i ng va r La u tcs on Imp l e men t a tio n and Man ag eme nt Effectsof the Inter veni ng Variab l e on
Eac h Other 11B
Conc l us i ons 119
Imp li c a tio ns In
Recommendati onsfor fu r t he rRes earch 1~~,
Verif ication St ud ies 12!:o
Mod e l Exten s i on sandnespeeLrtcotIooe 17.'.J
References 17.7
1l.ppendices
AppendixA - Cen t ra l Poin tsof Who l eLa n q unqo 1)1l AppendixB - cor r e s pondencetoNT A
Appendix C - The Instrument Appendix0 - Fre q u e nci e sAnal ysis
viii
140 ]r,,, ](, (,
Table 1 Tabl e 2 Table 3 Ta b le 4 Table 5 Table6 Table7 Table 8 Table 9 Table 10 Table 11 Li st of Ta b les
CorrelationMatriJ.: for Satisfac tion Doma i n
Principal Component Ana lys isfo r the Sa t isfac tio nDo ma i n
Co r relationMatrix for theManage ment Doma i n
Pr incipalCompone ntAnalys is forthe ManagementDomai n
CorrelationMatrix for the Imp l e men t a t ion Doma in
Resul tsof th e Princi palComponentAna lys is for the Imp l e me nt a t i onDo ma i n
Cor r e l ationMatrixfo r the Reflective Teachernomai n
Principal Component Ana l ys i s for the Refl ectiv e Teach er Domain Princ i pal Compo nen t Ana ly s is fo r the Rev ised ReflectiveTeacherDomain Correlation Ma tri xfo r the Commitment Domain
Principa l Compo ne nt Anal ys is fo r the Commi t ment Domai n
rx
Pag e G3 64 G6 G7 69 69 70 71 75 75Tab l e12 reccceAnalysis Initial Sti, tis t ics fo r Commi t me nt Domain
Table13 Correl at ionMa trixfor thoAl i "n ilt ion
Domai n "/ 6
Table14 Prin cipal Components An"lysis for tile
Alienati on Domain
n
Table15 Factor Ana lys is Init i al St.l tistlc~ fo r the
Alienati onDoma in r t
Tab l e 16 Cor r el atio nMatrixfor thosuouu»ucuoLn '1ft Tab l e17 principa l Comp o nen t sAni\l Y~J i~ rcr tho
Status Domai n 'Ill
Table18 Fac t or Anal ysi s Initi a l st.'!tis tjc~: fo rthc
Stat us Doma i n 70
Table19 Cor r elatio nMat r ixforthe! Id en t i t yl>omn in
.
"
Tab le20 Principal Compo n e ntsAn"lyf:is ror thoIdent it yDoma i n 80
Table 21 Fa ctor Analysis Init ia l statistics for the
Identity Domain 80
Ta b l e22 Rota te d Fa c t o r MatrixforQua li tyof
Teach ingLife Indicators .J
Tab le23 Re a na lys isof Quality of 'reachtnq I.i r a
Ind icator s Fac t o r J :I~
Ta ble2. Reanalys i s of Qualityof 't'oachLnq LiCa
Indicators Factor a Il"J
Tableas Rean al y s i sof Qualityof 'reu cnlnqLir"
Table 26
Table 27
Table 29
Co rre l a t io n Mat rix fo r the Te ac h er Ro le Domain
Principal ComponentAn al ysis for cne Tea che r Role Domain
Co r r el at io n Matrix for the Revi sed.
86 86 Al i e na ti onnomeIn 91 97 96 94 92
"
PrincipalComponentAn a l y s i s for theRevised Al i e na t i o nDomainCorrelation Matrixfor the Rev isedStatus Domai n
Principalr'omponent. AnaLy uLs for the Revised Status Domain
PrincipalCompone ntsAna lys i sfor the Second-Order Factor Analy s i s,QTL Alpha Reliability Co-Efficients for the Constructs
Descriptive Statisticsand Co r rela t io ns
Between the Variables of the QTL Model 10 1
Ta bl e 33 'reui e32 Tabl e 34 Ta ble30 Table29 Table 31 Table 3S Tabl e 36 Ta ble 37
Regression AnalysisResults for the Exoq e nous Var iableson QTL peqrcssion Analysis Results fo r the ExogenousVari ableson SATIS
RegressionAnalysisResultsof the Ef fec ts of the IndependentVariabl eson Manage me nt e nd Implementat ion
103
104
106
'"
Table 38 Ta ble39 Table40 Ta ble 41 co r r e l at i o n s .Directz r roct. s (be t"l . IndirectEffects .TotalEf f e ctsOIn\! T-Values fo r th e Ef f e ctsoftheIndependentVariable sontheoutcone
Variab les
Regres s i on Anal ys isResultsof t.no
Effectsof the Latent vnrIe bLesonQ'l'I, 1II RegressionAnalys i s ncuutt,eof t.ho
Effectsof the LatentvartabjesallSA1'IS II;~ Co r rel a ti ons, Direc t Effects (b etil) .
Indirect Effe c tsandT-Valuesfortilr•
Effectsof the LatentVariabl esillllithe'
In t e rveningve r Lebl co
Listof Figures Page Figure1 Figure 2 Fi g u r eJ Figu r e 4 Figure 5 Figu r e(; Fi gure 7 Figurea Figure9
Elements of ProfessionalRe fl e c t i o n Conceptua l Mod e l of Curriculum Implementation
Measu rementMod!;'l: Satisfactio nHith Teaching Career (S1-TIS)
MeasurementModel: Ma na g e me n t Domai n (MANAG)
MeasurementMo d e l : Impl e ment a t i on (I MPL) MeasurementMo d e l: ReflectiveTeaching
(REFL)
Measurement Mod e l: Teacher Role ('I'ROLE ) Mea s u re men t Model: Revi sedAlienation (ALIE N)
Me a sur e me n t Model: Revised Status (STAT) 39 4G 65
6'
7'
89 909
'
95 Fi gu r e 10 Mea sure men t Model: Quality of Teach ingLif e (QTL)
Figu re 11 RespecifiedTheoretica l Model: wnoIe LanquaqeImp l e men t at i on and Manage ment 98
Fi gure12 feedback Model: Whole Language
Implementation and Management
xii i
CHAP TER I
'I'hePro b lem
The purposeofthi s study wastoevo ru at;cthotmptcnon ra -tion of the gra de two language ar ts p r cqz-em int r-oduc od jn Newfo und landschools inSeptembe r, 1989. The nt uuv rocuocuon factors influenci ng teacher acccptance of the pl"o <j r,H1\'n philosophy and how these fa c t ors wet-e rc-ttocnou in rhc implementation process. The maj orfa c tor sevatunt.cu worct no degree of reflective teaching, t eacue r hoaL til, t.occ bc-r back g round , and how teachers perceived the qunlit.v of thoir-teachi nglives.
Arandomsample of grade two teache r svan»oIcct cu;IHtno units for participation int.h Ls study. The u.unp loconuiutcd of 195 grade two teachers fromu Lrro rent; sctioc I sett.Lnqu across the pr ov inc e . These teachershad varyinq uoqr-ccn01 exper ience withandexp os u r eto the who leLanquaqcphitosopnv Whichthe Newfo u ndland Depa r t me nt of zuucetIon heH) ac c cpt.c d.
Ba c kg r ound to the Probl e m
Throu gh ou t the 19805 th e Department of euuce tton fo r Newfo u ndla nd and Labrador acceptedaph Ll oacphy fo r tcnqucqo art s educ ationwhich i t claimedwasbased on"th eunc o r-u t uncr -ing of what is kn own ab out Lan qu a q e , and the ~liJ Y jonquaqc functions inch ild re n's lives" C&.l:m..!u:.ism;:i.ng__I6JJ:lrJl,lhfJ(;, J'JBIl, p. 1). Bas e d onth isphiloso phy,se jectcupr ima r ycurriculu m
specialistswereasked to pr e pa r e a cur r i cu l um guidedeal ing with the lang uagearts in thepri marygra d e s . Theresulta nt report was en ti t l ed Exp e ri enci ng Lan g u ag e .
Thecurr i cu l u m guideaddre ssedthree mod ulesofth ewhole language appro a ch to teach ing: (a) a la ngu age experience module, (b) an in str u c tio n a l mod u l e, an d (cl a children's litera t ur e module. In line wi th its phil o s oph yandinorde r toaddress these mo d u l es, the Dep art ment ofEduc at i onad opt e d the Nel son Ca nada Ne t wor k s program. At the ti me thisstudy begantheprog ra m had beenus e dingradeon eforone year , an d inSe pte mbe r 198 9 was intro duced ingrad e two. Planswere alreadyin pla ceto int ro d u c e thepr ogram ingrade three in Septembe r 199 0.
The probl e m
'l'raditionallyin NeWfound landsch o olsreadi ng andwrit i ng have beentreated as se parateent iti e s and have beentaught using a fr-aqmerrt ed sk i l l s app ro ac h.with the basal reader utilized as the mainre sourc e. The basal re ad er has a long hist o ry inthe fieldof rea di ng , datingback to 1840whe n a gradedschoo l system came intobeing and graded readers we r e introduced toac c o mpa n y th a t st r u c tu r e. Th e s e rea d ers were skills-orientedand these skills increased in complexityas the child progressed from grade levelto grade level, hav ing mastered the skills required at a givenlevel ce r ore moving forward. As basal re a d e r s began ad d r es s ing comprehension
sk i l l s , as wel las word recognition sk Ll Ls,moreof the b ..\:-;ill rea di ng progra ms were published and lII1lr ke t e d .
Each re ading program ....as acco a p ..mfed by il cca ctrers' manual with clearly defin ed expectae Ien s and actIvtcro» . An other compo n e nt of theprog r a m was" st ud e n two rk book\"hir..:h addressedspe cific ski ll s suchas phoni c s ,str-uut ur-o1 anaIyni!; and id e n t ifi c at i on. The skil l s prog r a ms were seque nt i"ll y planned and th e skills acquired at one qr-ade level ..vcro
reinforced in the ne xt . It was aneumed tnat i[ ellij
cu-on
le arned the s efragmen tedskills sequerrcIctry , thoonctpr-ouuct wouldbe a prof i cient rea d e r wh o could lr rteqr-ate the.sklLln necessaryfor comprehen si on of theprc scrtnoueot .ort or.
Doa k e (1987). in an addres s at heatJi.. univcn:lt v . sUtlIlIIa rl z ed the philosophy of th e basIc skil l fl/biw <lJ rCilller approachwhen he stated:
The ccnpaex ta s ks of lear ni ng to rceu ;roo write ha v e to be broken down into acr-e maniHI,-'ab lc hitH andpieces so thatchil dre n canlea r n morecaf;i1y. In or der to make this le ar ni ng even si mpler. the bitsand pieces have beenar-r unq o dint o somepre -or dai ned sequence of clearl y LdcntLriOllJlc lllllJ -skills , which willbe prese ntedtochildrc ninthe formof a multitud ino us ar-rey of warJ.:boo!: exe r -ci ses. A seriesof readers are written in "Jhich th e authors have to quite riqorously cooteot the vcc ebur erytheyuse inthe stories. 'r hb:is done
so that specificphon ics and other wordre cognition sk illscan be introduced to match the seq u ences pres ent in the hierarchy on which th e program is based. (p .10)
Doubt s abou tthisapproachto readingand wr-Lti Inqled to furthe r res earc h int o how ch i ld r en ac qu ir e proficiency in
thes e areas of lan g uage development. This research le dto critica l ana l y s i s of thebasicskills/basalreader approac hby such the ori s t s as Doake (1985), Goodman (1986), Ho Ldawa y (1979) , Huck (1977) and Newman (19 85). These criticisms, summarizedin Beebe (1988) are cateqor-i aed asfollows:
1. Basal readersplaceundu e emphasis on isolated partsof langu a g e: letters,le t ter-soundrelation -ships, words , sente nce fragments, or sent ences. Th is enc o ur ag e s read e r s to perceive re ad ing as a wo rd me a n in g activi ty instead of a meaning making activity in Whichsenseis made of real comprehe n-sib l e stories and expositorypassages.
2. Th e y introduce arbitrary sequencesof skills whic h too oft e nlead to learning the seskills as endsrathertha n lea rninghmlandl:lillillto use the sk ill toass i s t in realrea d in g situations. 3. Theyofte ncrea teart ificiallang u age pa s s ag e s by cont r oll i ng voca b ula ry or by bu il d i ng around sp ecif i c phonic relatio nshi ps or word at ta ck
skills. Th e yals oofte ncre ate arrirtcrottext stby using readability formu las to cr-c n t c :ll' ]oct. Lons
written to a spoci f i cre ad ing IcveL,
4. They minimize time spe n t on ren cl l nq r-o.u stories or content by monopoliz ing trio time' tor-skills exerc i se s. This isp a r-tlcu Larly rruo when workbooks are used exte ns iv ely. In t no r-c-pcrt Becoming a Nation of Read er s (An do n~o " ot. .11., 1985) it is claimed that up to 70\ ot the ti ml' allocated for rea d ing is sp ent in indepon uo nt readi ngpracti c e orse etiwcrk. MORt ofrnntti me iu spe nt on workb o ok and skLjLs smeot» diroctty relatedto th e basalprogram in lIS C. vc-t,l' I..l':' : -roomresearch showsthat the amo unt oftimo devo te- d to worksheetsis unrelatedto year -ct.c- y oor-(Jil jn~;in pr o f i cie ncy . (p , 76-7') )
5. Children' s li tera ture select. Lcnc arc ottcn ta mpe r e dwi t h eitherby simp ]ifyi ng the- vooabulnrv or by rewriting themto accc mmcea t o thodc'v(! llJjJmc nt of particularskills. Simila r l y,shor t uotcc t.iom: from children 's l i te r a t u r e arc se iecce u by the edito r of baslll readers, whi c h Iec k the inteqr- ity andunimpaired cont ex t of th e oriqtnul. 6. Basals are costl y for school hoard s to pur-chase. Sometimes few fundsa r-e leftovor lor t.no purchase of library bOOKS anti other authentic:
rea ding materials ...:hich children need in order to pra c ti ce the skills theyaretaught. {p ,14- 1 5)
supportiveof these criticisms, thre e importantresearch findingsofthe 1960s and 19705 (Payne, 1989) influenced the move from the skillsappr-o a c n to reading andwr-Lt Lnq,
Child ren know a lo t about written l anqunq e before theycometo school. They knowthewr it t e n formLs
learned inthe sameway in which they lea rn oral
La nquaqc, Also,they know the reasonsforle a r ning both.•• to communicateandunderstand. These c ond imp o r t an t find ing in re s e a r c h indicates that the knowledgechildrenhave before they read, strongly influenc es how much they willunderstandwhe n they rc au . A thi r d finding shows that re a d i ng and
writing are interdependent. (p. 4)
The s ere s e a r c h findings and research into the area of
psycho! inguistics led to an approach to th e teaching of
read ing and wri+.' ; which has been labelled who Le lang u a g e. This apprt1",',,-'" "~I' "n accepted by many educators across the
world i l ent.Ly by the Oepartment of Education tor
se v rcu n. an r euc r .
Wh...~ ·'h "lla ng ua g e has beendifflc ultto define there
is a basc ~)dnc iple on whic h the philosophy rests: the re ad in g-wr it ing process is an LndLv Ldua Li z ed one and the chi ld ' s backgrou ndexperLencee in language wi 11 determine the
curric ulumof f e r e d tothat LndIvLduaL. Auvc coto» 01tlll' wnon-languag ephilosophybelieve tha t jus t il:O;\~ O Lc.u-n to::p('.I).: ill whol eunits, we learn to rea dand wrtt;o inwhol...~ unltu. I\ ~ fra ct i o n a l i z i n g lan guagein to parts we \~il1 not orrtvo .rt ,1
langua g e which is whole andnc enLnqtul•
Whenteachingread ingand wr-itinq fr omdwuoro 1.II1<jU,1Ilf'
po in t of view teachers select metha lls and ra.rtcr-i ....\1:1ttrot , according to Searfossand Readence (1985) , .. I]()\-Itlll'll)r o <I"
the fol lowing:
1. Provide chil dren with qcnuin e , ro.u pllt·p O:o(· fo r re ad i n g.
2. Producechild ren whoca n<lnd do roo u. 3. Stress the functiona l pu r-posc or f(' ddi!l<J insteadof termino l ogy and r abeia .
4. Su p p l y, in the o las sr-o o m, a wt ue v.rrto r.y01 relevant natural forms of print trom tho wo r-Ld outsidetheclas sroom.
5. Keepmeaningor comprehens i on ilf1thccont e ror
focusfor inst r u c tion a l le s s o ns .
6. RecognizethatLa nq uaq e systems (q rilp hu p h oniL::, syntactic, andeeeent Ic) op er- a te together;1:1in:lr,,,
-arablepar tsof whoLe l anquaqe .
7. Use materLa Ls tot onch readinq thut "r('~II ]()Ic-sa mples such as complete sccr toe, r<"~ll r.'r tha n of fering isolated practice in b l t;s:anti pieC e!l uf langu ag e. (p. 92)
The pr es c r i b e d text ina vncie languageapprcacnis v revec as just anoth e r resource and nat the languagearts progr am.
The shif tto wholela ng u a ge qrew out of research in the
19705and19805 whichaddressed the reading process:
..• not as a ser iesof discretesequential skills but rather as a highlycomplex nuLuier ac eued enu integrated pro ce s s. Researc hersve r-e new concerned wi t h und er s t a nd ing how childr en learn to read rat her tha n with what decodi n g and comprehension skills readersshould be taught. (Be e be , 1988, p , ")
Theresearch supportingthis shifthas been categorized
by ncetc - j'ev tcr (1 989 ) unde r thefallowin gheadings: 1. Devel opm e nt a l learningsupportedby cerot Chomsky' s resea r ch in oral languag e (1969) and Elizabeth sulzby and IH ll i amTeale'sworkwithemergent reading and wr l t.Lnq (1983 -19 87). Their research clearly demonstrates that children le a rn lang uagedevelop mental ly.inanenvironment of immersion inrea d i ng , writing,l is te n i ngand speaking.
2. Oralla nguagedevelopmentresea rchby CarolChoms ky, Joan Ai t chi s on (1 973 ) and Da n Slobin (1985) confirm that ch ild re n acqulre lang u age nat ural lyvitho ut; formal instruc-tio n .
3. Re s ea r c h byDu r k i n (1965),Hold alvay(1967-69),Doa ke
Stauffer(19GO-65 ) whi c h suppor ts thel .-onconcto u tn.rt l o.rr-niruj
tore a d is acquiredthrough tnter nct Lonwi thwno tcunltn,ll';
oppo sed to skil ls based inst ruc tio n and is bot tor a rrccrcu
through imme r sion in meaningfu l pr i ntwit h ...omp rc h(' n~(011 -focusedstrategies for readi ng instr uct io n ,
4. ResearchbyClay(1972-74), Deford(1'J"/"I-7lJ ),110,\ 1<1 -Taylor (198 1-83) . Choms ky (1968-69), RQi\d (1<)(,"1-"/':». uc-nri-v
(198 0)and Grave s (1972-86 )whi c h su p ports thepililo:w p ll ytn.rt wri t i n gwa s also lear ned development ally r-othor-than t.hru lIqh
directtea chi ng. Skillsar-e fosteredin thecont t' xt ct\-IlI.Lt
a childis writi n g ata give n time.
5. Res ea r ch in ev al u a ti on by Pea rso n;lIld coIlo.rquou (1985) and Tea leand colleagues (1987) which »uppcr-t;d 1ll0Vl.' away fr o m standardized testing <IS a menns of ev.aluntLucj
studentgro wt h to a pr-oc e as of direct onsorvntlon or "f:i tJ
watching"as termed by'letta Good man (1977 ) . 'l'hLs ote.o rv ntlon oc c u rs ove r time as ch ild r e n are di r e c tly lnvotvocrIn the'
reading-writingpro ce s s .
A question preva iling in the minds 01 ouuc otor-s and parents is: What isthe di ffer e nce betwee n whctc-lan{JlIdlJ Uanti a skills-basedappr oa ch ? A skLtts- jaesounppro <lCl1i~;cro.u- tv defined byth ese q u en tia lsk il lsde velopmen t pr-oqr-arnhut~1 11f)1C' lang u a g e is much more diff ic u lt to define ulnc o it 1::
belief system , a way of understand ing Leu rnlnq, a vl ov of
ins tructionalpL'oce s se s •.•1' (Heal d -Taylo r, l~H'J.f', '1).
10 sl:ills-oricntcd appr-oach to II whole language approach and factors wh ich the whole langu a ge approach r-ecoqn Lz es
included as AppendIx A.
The Provincial pictur e
while , in 1988 , the Dep art men t of Educ a tion adopted a
whole langua ge phil o s oph y as the basis for langu ag e ar ts
ins t r uction inscho olsin Ne wf ou ndl a nd and Lab-ador- and ha s
Introd uc c cNels onCanada Ne tworks pr og ra m e s usup port fo r
tha t ph ilosophy, most teachers ha v enot re c eivedthe curricu
-lum guide Experiencinn r.an9uag~. The curr icu lumobject ives
add ress ed in thi s guide are not clea r ly def i ned by Nelson
CanadaNe tworks. Many teac h ers areusingth i s support as the program but it is on ly a small component in the overall
pictu reofthe proposed languagear tsinstructional proqram.
The proq r am has been us ed in grade one classrooms across
the pr ov i nc e for one year. In Se p t embe r 1989. it was intr
o-duc e dat thegra d etwo levelwithlittleorno follow-upasto
its effe ct i ven e s s orcon c er n s ofte a c he r s using it. Th e ....hole la nguage program was a dr a s tic move away frolll tr aditio nal
me thods usedto tea ch readi ng and writ ing. It re qui r ed a
cha n ge of bc llef an d philoso phy as oppos e d to1:1 textbo o k cha n ge Whic h ad dres s edthesametyp eof skills-b ased a pp roach ,
The shift in philosophy broug ht witn it a ma j orchange in
teacher r..le and cr es erc c a env iro nmen t fo r many classroom teache rs. Teachers approach e dth e new cu rrfc u Lus\il t h varying
11
deg r ee s of ex p e ri ence and training in tho currJcutumsa
phil os ophy.
The Departmen t of Education provided ecno o t s with the antholog iesandsomeGupportrsat.e r-La Ls inthefo rm ofl nclcpon
-de ntre a d ers andevaluatio nguides. It wa s lef ttotmrlvIuu.n
schools and school distri cts to provid e th e romel nde r 01
resources tocar ry out theprogramef fect ively. Budqc t ;l ry
con strai n ts an d degree of commi t ment on bell..lf 01 thouo
controllingbudget s forschools det e rmi ned how m<lny of t.hoso
resour ces wer e access i bleto teache rs.
Th e Loc a l Pi cture
Cu r r icul u m which requi res such a drastic chn nq orequiron the suppor t of the distr ict, ad ministr<ltorn, pn r-c nt,» , iHld t.e achinq colleag ue s wi thi n the school. The oxpect.atloru:oj ea c hof the se su ppo r t sys te ms br ingdif f e r~ ntdemonetsupo n thc-classro om teacher .
veryfew of theprima r y-e l e me nt a ry schoolauraLntst ro t or-. were fam i liar with Experi e nc i ng Lan g u..fi..gQ anu it s wholo
language ph ilo sophy. Inservicing bydistr ictund provlnclat
personnelvariedin int ensi tyand quality. Asvctt,'H.:cam:to personne l who are welltr a inedinthewno te Innq u iHJc phll
ou-ophy varied fro m scho oltoschoo l.
Paren t shave expec tat i on s Wh ichth e yha v edevelopedunder a struct uredand clea r l ydef i nedprog r am andarc un easyanout pro gra ms wh i ch permi t the i r chi l d ren to have so much control
12 over the lear n ing process. The evaluation and reporting process under this new curricu lum is quite different and requires the understand ing of teache r s and pa r ent s.
Some teachers have misunderstood th e phi l osic phy ofvnote language andhave droppe d the instru c t ional compon e n t wh ic h addr-eese sskills le a r n e dincont e x t . They vtevwhor e language
as a st ude nt controlledcurriculumwith notea c he r in t erve
n-tio n .
B...esearchQuestions
The preced ingover vi e wanddi s cu s s ion 10d the inv estiga-tor to evaluate the cu r ric u l um cha nge by add r e s si ng the general questions wh i chfollow:
L Is curricu lumchangemo r elike ly to be acceptedby reflect iveteachers?
2. lire teachers who define the quality of thei r
teaching lives in pos.Lt Lve terms morelike ly to be re cept ive
of change?
3. Are (I)and (2 ) comp l e me n t a r yor compe ting theor ies inth e imp l ementat ionof new cur ri cul um?
IDj:QR1e me n ta.£l....flY.estions.
The fo ll owi ng specificques t.Lonsari s e rc-omthe general
questions stated abov e. The co nc e pts re f e r r e d to in the
followingquestionsare de fi ne d on pages16-17 andthe theory
lJ Chapter II.
1a. Whataretheeffe ct!' ofheal t h Lev e js onQUil,llty01 Teaching Life?
lb. Wha t ar e tt,e effe ct s of hoalthLevel aonRatisrnc -tic nwi thte a c hi ngcareer?
tc, Wha t arctheeffectsof healthlevelson Iml' l c IIK'nt ;l-tic n ofthe newcurricu lum?
Id. What are the effects
o
r
he alth fovets on t.ho managemen t ofwho lelangu ageresources ?ze • What are the ef f e c t s of bac kq r-cund roccc r» on Qualityof TeaChing Life?
2b. What are the ef f ects of b.lc KCJ ruunt.l ru ctor-»
satisfactionwithcaree r choice?
zc• What are the effects of backqr-ouud rece cr»
implementationofthe ne wcurricul um?
zd. Whatare the effects of background r..ctor-s on the mani!lgementof whol e languageres our c e s ?
Ja. What are th e ef f e c ts of reflecti ve tc,lchinq Quality ofTeach i ng Life?
3b. Wh a t are the ef f ects of rerIe c cIvo te a ching sa tisfact ion....ithcare e r cho i ce?
30 . Wha t are the effects of reriectIve t.cnc hln q on
imp leme ntat io nofthenew cu rriculum?
3d. What ar e the effectsof refl e c ti v et.c.acnl nqonttl .... managemen t of ....ho l e languag e resources ?
14
implementatio nof the new curriculum?
4b. What ar ethe effectsof Quality ofTe a c hi n g Lifeon
manage ment of whole language re sources ?
5a. What are the effects of satisfac t ion wit h career
cho iceon implementatio nof the newcu r ri c u l u m?
5b. Wh a t are the affe ct s of satis fact ion wit h choice on management of whole language resources?
Li mitat i on s
The following limi t a tio n s ar e re c og nize d as being
inherentin thisstUdy :
1. There was no guarantee thatthe res po nde nts in the studywere implementingthe intendedwhole lang uage cu r ricu
-lu m. Therefore, what teachers claimed th e y ver-a doing and
What, in fact, they were doing in so far as curricu l um implementat io nwasco n c e r n e d could well be di ff eren t.
2. Because the data was gatheredund erthe auspicesof the Division of Evaluation, De pa r t me nt of Educ a tion, the respondents mayha ve been inhibited in theirans we rs tosome questionnaire ite ms. The quest ionnairewasnot anonymo us to the researchersbecause the study called for informationat the be g inn i ng and at the end of the school year. Knowingthis some re s po nde nt s may have "he l d back" on some of their responses.
3. Because teachers wer e requested to identify them -selves on the surve y ,some of their responses to survey items
ma y be diff ere nt ifthe yha d not beenre q uo s e cd to hhmtiry the mselv e s .
Pra c tical Imp li c a t ion s
This re s e a rc h was designed to test two thCOriCH of cu r r i culumchange . Onestate sthatthe reflnctl ve t.euchor-I:: morerece pti v e of curricu l u mch a nge. The cehar ~;t,<lte~tll'l t pos i t i v eat titudesto wa rdcurri cu lum chanqe depe nd1.lnJcly on the structure of the sc h ool and the we yit h: oxpcrlencc uby teach ers, The re sea r ch erbelieve s tha t the t.wctnco rtoe arc' co mp lemen ta r y . If th eth e o ry is verified the f>tudy moyUI..! repl icated by othersat diffe re nt levels of tile svutemuntiI a su f f i cie nt body of re s e a r c h exists to jlH": ti l y erl'ort Bto promot econditionsfo r ensu ring thatscho o leilmJ the tea chin'J professionalarere s p on s i ve toth e need s of ~ocic t y.
Iftheory numbe r one is found to bea sound expjanation
of teacher response to curriculumchangeprocesses one wou l d
assl'.me tha t thefacul tiesof educationwou ld m<1 ~ e1lt.eruturc on reflec t i v e t.eachLnq partof th e Instrucc Ion [or snuu o n t; te ac h e r s in th e cur-r-Icujum and ins t ruc tion utvl sfcns. If theorynumb e r two is acce p te d it has implicationHfor tu turc involvementof te ache rprofessi ona lor'qanLa atlcns uuch il~:tho NTA.and CTFtopromot e positivere spon s e to chnn qe. 'rnoso associations woul d tha n consideroptions to impr-ove ecncncr motivation, cOlnmitme nt , id entity wi thi n the achcol <lny pro f ess ion&l eee e u s. Thisis beco..inq increin : in'Jly im[Jo r t ant
16
as te ac he rs become mo r e invol ve d incur r icul umdevelopment at
a provincia l and dis t r i ctleve l.
Th e role ofteac her health in a-rr rLcujum cha ngewillha v e
implica ti o ns as the NTA ne gotiates work i ng co nditions in
collective agreeme nts. If health negative ly or positiv e ly
affe ct s cu rri cul umplanning and imp l eme nta t i on the n it is
inc umbe nton thebargainingagency to ensureconditionswhlch
may af fe ct tea ch e r hea lth areaddressed.
Datin ! ticnotTe r ms
Severa l of the va ri ab l es used in the current research
hav emeani ng srelev a nt to thequality oftea chInqli f e andare
defin ed below. The first four arethe domainsof qualityof
te a c hi ng lif e with the remai n d e r being th e other vari a bl e s
affec ting thes'tudy,
Qua lityof 're a c hingLif erefer s to teac her perc e p t i o n of
the quali t y of teac h inglifeand isrefl e ctedinfour indica
-tors, al i e na t i on, co mmit me nt , iden t i t y and status.
1. ~t i on for the pu r poses of this st.udy is the
conv e rse of motivati o n . It add resses tea cher est r an g e me n t
(rom the teaching pro fessi on ana specifica ll y inthe scncor,
2. Commitment refers to the ind i vidu al 's deg r e e of
commi tmen t tothe teach i n gprofession.
J. Identity is the teacher'sfe elingsofself-awareness
or te ach er's re spo n se to the que st i on of "\.Yho am 17" in
17 4. Status re f ers to the te ache r's pe n ;..aptIonu 01 r.no relativedegree ofprestigeaffordedhim bysiqnlfLcnut; otuors. namelycol l ea g ue s , parents and students .
Satisfaction for thepu r po ae e of this st udy rorere to the degree to wh ich the in di v id ual is satis fi e d with care-or choice.
Impl e men tation refersto the indiv i dual'H pc rceptLcn 01 the effe c t ivene s s of the implementat io n proceuu orthewhcle la n g ua ge approachto teachin g .
Manage ment re f e r sto WholeLanq ua q eLn trocruct;ionnnd tlw
provis i o nof res ourc esfo r its implementation.
Healt h refers to teach ers'descriptionsoftheirph yelont well-being.
Background Factors inclu de the t.encnorru ncndom it)
trai ning and years of experie nce.
Reflective Teacher refer s to teacherswho [Ira ahlt:! to
ev aluatethe irpa st performanceconst ructive lyin aneffortto
18 CH~ PT E RII
Re v iewof RelatedLiterature
Intro ducti o n
Fu lla n (19B3 ) de fin e s impl e mentati on as "the pro c e s s of pu t t ing into prac t ice an idea, progra morset of activit ies
wh ich is nev to the pe ople attempti ng to bri ng about the
chang e" (p. 216) . Thede greeto whi chchange isacc e ptedand new ideas or pr og r ams ar e implemente dis cont i nge nt on many rcccocs• It isthe inte ntofthe pres ent st udy toasse ss the
impl e me ntCl tion of th e whol e la nguag e approa c h, and met-e
spec ifically theimple menta t i o n of the NelsonNetwo r k sCa nada
Pr ogr am, into NeWfou nd la nd sch o ol s. The te a c her wil l be the
focus in the examination of th e fa c t o r s whi c h de t e r mi ne
receptiveness tothene w curriculum.
Rogers and Shoemak er (19 71) di s c us s changeas a highly
pe r s onal experiencesince ind ivid ualsre spon ddifferentl yto
chang e. Th e re s pons e s , if recorde d, can lead toan under
-standing of the mand prepa ration for simila r respo ns e s in othe r s. Once curri c u lumdeve l o pers unde rsta nd why people
respond toprograms ina speci fic way the respons es wi ll be
add ressedtopermit smoot he rtr a n sit i o nfro mpre s ent tofut ure practices. Failure tota keaccount ofthediffe rentrespo ns es will inhi bit progress of ini t i ation and impleme ntat i on of
change .
19 of teachers, as well as teacher int e r uc t i o n vit.h the materials. It also addresses the effectsof tho IlC'W d('l\liIlKI:l on th e teacher'sperception and reception of tuo \,'<1)'tnonew materialswere introduced.
Literatu r e Rel ate d toImpl e me ntati on
In his discussion of impl e me nt a t i o n<IS itoccur-s in til" social environment in whic h itcpe ree ee , ruttan (19B2) Ii~\t:\ 15 factors that affect implementation. 'rnouo tacto r-s nro illustrated in the followingway:
Factors AffectingImp l e me n t a t i o n A. Characteristicsof thechenqe
1. Need andrelevanceof the chanqc 2. Clarity
J. Complexity
Quality and practicalityof proq rnra (nat.eetere , etc.)
B. Characterist ics at theSchool utst rlct Level 5. The history of innovativeattQmpt~~ 6. The adoption process
7. Ce ntral administrative support unu inv o l v eme n t
8. Staff developme nt (in-service) cnu pa rticipation
9. Time-line and information a'yert om (evaluation)
20 10. Boar dandcommun i ty characteristics. C. Charac te ris ticsat theSchoolLeve l
11. The princi pal
12 . Teach er-teacherrerat.tcns 13. Teac he rcharacteristics an dorienta -ti on s
D. Charac t e risticsExte r na l to the Local System 14. Rol eofgo v er nmen t
15. External enstst ance• (p , 56)
Ifoneor more of these factors ne g a t i v e l y affect implementa
-tion the processis lesseffective . The more factors support
-ing the impl e mentation the more posit ive the change whLch is
accom plished . Thesefactors are supportive of each otherand
do no t functionin is o l a t i on.
Where do these factorsfitwith re g a r dto whoLa language implemen t at i on? Teachers more read ily accept and use an inno vat i on if they fe e l it is ne ed e d . Scibior (1987), in
add r essi ngresi sta nc eto whole langua ge , contends that teacher
con c erns must be addressedor we maybe fo r c i ng cha ng ewhich
rece i ve s nei t herthe suppo rt no r understandingof theteachers
whoareto implementthe cha ng e. Eve nworsewe may be forcing
a change tha t is not fe a sib le as pre s e ntl y conceptua liz ed .
Te ache rs must be shown tha t what they have been doing for
years ha s not be en in va in . Propo ne nts of who Ie la ngua ge , whether in t e nti o nal ly or not, seem tobe send ing a me s s a g e thatthi s is thecase. suddenl yteachers' pr o fe s s i o nal worth
ar
has ce coaechalle nged.
Of t en the clarity of a change Ie poor.1 m!nc oo etvctv affects it s acceptance . If teac hers do not undor-stand ., change they areunableto imple mcntitcrrectIvct v. l·rol.J lcm~ al s oari sewh e nth eimpleme nt a t i on is oversi mp ljr Iod OIntl us o ru think they unders ta nd it. It is then thattno di~:crc p.l n c y betwee n th e intendedcurriculumand tho ee e uoIcurri culumls broad e ne d. The r e aremany misconce ptionsabout whole!an<Ju;h J(' ins t r u c tion in the areasof (al t oechc r I ntcr-vontLcn, (b) struc t ure with the program , and (c) ~l t .lll d.l nJi~ i1tlo n 01 ma te r i a ls and activities. Teachers must; acqu i r e n cortoln degr e e of und ers t a nd i ng of the philo sophy un which t.no innovation is based and at the same ti mo be tnowlC;-lhl o ahl c
about the innovation.
Complexity of an innov a t ion is rcfcteu to th e ~:y.i II:~
re qu ired to use it and the extent of chanqos in notjars,
teachingstrategies andus e ofma t e ri a lsre qu treu. Th e more
complex the innovati on is the lowerthe level of iJnpl e.-llIent
ol-tion wh ichcan be anticipated. The whole lantluaqeph iIOl:Q(.h y
is ind e edcomplex andilny prog rambasel.! on thiltph iIOl:o phy i:: lik e ly to entail new behaviors fo r the user. coodnan [clted
inHunsburg er,. Ma c guire ,1988)and coodnanandCoouman(l ~ U;.q
st atethat wh e nate ache rchange s fromtheroleoftradi ti o nal
teaching to who le lan g ua ge teachi ng, thechunqe i5 r-a djcul•
Teache r s become concerned thatthe yare not doing~lhu t they
22
arise. Theyalsobecome concernedabout the ext r a time and
effort that the in nov a t i on will require. scib Ior (19 8 7 ) co nte nds that teachers who wish topro tectthemse lves fr o m examining th e i r own beli efs may hesitateto adop t thewn o Le language philosophy. For many Whol e lan g u a ge teachers th e
changein beliefsandpracticeswill be minimalbutforothers
th e change wi ll be drastic. Posner (1985) states that
teacherswo r k within a practicalityethic tha t SUbj e ctsany
innovationtoa test ofcostversus benef i t, fea si bilityand
consI eeencywiththe te ac h ers' percepti on s of themselv es and their situat i ons . DowandWh i te h e a d (19 B!) we e-eco n c e rned thatifchange is tobe ef fec t ive , teach ersmust:be kncwl edqe-e ableabout behaviors, skills,and attitudes necess a ry forthe contentand methods inherent in any newguide line or innov a -tion. Gross, Gi a cquita and Berstein (1971) and Eva ns and Scheffler(197 6 ) foundthatinnovationsrequi ring newte a ch er strategies and ro l e relationships with scudant;a displayed lower le vel s of imple me nt a t ion as compared to innova t i o ns which involvedchangesinst ru c t u re, admi ni s t r a t iveprocedu res andthe useofma t e r i a ls. rinren (1982) add r e s s e d thr ee it ems which Wouldcha nge i fa newcurriculum was fullyus ed : (a) materials, (b) practices and behaviors, and(c) beliefs and
understanding. Whilethefirst it e m may be ea s ytochangethe
oth ertwo are moredifficult.
The qua lity and practicality of the innova t i o n is
2J the inno v ati on asta ng i b l e, rerevonc andof 900<'\ quali ty. It teachersperceive the innov at i on as being rushedintoplncc 01" unorgan iz e d in it s philosophy or structure, they ru-e Il~Hl1 li kelyto beco mmi t t n dto its imple menta tion. sciblor-(19H 7) expre ssed conc e r n abo utthe currentc1 lnato or rorcc .r imllll 'd i-ate change . Teachers mayadoptorrejectonyIW\~ideolraot-oly be c a u s eit is new andmand a tory. Itmust bedo monntr-at.oclth;lt the ne w innovat io n is betterthanwhatis current.Ly boLnquuo d and ca n meet the required objectives bett.er. Suppor-t; mater i a ls mus t alsobe of highquality. If r.o.ictrc-rudo not developa sens eof meaningandprecetce i teytownruan tnuc v.r-tic n earl y intheprocessit wi ll eventuully 1)L~aband o ned lJy them.
The ch ara c t eri s tic s ofa school district play il nojc r role in ac c eptan ce or rejection of its att.empt.n to cna nqc pre sent stru cture s. Its history of pr-evLo uu nttomnt s at innova ti onareclosely examined byteache r s . ttthodIutrlct ha s a pasthistory of pendulumsw ings incurrjou Iurn"uoptio n with little follow-u p as to itser re c t Ivenc a» . tcnche ru arc more reluc t a n t to support dis t ric t att.cmpts. 'r'ne negative expe r i e ncesteache rshave ha d the mor-e cynlcctthey become . Themore positi ve expe r i enc e s the y haveha utho mer-e support iveth e ybecome. Iftheadoption procousit:ceru tuJIy
planned wit h commitmen tandfoll ow- u pp I ans in place tho more seriousl y the implementa ti on is consIde red by its uscr-s• Scibior (198 7 ) mai n ta ins that the ad o p ti o n proc e s s must; be
at using new curriculumbut will also assist init~·,implcaon-.
t.ab Lc n, Crowther (1972) found Lns e rvice given prior to
implemen tationwassignificantlyand positivel yrotor ou tothe
degr ee of implementation. Teacherspreferred modelunits"nll
demonstrated le s s o n s. Pratt, Melle, Metsdorf and Loucks
(cit e d in Fullan ,1982) andHu be r man(1981) reported mWC CH";
-ful implementa t i on as a result of e r rcotLv o inucr-vico rc r tea c h ers.
For effective imp l e me nta ti on to occur roasoncbto timo frames mu s t be in place. If materials at-e la co ar rlvluq , orientationand trainingnegl ectedandco mmu nic a ti on lsPOOl" te a c hers become overburdenedwiththe requircmonts of thonew programin additionto present re sporrsibiILtlou. cu r r Jcutum guides must be in placebeforeteachers call he eX[lt'l,.'tI:·u to adopt ma t e ri a l s which supportthe philosophyprc uentecrin,:U C II
guides . If mate rialsarenot availableto t.eauhersof vhctc
languagethe pr og r a m wil l suffer . Teachers wil l be se rfoun I y
handica ppe d inth e i r effortsto implementth e ph ll ouo phy,m d
will develop ne g a tive attitudes towardsth e p roq r-am. rf1J0,jrd
and community rel a t i ons are positive and euppor-tLv c,coocnor-» will bemorepositiveabout changeefforts ami impl eme ntation of new pr og r a ms will be more successful. 'ree chorn foc I accountable to bothboardand community andmer-e isposltlvc
correlation between their su ppor t and teacher performance.
Thewholelanguageinstruct ionis continge nton tho support01
24
qr-ad uaI and thatte ac hers ca nnotbeex pe c tedtobec omeWh ol e
language teac h ers overn i g ht. Scibior supports the ideas of
Fullan (1986)and Dow(198 1) wh o state that te a c hers mustbe
ab le tosta r twit hpartsand chang e inc r emen ta ll y. The y need
ti ..e and oppor t un i tytolea r n more about th e innovation before implementation. Go od ma n and Go odman (19821. in the i rresearch
int o Whole la ng uage , hav e dis covere d that teachers ne e d to
accommoda t e th e ne w ide as gradua lly and to plan for the
trans i tion from what they ha v e done in the past to a new
pr ogra m consistent with the ne w criteria . This transiti on
mustbe made as te a ch ers feel ateasewit hit. In or d erfor
an in novationto beta ken ser ious l yby te a ch ers th ey mus t ha v e the suppo rtandinvolvement ofcentral administration. rujjen
(1982) di s co vered thatthe amount of support and involvement
bythesuperi ntenden t positivelyinfl uencedprogramimplemen· tat ion .
When add ressing staff de velopmen t and parti cipa tionit
hasbe en de termi ne d that one-s ho t W'orkshopsare not effective
no ma t terhow ma nyare give n. It isqua lit y of ins erviceand
not quant itythatde t erminesrece ptiv e ne s s to and effe c t i ve
-ness of the inservicing. Scibior (1987)says ins e r v ice must
includ eopport uni tiesforteachersto see andexper ie nc e the
newepp rc e chtolan g uag e ins t ruction. It isnotenough , for
te achers , to simply hear it ina few scat te r e d workshops.
Li pp it (l9GG) statedthat if good st af f deve lopme nt is mad e
26 understanding of a different type of classroomstructure,
evaluat ionand reporting procedu re.
Hhat happens at the school level is one. of the most
imp o r t an t determina n ts of the success or failure of many ed ucationalventures. One ofthe mostimportant people at the school le ve l is the principal. If a new curriculumis to be successfulit mus t recei ve the support of the principal wnc must be knowledgeableabout the innovation an d vnc vlill see tha t eff ective Lns er-v Iceandsupport material!': are in place. Nlcholscn and Tracy (198 2) and sivage (1 9 8 2) suggest an increased l eader-shfp roleinvolvingthe principalin assisting
teachers in theirown personal adoption and implement a t i o n processes. The successor failureof any new programfalls heavilywith the principal. Teacherswithina sc h o o l system mu s t a l c o be support iveof each othersef f or t s in implement ing ne w curriculum. l<1it hthe enc unt; of peer pr essure prevalent and school pol icy already in place, teache rs will be less likely to att.emptinnova t i o ns which leave the", outside the rea l ms of what co-workers perceive to be practical and
correct. \~hile years of experience and lev e l of teacher education donotseem to affectimplementa tion, the teacher's
sense of self- efficacydoes. If teache rs believe that an Ln novatLonwiL'l permit them to helpunmotiva t edand at risk st u d ent s the y willli kely rea ct pos itively to wa rds it.
The finalforceaffecti nginnovationsan dthe i r implemen
27
policy-makers at go v er nment levels be in tunc wlth tho
requi r e me n ts of the pr a ct i t i o n e r wi thinthecias sroom. cIcuc
and meani ngful commun i c at ion is es s en t i al if the pro pose d
changesare to be ef fec t i ve. Fina nc i a l and cocuntcorMH;i~;t
anc e fr omeov ernn c nt agencies are r-equirod and must. uo
availableto teachers. They must seethat thopeopje<It tho
top areseriously committe dtothe innovation. Ot he rout s ide
agen ciesca n beofas si s t an c e in the implementntionprocc e uby
sup p l y i ng vid eos , pic t ur e s , brochur es,and so on which will permitthe whole languageteach e r to developunamp le~l upp ly of supportmaterials fo r a language rich env Lroueonr .
Ev en with all these factors in pla c e tilt' tencnoruwiJI
vary in th e i r re c e p t i ven e s s tothe proqrnm, Cr o wthe r , Lw..:<u:
and Woh leb(citedinFulla n &Pomfret,197 7 ) contend tha t not all te ach e r s have thesameprope nsi tyto Impjomont; any qive-n in no vation. Ateac her's disp o s i t i o n to ctianqc i~: h,l~;ed on what Posner (198 5 ) des c r i b e s as apersonal "p l a tform" . 'J'lI;.lt platfo r mis ba s ed on the teache r's beliefs, prlnotplcsi , ,IOU idea l s ,and jus ti f i e s and unifi esthe t.each o rtuuecLeIo m: and actions. Individua l tea chers will impl e me n t ilnew pr-oq r-um in waysthat ar econsi stentwith the i r own beLie Lu and p r-nctlccs.
For scmc, th e inte rrela t i o ns will be cbvtouu c nd rocu I Jy
accepted. For ot h ers, the chang ewill beaq ori l zInq a nd »rcw, Doyl eand po nd e r (1977)describethreetype::of poaft lon s
people take when fa ce d with chan ge: (a) the "rat l cnaI
28
"s t o ne eqe obstructionist"who is resistant to changeand must
be coerced;and (e) the "pragmatic sceptic"who is~Jillingto be conv inced but is ult.imatelyconcerned with practicality. Doyleand ponder put most teachersin category (c),
Scibior (1987), in an effort to understand teachers' hesitations about the implementation of whole language, placed the hesitations intwo categories: (a)unhealthy rationaliz -ations which re f l e c t an entre nching reaction to any change; and (b) healthy hesitations about unreasonable expectations
for change . The unhealthy ra t i o na l i ze r s vt sti to protect
thems elves from examination of theirown beliefs and prac
-tices, and eventually to changing. The healthy hesitator
wantsto be sure that thischange is betterfor the child and
the teacher. For teachers who are able to accept change
relatively easily, it would seem that they are comfortable
with the decision-makingprocess in whichthe y n r-e~Iorkinga nd
will view the implementat ion process of whcLe language as
being positive. Objectors and questioners,on the other hand,
will be more apprehensive about the effectiveness of the
implementation . The objectors may also be less satisfied in
their work especially if they perceive thenewimplementation as threatening or questioning the ir past performance.
Lit~;ratureRe.latedto ManagementAspects ofWholeLa..D.IDlilM The imp l e me nt a t i o n of a new curriculum brings with itne w
29 dema nds inte rmsof time, resourcesand class si z e InrIu oncon te a c h ers' attitudes to....ardsthecurriculumandth e extentto ....hich it is adopted, or adapted to. The ....hole Lanquaq e
program by its nature, is dema nding on the teacher and ror ma nyteac hersre q uire s an extremechange ofcfes.src oeins tr uc-tion, cl assroo m organizatIon. and change of rot e within tho
cl as s r oomsetti ng.
Imple me nt ing a whol e lan gua ge epp ecacn ...it.nln tho class r o om re qui r es awide rang eof suppor t ma terialssucn as newsp a p ers , maga Zines, poe tr y , comic s, tradebooks , crevons, pe ncil s, marker .. , erasers,toys,andthelist qoe s on. Nowm,ln
(1 985 ) states th at childre n' s tr ad e books tire the "co rncr> st on e"ofa....hol e languagecurriculum. The pr-oqr-..mre qul rou
the av ail a b il ity in the classroom of a lar-qc numbcr 01 different title s. both fa ctu al and fict io n. Altwerllc r,
Edels k y and Flores (19 8 7 ). Be ebe (1988) and Goodman (198(, ) stress the impo rtanceof acl a s s r oo m that ifl richin print, ....hl c h ....ou l d inc l Ude good quality literature, bi g boo ~~ilnd predictab l e books. Farris andKaczmars k i (1C) H6) wr i t e that
the "d e vel o p ing re a d e r s and write r s ne ed tobe Lnvolvc u in
writi ng events of their ownand in re a d i n gn vtuernnqoor realcomp r e h ensiblebooks"(p. 78).
suppo r t materia ls arenottheon ly deman dthatj!;placed on wh o l e la ngu agaimpl e menters. Wi th its focusup onthe chiit! at thecenter , the pr ogra m demandsthat cl assroom tnstru c t lon be more fl ex i ble and that all stude nts no t ncces.siarlLyccver
30 th e samematerial. This type of teaching requires different org aniza tiona l structures within the classroom which allow spaces for large group, small group and individualized
instruc ti.on. It necessitates changes of materials and
ac t i v i t i e s which are of interest and manageable by the
students. The whole la ng ua ge approach, as Gunderson and Sha piro (1988) imply, will re qu i re the teacher to devote a great deal oftime to individualized in str u c t ion, evaluati on of student performanceand growth, preparation of materials
fo r ce nters, st ude nt and parent confereneing and keeping accurate files of the student growth.
Because of the emphasis on collaborative le a r n i ng and sharingof ideas, the wholela ng ua g e classroomisan activity -ba s e d environmentwithsound levelsmodulatedto thetype and int e ns i t y of the activit ies. Thisdoesnot mean an environ -ment with no control. The teacher and students must disc i -pline themselvesto ensure that theLea rn fnq ofot h e r s is not impeded by those who have no self-discipline in an acti ve
learningenvironment .
Dealing with these changes wil l hav e implications for tea ch e r s ' receptivenessto thenewprogram. Because teachers cometothe classroomwithvarying degreesof exposure to and expe ri encewith thiscype ofle a rni ng environmentthedemands are differe nt fordi ff e r e nt teachers. HardandHUling-Austin (198 6) state that if te a ch e r s do not ne e d to be conce rned ab out managingthe logistics and supplyingresources they will
) l be less frustratedand contribute to more effi cient imp leme n
-tation. The energies and time requiredforsuc h deta il s co uL d be utilized in deve l opingskillsfor usingthe newp r-oqr-am,
Fulla n (1976) determinedres ou r c e supportHue }, ustime and materials are important indicato r s of the amount. of impleme n t a t i o n. Dow (1981), in a study or ua rrter-s for
implementation, fou nd that forteachers, time and rouourcc
su p po r t were among six key concernsin Lmpleme nt.at Lo n of new
curri culum. In a study of stre sso rsfortea cb or-e, ~lI~ic knnd
Ha n l e y (1980-1985) ci ted cla ss siz e, room ~1i;':0, inndequnt; c instructionalmaterialsand teachingr-ea ou roert,timep r-onnur-eu
and schedulingas high stressors.
If teachers are expectedtoimpl e me ntnC~Jcu rri c ul umit
is imp e r a t i ve that management of the trmovat ion ir. wl til I n
reasonable reach for them. They mu s t be q lven adequ ato
resources of three types cited by Pollard and 'renn (l 'J£U ):
(a) people, (b) buildings , and (c) materio ls, "In both
quantity and quality these resourceshaveanimpnct;onwha t;it
is possible to do in schoo lsand classrooms" (p. 1';.).
TeacherHe a l th Theo ry
In the absence of resea rchrelate d to the r-e Laticnnhip
between teacher health and teachers' perception s of the
quality of their teachinglives, the currant author ro e tuthat
the lack of such research necessitates an anu l ys is or th e
J2 curricu l um implement ati on an d mana gement withinthe educa -tionalar ena . Theinfo rmatio ngath ered from suchan analys is wi ll have implicat i ons fo r curricul umplannersand schoolsas they add r es sthe per s o n al attributesof impl e men t e r s and the
impac t the se attributes have on effective implementation.
Curre ntly in Newf o undl an d schoolsare faced withan aging teach ing popul at i o n. Aspeo ple age theyare more prone to illness(McGrath , 1989). Inhis studyof teacher abs e n t ee i s m, Mc Gra th determine dthatteach e rs over 50 year s of age took
near lythr e e times as much sick leave as teachers unde r25.
The same resea r c hindicated that themore experiencedte ache r s took mor e sickleave, propcr-tiLonatreLy , than the less exper i -enced . A logical ass umpt ion is that the more experie nced teacherwil l als o be th e older teacher.
In addressi ng the cur rent curr ic ulum change it is imper at ive that weaddr esstheheal thof theimpl eme nte r. The gr a de two teachi ng force is pr edomi nan tly female, Who, acc o rd i ng toMcGrat h (1989) , ar e mo r e concernedabout their hea l t h and, gen e rall y spea k ing, have more health-related prob l e ms. Femal e teache rs inNewfoundl a nd school s ta ke , on avera ge ,two to th r oedays peryea r more reportedsick leave than their male counterp arts. Ahighe rperc ent ag e of females, than ma les , take sick.le ave .
It wouldsee mlog ie al toassume that if teache rs ar e abs entfromscho o lthatinth ei rabsence thesch oolconti nue s tofunct i on and thede c is ion-making processcont inues, either
33 thr ough staff meetings orby consens us on uen etr of their collea gues. Many of these decis ions....ill have directi.pa ct. ontheabsen t teachersandye t they willmis stheappo r tu n!ty to ha ve inpu t. Ultima t el y the y will hav e to live wi t h dec i sions whichweremade by ot hers eve nifthe y <Ire cont r ary tothe tea che r'sownbe l ie f s.
On re turn ingto th e work p lace after an Lttnc s e, wnectre r-short or lo ng term,a tea che r mus t continueon from where .1 subs t i tute te ache r left off but will of t e n be req uired to revie w thema terials coveredin ther-equlaz-t.e nche rrnobsc nc e•
At the same time an increased work lO.:'ld il-lmilleu <lr. the tea cher prepa res for cu rre nt and future ina tr-uct lon. 'rue Whole langu ag eappro achis verydemanding phy~:ic aHy, mcntill -ly,andinthe amountof ti.ere quire d for plannLnq,t.eachlnq, and recor dkee ping.
If ateacher isill Whileattending school the:phys ical demands ofacl as s ofgradetwostudentsinanacti ve Icarnin e, enviro nme nt can be stre nuous. This can be cspecLarjyIJiffi -cult for an older tea ch e r who is il l. The tru s ureclcns of deal ing wi t h the illness, a class ofactIvc child ren, lln<.J ot he r job demands, can lead tostressfor teachers.
Kyriacouand sutcli ffe (1979) , in a single-i te msclf
-repor tedst u d yof overall job satisf a c ti on, ccncruce utha tno t
onl y the ex per ience of tea c her stress leu to 10l.1Cu jo b sa tis f action, abs ente eism,an d inten tion toreevetouching, but also that the circumst ancesthat led tote ache r str ess
34
also led to lower job satisfaction, absenteeism and intention to lea v e teaching. Health is one of th o s e circumstances. sutton and Huberty (1984) suggest a tendencyof teachersto reportahigher le v e l of job satisfaction when stressislo w.
When facedwi t h ill health, stress and Lew job satisfac -ti cn, th e teachers will likely perceive the quality of their te a ch i n g livesto be poor. Thisauthorcontends that teachers who arelessthan satisfied with their working conditions~lill perceive the quality of theirteaching lives to bele s s than
satisfactory. I t is entirely plausible, therefore, that teachers with health problems will be more negatively disposed toward change;hence, to the implementation of a new curricu -lum, tha n teachers whoenjoy sound health.
Teacher BackgroundLiterature
To address the backgroundof ceecnexs this study deals specifically with years of university training and the indi v i du a l' s treach Lnq experience. Years of teaching experi -ence willserve as a proxy for age since, generally speaking, the more experienced teacher will alsobe thE' older teacher.
Kyriacouand Sutcliffe (1979) report that job satisfac
-ti on tends to be higher for older and more experienced tea che r s and that the intentiontolea ve teaching was greater fo r fema le andre lativelyyoungerte a c hers . These findings ar e substa nt iated in the research of Dicaprio (1974), Price (1970). start and Laundy (1973), Charters (1970), Des (1973
-74), Pratt (197 7) an d Taylor and Dale (197 1 ) , as cited in Kyriacou an d Sutcli f f e (1979).
It is argued thatyounger te ache rs ent er the pr-otenal ou withpreco nc eiv e dnotionsthat the theo r ystudied;'It unive r
-sit ywillbepo s s ibl e to implementinthe schoolwithmin im,]l
frustrat ion. On enteri ng the schoolsystems tl1C'ydh 11,:O V CI" th at, in ma ny ins t an ces , ma te ri a ls are la c k i ng ilnd older tea chers who have expe r i en c e in the prcreestcn and suvoouu wi ththeir presen tmethods willnot be receptiveto !WWl uoo» or method o l og i e s . Be gi n ni ng tea c h ers ha ve to try new fltrat -eg ie s for themsel v e s until they find the cnon tnot work ef f ective l y inthegivenconte xt. Until the y sottto down to use metho d s the yare comfortab le with , thenew t.cnchor-swiI I likely find life demandingandlead i ng to tlh;l-li:lti,l r;,lL:tlon.
It cou l d be sa i d tha t older teachers mm~t be>li1tj~lllou with their teaching ca r eers and quality cf their t.eac hinq
li v e sor the y wouldno tha vere mained inth epr ore su to n. -rnfs
authoranticipates th at the ol d e r teac he r mny he moro }~ilt
isfied with the way thi ngs are wit hi n the at von schooI but cha ng e wil lbe muc hmoredeman di ngon them. 'rtwuo m < 1I1 u ~1 ~/j11 causethemto be les s recep t i v eto chang e s wi t hin the curr ic u
-lum. Sp ar k s (19 88 )supp ort sthenotionthat te a c hers'aqe und experiencerelatenegat ivelytoch ange . It woutu appear-tha t the older teachers will be le s s receptive to cha ngeunuwLtI perceive the imp l eme n t a t io n and manag e men tcupcct;s of vn ol.o languagemorene ga t i ve l ytha n youngerpr-c r ese l onaln,
36 The ye ars ofunive rsit yrelationsh ip to job satisfaction and qua l i ty of teac h ing li fe is based on the notion of "p r o mo t i o nsquee z e"ad dre s s e d by aui.cccx (1 9 84 ). In the 19805 and 19905 there is a well-e ducated te ac hing force, withmany of the teachers holding graduate de g r e e s in education and becomingmaresp ecial izedin their selected fields. Hcweve r, because of declining enr ol me nt s , education cutbacks and la y o f f s, the changing demandsof the educational system an d the te nd en cy foradmi n i s tr a t i veposi t i on swi t h i n thesystemto beheldby males, the implementers of the cur r e n t curri culum
change cannot anticipate much advancement on the career
la dd er . Guy (198B) re p o r t s that even though ther-e are a large r numb e r of females inthetea ching force i t appearstha t fe malesinstruct and ma lesadminist e r. sincea large propor-tionof our teach e rsarenowat mid or late care er, chancesof adva ncement are unlike l y. Those holding hi ghe r level posi -tions will rarnain there untilretirement and ~Jill likely be repl a c e d by you nger teachers who are just entering th e profes si on .
l4a ny of the ambitious and we l l -motiva ted teachers wil l become dissatisfi edwith thei r car ee rsand ultimately perce i v e the quali t y of their te a c hin g lives to be less than satisfac -tory. The rippl e ef f e c t of thisdi s s ati s f a ct i on could have negat ive imp ac t on thecur ri c u l um change which is proposed.
37 Reflectiv e Te acher Lit e rature
In recent years teachers hav e begunto upprn l so t.hoi r-performancesand roles in the educat i ona l arcnn . \~hllc.rcnn
Dewey was arguingasearlyas 193) that educ nt lon !111o\l ldmovo
awa y from methodologythat wa sgUided byaut ho r it y , habIt;, traditionandby insti t uti onaldefin itio ns and cxpoctatlcna ,
these factors havecon t i nu edto influe nc e t.cncuor s in cuotr
communities and workplace . Dewey (193 3) reterrod to tho
traditional approa chas "rou tine acti on" and ccncrnst.od it with "re fl ec t i ve act i o n" which involv es n w Lj l l nqnoss to engagein self-appra isalanddev eLop rnent. Amon ')other thi rJrJf:, reflective acti on, as ter medby Dew e y, Lmp liou r lexlb llit y, rigorous ana l ysi s and socia l aware nes s onthe par-t of th<.' te a c h e r .
Dewey (1933) terms the conc e p t of re fl e c ti ve action or reflective thinkingasbei ng or inc l udi ng critical t.h Lnkinq, pro b l e m- solvi ng , inquiry and reflectivejud q ement;, 'ro m(19<l5 ) re f e r r ed to the process as cont inuous expc rime nt.aticn, adaptivebe havio r ,valu e scla rif i c a t ion , antici pa to ry act io n andcreativeand gene rati vethought . Sch o n(198:l) rere rreu to there fl e c t i v e actionas no n-log i cal pr ocesses , t.acit;knowlnq ,
thinking on your feet , keepingyourwitsabout you, rcurnl nq
bydoing , fi ndingthe groov e , learni ngtoadjustonce yourr-e outth e r e , feelforthe ball,intuitiv eunder'standinqendba c k tal k. Staut (1989) argues thatthe term"ref le ct ive teach ing" canserve as an umbr ella te r m for all of t.he ne terms.
3B
Po ll a r d an dTann (1987) presen t e d fou ressential cbarec-be r-Lst.Lcsofreflecti v e t.ec-ch Lnq, and areas follows:
1. Reflective te ach i n g impliesanactiveconcern;'lith
ai ms andconse q u ences, as well as wit h means and technical ef fLcLenc y,
2. Reflective te ac h ing combinesinquiry andimp l eme nta
-tion sk ill s wit hattitud es of open-minde d ness, responsibility and whc f eh e a r t.edn es s•
3. Reflective teaching is appli ed in a cyclical or
spiralling process, in which teachers continually mo nitor,
eval ua teandrevisetheir own pract ice.
4. Reflectivet.each Lnq is based onteacher judqeraerrt,
informed pa r t l y by selr-reflect ionand partly by ins i g ht s from ed u cation a l discipl i nes .
A refl e cti ve te a cher, therefore, is one who constantly
question s his or her own aims and actions,monitors practice
and outcomes and considers the short-term and long-term
effec tsuponth e child (Pollard &Tan n , p, 5).
Schon(1963) discussed twotyp e s of reflection. Re fl e c
-tion-on-a c t i on isreflect iononpractice and on cne ' s actions and thoug hts undertake n after th e pr o c e s s is comple ted. Refle c ti on-in-a ct i on refe r s to the sponta neous lt/ays of
th ink ing whileth eaction istak ing place. Killion and Todmem
{1991} sugges t tha t a th i r d typeof reflection,
reflection-for-act ion , and rega r ds it as the desired outcome of the
ticn will guide future actionand suramariaoth e ir thou(jh h1in
a model which ispresente d in Fig ur e 1 and brin g ~the tlu-ec
elementstogethe r (p . 15 ).
Plan Act Ob s e r v e cro eto Ne nuinq
Decide _ ...__... .. ... .·r Iter]oct
Figure1. Elements ofProf e s sionalaerjoctfon
First the teach erplansto act. Then , throuq hrorrcc
-tion-in-act ion, the tea cher ob s e rve s theaction as it tr:"iln
-spires, almost as i f placinghimself orhe rse l fout.sldo the
action. Fromth i s per spective, the teac he r cront o» mea ni ng, inund e r s ta nd i n g the dynami cs of theceuseze ffeetrc r <Iticnu nip
thatoc c u r s betweenthete ac he r ' s actions amIthe ut uu ont.c' re s pons e s to those actions . At the sam etime the toachur is in v olv e d inreflecting-a n-action and r-etl ec t Inq-eI'c r-eactlon. Events are ana lyzed and co nc lusi o ns dz-avn that givo inclqht;
in to future decision points. Through t.his pr'cc e sa the teachers ar e able to evaluate wne re they a re in te r ms of desiredte achin g pract ices and Where th ey vent tobe . Thi f; ty p e of analysis all ows the t.eacnerto corre ct anydistcr ep
-40 anc l es between the twa points and to se-ck alter..a ctvee to na r rowthega p .
Ross (1989)stress esthat the reflective processmus t be def i ne d as away of thinkingabout educationalmatters and he su g g e s t s that this applicationinvolvesfive crucial elements:
1. Recognizingan edu c a t i ona l di l emma ,
2. Resp ond ing to the dilemmaby recognizing both the sim ilarities to othersituations and the uniquequ a l i t i e s of the pa r t i c u l a r situation,
J. framingand reframi ngthed Ll emma ,
4. Experime nt ing \<lith the dilemma to discover the consequencesand implicatio nsof varioussolutions,
5. Examiningthe int e nded and unintended consequences of an impl eme n te d solution and ev alu a t i ng the solutio n by determi ningwhethe r the consequ encesaredesirable or not.
Thedilemma in the curren t study is whether teachers can
accepta new curriculum whir.his based on a philosophy ,...hlch istotally di f f eren t than thephilosoph yofprevious language artsprog ra.ms.
Reflectiv e thinking, in essence, is a method of self -evalua t ion which is defined as a "pr o ce s s " which involves impr oveme nt ofins t ruc t io n throug hhavingteecnere reflect on theirownt.eachLnq and modifying it accordi ngly (Bailey,1981, p, 11). Ca r r and xe mmt s (cited in Pollard&Tann, 1987, p. 25 ), support Baile y' s conte ntion whe n they state that the ref l e c t i ve process involvesimprovement of practice,improve
