TOWARD A PARTIAL THEORY OF TEACHING STYLE: A MICROETHNOGRAPHY OF A SECONDARY TEACHER WORKING WITH STUDENTS HAVING LOW READING ABILITY (QUALITATIVE, FIELD-BASED RESEARCH, NATURALISTIC)

The focus of this study is the investigation of one secondary basic English teacher's teaching style as he worked with 17 eleventh grade low reading ability level students. The classroom of predominately black students and their white, male teacher, was located in a consolidated high school set in a small, rural, low socioeconomic level community in the Southeastern United States. The researcher, using the theoretical underpinnings of symbolic interactionism and the methodology of ethnography, assumed the participant observer role during data collection. Data, in the form of field notes and audio and videotaped transcriptions, were collected daily over an eight week school quarter. This primary data source was supplemented by secondary data sources used to triangulate the researcher's observations. The secondary data sources included interviews with adult and student key informants, interviews with the observed teacher, questionnaire data from forms filled out by the teacher, and student and teacher documents/artifacts collected during classroom lessons.;The primary data were analyzed using an inductive analysis procedure termed the constant comparison method. This analysis generated 11 categories and numerous properties which described the observed teacher's stylistic behaviors, patterns of behavior, and variations of teaching style displayed as he worked with low reading ability students. Proportions of rater agreement were calculated using an outside observer. Results indicated that the category and property definitions were reliable. Furthermore, secondary data sources were used to triangulate or add validity to the primary data sources. From these secondary data sources the researcher determined the administrators', students', and the observed teacher's beliefs about classroom events. This helped to ensure that the researcher obtained an accurate picture of classroom events from the participants' perspectives.;Finally, the teaching style behaviors were discussed in terms of what contexts particular stylistic behaviors occurred in and how these behaviors influenced students' attitudes and learning. A partial theory of teaching style was generated, grounded in the category and property definitions. This theory indicated that teaching style behaviors are recognized by students and influence their learning. The theory also suggested that school participants' definitions of effective teaching vary from those found by past process-product research.