Some Comply While Some Defy: Elementary Teachers' Responses to Leadership Mandates on Reading Comprehension Instruction.

Abstract

PURPOSE We report the qualitative findings from a survey of elementary teachers regarding reading instruction. The purpose is to extend on quantitative findings in a previously described survey to gain a more in-depth understanding of Australian elementary teachers' approaches to the literacy block in their schools: how this is used, who makes instructional decisions, and how teachers respond to these. METHOD A web-based survey was used to collect data from Australian elementary teachers about their perspectives regarding reading comprehension instruction. Of the 284 respondents, 182 (64.1%) provided free-text comments in response to open-ended questions. Responses were coded and analyzed for themes. RESULTS Responses were categorized into three broad themes. The first theme concerned the level of satisfaction with how literacy block time was used. The second theme pertained to the locus of decisions about the use of the literacy block time, and the third theme concerned the ways in which teachers responded to decisions made by "leadership": compliance or defiance. CONCLUSIONS There are many different ways that the literacy block is structured and used across Australian elementary schools, and participants indicated an overall sense that they perceive that their literacy block is effective for students. There is, however, evidence of tension between teachers and decision makers when the teachers' pedagogical position does not align with the locally prescribed instructional approach. In these cases, teachers report choosing to either defy or comply with the mandated approach. Although formal decisions about how this block is to be used are made by school leaders, teachers make individual decisions about the degree to which they comply with those. Departures from these mandates, regardless of their rationales, have significant implications for data monitoring and interpretation at the school level.