8 TEACHERS REPORTED PEDAGOGICAL DEPENDENCY ON BASAL READERS

This article reports on a qualitative study based on interviews of 8 elementary teachers concerning their beliefs, perceptions, and feelings about reading instruction and the role of basal readers in reading instruction, and their beliefs about the needs fulfilled for students, teachers, parents, and school administrators through classroom reading instruction. Results indicated a conflict between teachers' beliefs and their reported methods of teaching reading. Although teachers believed that basal instruction was not the best way to teach reading, they continued to rely heavily on the basal. The results also indicated that teachers felt that basal reading instruction fulfilled primarily lower-level security needs of students and teachers. Lower-level needs of students were addressed through, for example, skills instruction, grouping, and pacing. Higher-level needs such as self-actualization, knowing and understanding the world, obtaining pleasure from learning, and creativity were rarely met by basal instruction. Basal instruction met only lower-level needs of parents and administrators. Teachers reported that nonbasal instruction satisfied needs associated with enjoyment, creativity, and alleviating pressure to cover a certain amount of material. These results are discussed in terms of critical theory, cognitive dissonance, exchange theory, pressures on teachers related to accountability, professional uncertainty, and contextual aspects of the study. We conclude with a discussion of the need for teacher empowerment in the delivery of reading instruction and implications for further research.