Teachers' Value Orientations in Urban and Rural School Settings

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to describe physical educators' value orientations for curricular decision making in urban and rural teaching settings. The revised Value Orientation Inventory (Ennis & Chen, 1993) was used to collect data from 495 physical educators in urban and rural districts. Data were analyzed descriptively using a full-design and a nested MANOVA model. Results indicated that teachers in urban school districts placed a higher priority on self-actualization and social responsibility than did teachers in rural school districts. Conversely, teachers in rural school districts placed a higher priority on disciplinary mastery and learning process than did their colleagues in urban schools. The discussion focused on differences in school contexts in urban and rural schools. Teachers appeared to shape their curriculum to reflect the opportunities and constraints within their school settings.

Key Words:

• value orientations
• beliefs
• context
• school location