The role of value orientations in curricular decision making: a rationale for teachers' goals and expectations

This research examined the role of value orientations in curricular decision making from the perspective of high school physical education teachers and students. Educational value orientations served as the theoretical base for the research. Teachers who exhibited one of two paired orientations, disciplinary mastery/learning process (DM/LP) or ecological integration/social reconstruction (EI/SR), were interviewed to examine the extent to which their value orientations influenced their stated (a) goals for student learning, and (b) expectations for academic performance and behavior. Students were also interviewed to investigate the extent to which they acknowledged these goals and expectations. Data were analyzed using constant comparison. Results suggested that goals and expectations of DM/LP and EI/SR teachers were distinctly different and that comments from students in the EI/SR teachers' classes did not reflect their teachers' goals and expectations. Dynamical system theory was used to conceptualize value orientations as attractors within the educational ecosystem. Teachers working from weak EI/SR value attractors may be limited by learner, instructional, and contextual constraints.