Teaching Styles: Parental Preferences and Professional Role Definitions

Abstract

Comparisons of parental preferences among four teaching styles with the self-images of their children's teachers reveal that while mothers prefer a content-oriented style over any other, a majority of teachers see themselves as discovery-oriented. Mothers' preferences are found to vary according to grade level of child and social context. The preference for control-oriented teaching among mothers in working-class sections of the city is seen as a potential source of parent-teacher conflict as parental involvement in the schools increases in these areas.