The Pupil Control Ideology of Teachers in Selected Schools

Abstract

The relationships between pupil control ideology and teacher sense of efficacy, bureaucratic level of school, and socioeconomic status (SES) of the school’s students were examined in this study. The Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES) and the Pupil Control Ideology Form (PCI Form) were administered to teachers (n = 275) in nine schools stratified according to socioeconomic status of clientele and bureaucratic level. Findings indicated that teachers in low SES schools were more custodial toward pupil control than teachers in middle SES or upper SES schools. Additionally, teachers with low sense of efficacy perceived control of pupils more custodially than teachers with average or high perceptions of efficacy. This study, also, suggests that control ideology may indicate the type of bureaucracy operating within the school.