ROLE ORIENTATIONS AMONG TEACHERS OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC AND SOCIOCULTURAL BACKGROUNDS WERE STUDIED. INVESTIGATION CENTERED ON (1) THE DISTINGUISHABLE PATTERNS OF ROLE ORIENTATION, AND (2) THE EFFECTS OF ETHNIC AND OTHER SOCIOCULTURAL VARIABLES UPON ROLE ORIENTATION. THE SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 106 SECONDARY TEACHERS, IDENTIFIED AS MEMBERS OF 1 OF 6 ETHNIC GROUPS (IRISH, POLISH, ITALIAN, NEGRO, JEWISH, OR OTHER). THE ETHNICITY (USED BY THE AUTHOR TO DENOTE THE CONSTELLATION OF CHARACTERISTIC GROUP ATTITUDES) OF THE SAMPLE WAS THE MAIN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE OF THE STUDY. AREAS IN WHICH ROLE ORIENTATIONS WERE ASSUMED TO VARY WERE DESIGNATED IN THREE DIMENSIONS--(1) TEACHING MOTIVES, (2) TEACHING STANDARDS, AND (3) TEACHING PERFORMANCE. STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED WITH EACH TEACHER USING AN INTERVIEW GUIDE TO GATHER DATA FOR COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS. A CODE SHEET WAS DEVELOPED FROM THE RESPONSES. ALL REPLIES WERE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO ONE OF THE THREE ROLE-ORIENTATION CATEGORIES--(1) PROFESSIONAL, (2) NURTURANT, OR (3) INSTRUMENTAL. THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT TEACHERS FROM HIGHLY URBANIZED ETHNIC GROUPS EMPHASIZED COMPETENCE AND INTELLECTUAL SKILLS. TEACHERS FROM GROUPS NOT YET IN THE MAINSTREAM OF AMERICAN LIFE EMPHASIZED THE NEED TO DEVELOP THE INDIVIDUAL STUDENT. ALSO, ETHNICITY WAS FOUND TO BE A PERVASIVE FACTOR IN DETERMINING THE ATTITUDES WITH WHICH TEACHERS APPROACH THEIR ROLE. (RS)