Factors that influenced teachers to become reformers, reviewers, or resistors to whole language were investigated with specific examination of school culture. In this study three transitioning school sites were selected on the basis of their similarity in staffing and student size. Participants from each school involved three to four classroom teachers who were in various stages of transition; their Chapter 1 teacher; the Chapter 1 director; and the principal. The researcher audiotaped all 17 interviews; collected teachers' lesson plans, and took photographs of the classrooms. A phenomenological approach to the data analysis resulted in nine categories directly related to the teachers' attitudes toward a transition to whole language. These categories revealed three external influences and three subjective influences. The external influences which consisted of the Chapter 1 program, school culture, and the role of the principal had a stronger influence on those teachers resisting or reviewing whole language while the subjective factors such as knowledge of whole language, professional development, and level of acceptance had a stronger influence on those teachers already involved in the transition. The researcher concluded that the three school's cultures (by allowing interaction among reviewing, resisting, and reforming teachers) created trust which is needed in order for a stable change to occur. (Contains 19 references and 1 table of data.) (Author/RS)