Six student teachers who were committed to the tenets of whole language were studied to determine how they manifested their whole language perspectives in light of the enabling and constraining factors they faced in their specific field sites. Results indicated that the six student teachers were forced to alter their teaching behaviors significantly due to constraining factors. The impact of context on teacher's behavior is examined in general, and the categories of constraining factors that cut across all of the six student teachers' experiences are outlined. Constraining factors are categorized in four levels: (1) interactive factors; (2) institutional factors; (3) cultural factors; and (4) personal factors. For each level, anecdotal examples of the six teachers' experiences illustrate the constraining factors involved: working with the curriculum, cooperating teachers, university supervisors, student behavior problems, lack of resources, and personal limitations. (Contains 33 references.) (JDD)