Secondary teachers' perceptions of the impact of collective bargaining on teacher participation in decision making

The study was designed to assess the perceptions of secondary public school teachers toward the relationship between collective bargaining and the level of teacher participation in decision making. Specifically, the problem was twofold: 1) to determine teachers' perceptions of the extent of participation in decision making before and after collective bargaining, and 2) to determine teachers' perceptions of the desired amount of teacher participation in decision making relative to ten decisional items. The study was predicated upon the need for empirical data of teachers' perceptions of the actual and desired amount of teacher participation in decision making and the effectiveness of collective bargaining as a vehicle for increasing teacher participation.The sample consisted of 97~ randomly selected Indiana secondary school teachers. Data analysis was based upon the responses from 870 teachers which represented an 89.2 percent response rate.Data were secured by means of a survey questionnaire designed and validated for the study. The instrument included ten decisional items: 1) teaching loads, 2) class size, 3) teacher assignment, 4) teacher evaluation, 5) student discipline, 6) budget policies, 7) non-classroom duties, 8) class preparation time, 9) instructional methods, and 10) course content. Teachers were requested to indicate the amount of teacher participation in decision making before and after collective bargaining as well as the desired amount of teacher participation in decision making.Data of teachers' perceptions of the differences in the amount of teacher participation before and after collective bargaining were treated descriptively. Differences in teachers' perceptions of the desired amount of teacher participation were tested by the chi-square test of independence and were accepted as statistically significant at the .05 alpha level.Data relating to teachers' perceptions of teacher participation in decision making before and after collective bargaining revealed that 1) teachers perceived increased teacher participation after collective bargaining relative to each of the ten decisional items, 2) instructional methods and course content were the only decisional items perceived by the majority of teachers as teacher dominated both before and after collective bargaining, and 3) teachers perceived the greatest gains in participation in teaching loads, teacher evaluation, non-classroom duties, and class preparation time.Chi-square values indicated that differences in teachers' perceptions of desired participation in decision making were statistically significant at the .05 alpha level for nine of the ten decisional items relative to the selected variables. The statistically significant variables and related decisional items included: 1) sex: course content, non-classroom duties, teacher evaluation and teacher assignment; 2) age: course content and teacher assignment; 3) teacher organization membership: teaching loads, class size, teacher assignment, teacher evaluation, budget policies, and course content; 4) professional negotiation involvement: class preparation time, teacher assignment, and teaching loads; 5) size of school district: student discipline, teacher evaluation, and teaching loads; and 6) the existence of negotiation trouble: teacher evaluation.Review of the data led to the following conclusions: 1) although teacher participation had increased after collective bargaining, the perceived increase was minimal; 2) there is a discrepancy between teachers' present and desired amount of participation in decision making; 3) teachers' endeavors to expand the amount of teacher influence in decision making prior to collective bargaining were unsuccessful; 4) teachers' perceptions of desired participation are conditional upon teacher and school district characteristics; and 5) failure to provide for teacher participation in decision making increases the probability of negotiation conflict.Thesis (D. Ed.