Hierarchy of job wants as perceived by teachers and significant other parties to collective bargaining in selected Indiana school corporations

The purpose of the study was to investigate and report hierarchies of teacher job and working condition wants. Teacher ranked wants were compared with ranked perceptions of teacher wants as perceived by school board presidents, superintendents, principals, Indiana State Teachers Association staff and the staff of the Indiana Federation of Teachers. Comparisons were also made of elementary and secondary teacher wants. The study was predicated upon the need for current information defining teacher priorities for collective bargaining.The instrument consisted of two decks of rank-sort cards. The job wants deck was imprinted with ten motivators and hygiene factors. The working conditions deck was imprinted with ten hygiene factors in the teaching environment. Teachers were instructed to rank factors in both decks according to prepotent job wants. Participants other than teachers were instructed to rank factors in both decks reflecting personal perceptions of teacher job and working condition wants. Completed instruments were returned by thirty-six elementary teachers, forty-two secondary teachers, sixty board presidents, eighty-seven superintendents, eighty principals, forty-two Indiana State Teachers Association representatives and six Indiana Federation of Teachers representatives. Eighteen hypotheses were tested to provide for two-way comparisons between teacher wants and perceptions of teacher wants.Significant differences were noted between job rankings by elementary and secondary teachers. Meaningful work was the most prepotent teacher motivator. Board presidents, superintendents, and teacher organization staffs ranked improved wages as the most prepotent teacher want. Significant differences were noted between rankings of teacher job wants and rankings of teacher wants by non-teachers. Rankings of perceived teacher job wants by board presidents, superintendents and teacher organization professional staff members were significantly congruent. Perceptions reported by principals concerning teacher job wants were more congruent with teacher rankings of job wants than were the rankings of other non-teacher samples. Non-teacher groups were able to rank teacher working condition (hygiene) wants with greater correlation to teacher opinion than was achieved in ranking teacher job wants (motivators). Administrators need to demonstrate loyalty to teachers and teacher organization leaders need to recognize the need for loyal relationships between teachers and administrators. The study seems to support the contention that administrators and other teacher leaders need to become sensitized to teacher job wants.Thesis (D. Ed.