Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This article presents a case study that focuses on the construction of the teacher union paradox as a factor contributing to productive collaboration between union and management. Teacher union leaders face an apparent paradox between the dual interests of teacher unions—teachers’ self-interests and teachers’ educational interests. Teacher union members and leaders act upon their particular constructions of the relationship between these dual interests. The cast study demonstrates how union members and leaders constructed the dualities differently and how these constructions influenced their behavior. Examining teacher union leadership through the perspective of paradox construction may result in new ways of understanding union behavior and union-management relationships.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

(1990). Toward a critical constructivist approach to school administration: Invisibility, legitimation, and the study of non-events. Educational Administration Quarterly, 26(1): 38–59.

Barnard

(1968). The functions of the executive. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. (Original work published in 1938.)

Bascia

(1994). Unions in teachers’ professional lives: Social, intellectual, and practical concerns. New York: Teachers College Press.

Costa

, & Garmston

(1985). Supervision for intelligent teaching. Educational Leadership, 42(5): 70–80.

Ford

, & Backoff

(1988). Organizational change in and out of dualities and paradox. In Quinn

, & Cameron

(Eds.), Paradox and transformation: Toward a theory of change in organization and management (pp. 81–121). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

Fullan

(1991). The new meaning of educational change (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.

Kelly

(1955). The psychology of personal constructs. Volumes I and II. New York: W. W. Norton.

Kerchner

, & Caufman

(1993). Building the airplane while its rolling down the runway. In Kerchner

, & Koppich

(Eds.), A union of professionals: Labor relations and educational reform (pp. 1–24). New York: Teachers College Press.

Kerchner

, & Koppich

(1993). A union of professionals: Labor relations and educational reform. New York: Teachers College Press.

10.

Kerchner

, Koppich

, King

, & Weeres

(1990). This could be the start of something big: Labor relations reforms in the 1990s. Paper presented at the meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration, Pittsburgh, PA.

11.

Lincoln

, & Guba

(1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

12.

Patton

(1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

13.

Poole

(1994). Removing the “super” from supervision. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 9(3): 284–309.

14.

Streshly

, & DeMitchell

(1994). Teacher unions and TQE: Building quality labor relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

15.

Taylor

, & Bogdan

(1984). Introduction to qualitative research methods: The search for meanings (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley and Sons.

16.

Thompson

(1988). Being, thought, and action. Rejoinder to Ford and Backoff. In Quinn

, & Cameron

(Eds.), Paradox and transformation: Toward a theory of change in organization and management. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

The Construction of Paradox and the Teacher Union's Role in Complex Change

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References