This paper illuminates the tensions between the rhetoric and presumed rewards of an expanded conception of teachers' work and the work demands and strains introduced by such a conception. Based on data collected in the United States, this paper draws on multi-day, 24-hour time and task diaries recorded by case-study teachers, together with…

Argues that reform of teaching conditions will only come through teachers' initiatives and crusades. Offers ways English teachers can improve their working conditions, including (1) achieving consensus among their colleagues; (2) presenting a workload study to principals, personnel directors, and superintendents; (3) requesting additional…

Interviews with participants in the Alum Rock Voucher Project revealed that the effects of a voucher system on teachers were varied and profound: greater teacher autonomy but increased responsibilities; more within-program cohesion but increased competition between programs; and greater parent involvement, requiring teachers to improve…

Supported by the Carnegie Foundation and other allies, teacher unions are now demanding that teachers take over the nation's schools and run them without management interference. Teachers need "enablement" more than empowerment, as seen in the case of Rochester, New York. (MLH)

Whether organized around subject matter, teaching methods, school improvement, or restructuring efforts, successful networks share common features, such as focus, variety, and opportunities for discourse and leadership. Networks can also present nagging problems concerned with quality, application, stability, overextension, ownership, expanding…

Reports findings of two surveys of a total of 657 Polish secondary teachers. Examines degree of job satisfaction and its relationship to teaching conditions, teacher role, and educational environment. Discusses the effect of a 60 percent teacher pay raise that was granted between the 2 surveys. (SV)

In this chapter, the authors examine developments in the teacher workforce and in the occupation of teaching across recent generations. They take their point of departure from the perspective of prevailing policy discourse on enduring problems of educational equity, asking not only how teaching has evolved in recent decades but more specifically…

Research on job satisfaction, an extremely important topic in organizational administration and social psychology, has a history of nearly sixty years, beginning with the publication of Hoppock's (1935) classic work. The study of organization administration and behavioral sciences started fairly late on the Chinese mainland. There are few studies…

This article presents a study that explores the relationship between charter schools and teacher autonomy. The theoretical framework is based on the charter school concept, whereby three policy levers--choice, deregulation, and accountability--lead to various goals for the charter school. One of the first and foremost of these is the enhancement…

This set of papers presents five perspectives on the master teacher concept, each with a different orientation and set of assumptions guiding it: (1) "A Philosophic Look at 'Merit' and 'Mastery' in Teaching" (Maxine Greene); (2) "The School as a Workplace and the Master Teacher Concept" (Gary A. Griffin); (3) "Effective Teaching and the Concept of…

This paper discusses competing norms for justifying teacher decisions, their effects on productivity and legitimacy in teaching, and the teaching profession as a moral and learning community. Drawing on philosophical analyses and studies of elementary and secondary schools, teacher preparation, staff development, and the adoption of innovations,…

From a special feature on Professional Negotiation, Part 2.

The Hong Kong Government first introduced school-based management (ABM) to the education profession in 1991, but little attention has been paid on the role of teachers in school reforms. Under SBM, teachers are key players in determining school policies and practices. It is believed that teachers' dedication and performance are the most important…

This booklet describes the work of teacher leaders. Section 1, "The Teacher Leaders," describes today's teacher leadership. Section 2, "What Is Teacher Leadership?" explains that all teachers have leadership potential, and when teachers lead, principals extend their own capacity, students live in a democratic community of…