TEACHER UNIONISM AND TEACHER EMPOWERMENT: THE EVIDENCE FROM ILLINOIS RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS
RANDY J. DUNN
DOI: 10.2190/8D90-A0D4-2LCP-U5MQ
Abstract
This study investigated the problem of how teacher unionism relates to teacher empowerment within rural Illinois school district. Specifically, the study attempted to examine which variables describing teacher unions influence the attainment of a core set of conditions for teacher empowerment. Multivariate regression analysis was used to identify the most significant unionism characteristics influencing the likelihood that a rural school district would exhibit a high degree of teacher empowerment. The following were among the findings: 1) union affiliation conferred no advantage for achieving teacher empowerment outcomes, 2) a district's location in northern Illinois was related to teachers' increased feelings of empowerment more so than other demographic or professional variables, and 3) teacher empowerment would appear to be as much a product of perceptions of key actors as actual empowerment provisions bargained into contracts. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.