Professional Orientation, Associational Membership, and Teacher Militancy

Abstract

Using work orientation and organizational membership as critical variables, the author developed a model to explain teacher militancy. It was hypothesized that the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) members would be more professionally oriented than the National Education Association (NEA) members; furthermore, that the more professionally oriented teachers would be more alienated, would have more frequent conflict with the administration of the school system, and would be more militant. The findings supported these hypotheses. However, within the work orientation categories there were some unanticipated findings. For AFT members, the “Professionally Oriented” members were the more alienated, had more frequent conflicts with the administration, and were more militant. For NEA members, the “Job Bureaucrats,” and not the “Professionally Oriented,” were found to be more alienated, to have more frequent conflicts with the administration, and to be more militant. The data suggest that AFT and NEA members hold quite different definitions of professionalism and of the appropriate role of the public school teacher.

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