THE PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHERS ON THE PICKET LINE AND IN THE CLASSROOM DURING A TEACHER STRIKE (PHENOMENOLOGY, THREAT-ANXIETY, RELATIONAL, REFERENCE GROUPS, SELF-ADEQUACY).

Abstract

This study examined the perceptions of teachers on the picket line and in the classroom during the 1978 Tucson Unified School District teacher strike and the perceptions and relationships they experienced. Literature from sociology, psychology and education was reviewed to develop the theoretical framework. It is recognized in the literature that theory has utility in designing, shaping and organizing research, giving meaning to data and summarizing and interpreting the findings. The theoretical framework was comprised of two sections: the perceptual and the relational. In the perceptual, self-adequacy, self-concept and threat-anxiety were included. In the relational, communication, shared interests and reference groups were included. An interview schedule of twenty-one items based on the theoretical framework was developed and administered to forty selected school district teachers. The twenty-one questions were derived from the two major sections and the six subsections of the theoretical framework. Some demographic data were also collected. Strikers and non-strikers agreed more than they disagreed. There was general agreement among both strikers and non-strikers that human relationships were handled so ineptly by the superintendent and school board that the teachers perceived themselves to be demeaned and held unworthy.