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The Study Of The Impact On Educational Policy Of U.S. Teacher's Association In The Perspective Of Interest Groups

Posted on:2007-07-18Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:X H ZhouFull Text:PDF
GTID:1117360182998186Subject:Comparative Education
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Study on the impact of U.S. teacher's association on the educational policy in perspective of the interest groups as the research object, just because we can't deviate from the fact that it is a nation of highly developed market economy, poly-politics and falling over themselves for organizing. Generally speaking, when the desires needed to be satisfied, the American may resolve it by himself at first. If the desires can't be satisfied successfully, he will not hesitate to gather people who desire the same interest to gather the power to impact on the political system together. Thus, interests of group become the power of mass and the impetus that impact on public policy.The impact on educational policy of U.S A. teacher's association is the materializing of the facts of American in the field of educational policies. American education is the way of high decentralization and separate management. Compared with other countries, U.S.A. is a weaker nation, yet has stronger society (including community, permanent organization and special organization). And its education that is in the class by itself and the largest public enterprise in the U.S. is easily affected by society and all kinds of groups and individuals that compose it. And America Teacher's association happens to be a permanent organization and special group. Teacher's association concerns almost all of the aspects of educational policies including infant education, primary and secondary education, higher education, curricula, teaching, teacher education and educational management, etc. From another way, a great deal of important progress will not realize without the vigorous impulse and advocate of teacher's association in the U.S. from the 1850s to the 1950s. At that time, teacher's association is a respectable professional association. Moreover, the Federal Department of Education management is a center collecting, managing and distrusting information, which is short of ability of making overall plans and taking all factors into consideration to the whole education cause. In the light of the dispersal situation of American education, Teacher's association (actually National Education Association) automatically takes many businesses that belong to the Federal Department. In great part, teacher's association has made up for theshortcomings and absence of the Federal Department of Education.After the 1950s, National Education Association (NEA) abandoned the tenets of professional association for a variety of matters, and changed into an influential teacher union in the U.S. political field. And with the affiliating of NEA, the power of American Federation of teachers (AFT), which is a teacher union and has the characteristics of labor union, has been strengthened and the influential functions to educational policies becomes more complicated. In the 1950s and 1960s, by the impelling of inside and outside pressure, NEA abandoned the top goal, that is development of education and teaching, imitated the action style of teacher unions such as AFT, and agreed with and accepted the methods such as collective negotiation and teacher's strike used by them frequently. With the organizing style and strategies becoming more Jacobinical, NEA gathers the resources admired by all other teacher union, and changes into a teacher union having the maximum members and biggest economic power in America. Before the 1960s, AFT had no power to organize the action of the teachers in the whole country. But after then, AFT enormously had succeeded in competition with NEA, and it had great impact on the drafting and implement of all kinds of the educational policies in the urban area. Facing with a series of educational policies on the current educational innovation and development in America, the teacher union delegated by NEA and AFT has great uncertainty on the drafting and implement of national educational policies.Teacher associations have the essential characteristics of interest groups, so the study of the impact on educational policy of U.S. teacher's association in the perspective of the interest groups can make us find out clearly how teacher associations impact on the drafting and implement the various educational policies. And on this premise, the dissertation is divided into three parts:The first part is the theory of interest groups and its impact on the educational policies. The theory of interest groups is a theory and analytical angle of view often used in politics. In this part, the dissertation constructs the theoretical framework of interest groups impacting on the drafting of educational policies on the basis of analyzing the theory of interest groups.The second part is the status of the American teacher associations. In the U.S., the most influential teacher associations are the National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation Teachers (AFT). We can know well about the basic status of the Americanteacher associations by the brief introduction of the organizational structures, the revenues and expenditures, the political action and member benefit programs. These brief introduces are the organic part of the study on the impact teacher associations have on the drafting and implement of educational policies.The third part is the impact of American teacher associations on the educational policies. Most of the actions of American teacher associations are provided with the basic characteristics of generic interest groups. And teacher associations impact the drafting and implement of various educational policies by inter-organization cooperating, engaging in educational research, reflecting the policy and political action. In the political actions, teacher associations don't take part in the political election, but endorse and oppose the candidates of congressman and President to protect their interests that is to impact the drafting and implement of various educational policies. The impact on the teacher policy, primary education innovation and higher education policy represent the teacher associations have on the educational policy.Finally, the dissertation puts forward that the trend of teacher associations is neo-unionism and brings forward some policy suggestion on exerting the positive function of teacher associations and perfecting the teacher associations of our country.
Keywords/Search Tags:interest group, educational policy, National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), U.S.
PDF Full Text Request
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