The Influence Of American Teachers' Organizations On Social Status Of Teachers

The earliest teachers'organization was borned 150 years ago. The mission of teachers' organizations is to improve the teachers'social status. National Education Association of the United States (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are representative. The development of teachers'organizations has experienced 3 periods due to the variation of the goal and the influence ways of them. The first period is a conservative period in which the character of the teachers'organizations was performed freely. Their tactics, basically, were conservative. Through the development of the period, the differences of two organizations can be showed obviously——NEA had paid more attention to teachers'professional development, but AFT with characters of labor union, prefered to wealth benefits of teachers.The second part is the period of radical uionism, in which NEA as a professional organization gradually turned to a teacher union. Meanwhile, AFT performed as a labor union more fully. The teachers'organizations adopted the ways of unionism, such as collective negotiation and strike. In this period, teachers'organizations negotiated teachers'salary, work conditions and teachers'power with the administrative agencies, and to take participate in political elections to influence the decisions.In 80s, while education reform and many criticism were rising, teachers'organizations entered upon a new period, changing their strategies, advocatng new unionism or professional union, which had a dual character of both professionism and unionism. The influence mode turned to be more mild, enhancing their strengthen via cooperation with other organizations and groups. Teachers'organizations performed actively in many major aspects such as professional development, the economic benefits of teachers and various of political activities.But a coin has two sides, the acts of teachers' organizations have a few flaws. For example a terrible relationship of teachers and education administrators will be profitless for decision-making of power and benefits of teachers; and it will harm teachers themselves in overseeking their own benefits.