The influence of teacher unions on the appointment process of promotional positions at public schools

Abstract

The focus of this research study is to determine what influence teacher unions have on the appointment process of teachers regarding promotional positions at public schools. This focus is linked to the opinion of Darling-Hammond (2017:292), who claimed that there is an increasing focus on the effectiveness of teachers and the output of public schools. The appointment of teachers is, therefore, potentially the starting point for the provision of quality education, meaning that the focus on this process is linked to the potential influence of teacher unions in the appointment process. Essentially, the researcher deciphers the impact of conscious activism and leadership. This means that the researcher will need to look at aspects of school governance, school policies and the links between politics – i.e., micropolitics, to be precise - and governance within the basic education system. Furthermore, the researcher investigates how teachers perceive the role of teacher unions in the appointment process. Considering the latter, the researcher probes whether there are prominent centres of power that ultimately contribute to the dysfunctionalities at public schools. According to Khanyi (2013:14), qualitative research investigates organisational functions and behaviour. Therefore, this research study adopted a qualitative approach with the aim of investigating the phenomenon/occurrence of interest. Phenomenology is employed as the research methodology for this study. This, according to McMillan and Schumacher (2014:372), supplements the researcher’s aim to investigate and interpret the experiences of participants to understand the meaning of a particular occurrence. The research is based on an interpretivist philosophical orientation, which according to Nieuwenhuis (2016:60), takes the form of an “anti-positivist” paradigm. This paradigm serves as a counter-reaction to positivism, which encourages the researcher to approach the research study from a critical and constructivist perspective, which gives an individual the ability to construct meanings by emphasising a particular phenomenon. Furthermore, by applying purposive sampling, the researcher looks to maintain the specific objective of determining the influence of teacher unions on the appointment process of teachers at public schools. Ultimately, the researcher recognises the social value and the importance of scientific validity to develop as an academic in the field of educational leadership and management. The researcher is conscientious of the fact that the interests of the participants are more important than the outcomes of this study. Therefore, there should always be transparency and advocacy for mutual respect and adherence to the prescribed research guidelines.