IP 95-1 Labor relations 101: An undeclared context specific course for prospective teachers in an alternative training program.
Abstract
In this paper the author describes the effects of a labor dispute upon teacher trainees in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) alternative training program. The individual stories highlight the stress a labor dispute places on those who do not have the status of full-time teachers or prospective teachers in a traditional teacher education program. In the dispute the trainees had three logical paths to choose regarding possible actions they could take. The author describes the post-dispute justifications and the trainees views on professionalism in addition to how the trainees perceived the dispute affecting their progress in the program. Following these descriptions are some speculations about what these trainees learned form the labor dispute. Finally, the author suggests what we might learn from this story. This is important because many people now argue that prospective teachers should have long-term and sustained exposure in schools if we are to produce better teachers. Teacher preparation programs that demand sustained presence in schools for student teachers raise new issues regarding their status as members of a school community.