Chapter 6: Teachers’ Work and Instructional Management, Part II: Does Organic Management Promote Expert Teaching?¹

This paper uses ideas drawn from contingency theory to examine the extent to which the nature of teachers’ instructional work affects and is affected by patterns of instructional management in schools. The paper develops a causal model positing that teachers who face increased task variety in their work will actively work to construct “organic” patterns of instructional management in their immediate working environment, thus leading to a reduction of task uncertainty and an increase in workplace motivation and commitment. Data gathered from a survey of high school teachers shows that this model is confirmed, but that the effect sizes are very small. The implications of these findings for research on school organization and management are considered.