TEACHER UTILIZATION OF AVENUES FOR PARTICIPATORY DECISION‐MAKING

One of the most contentious issues in management is participatory decision‐making (PDM). While studies abound centred on hypothetical benefits, characteristics of involved individuals, its moral foundation and other aspects, few have investigated the pattern of utilization of avenues for PDM. This study investigates the relationship between nine avenues for teacher involvement, and the degree of actual and desired participation, plus decisional deprivation experienced by the respondents on a 30 item Critical Decision Inventory. Teachers' biographical characteristics; level of instruction, sex, teaching experience, academic qualifications and size of district of employment were also correlated with the utilization of avenues for participation. The major findings were (i) a high correlation between sex, level of instruction and avenues used; (ii) teaching experience was not supportive of earlier research; (iii) district size did not support previous studies; (iv) academic qualifications did not produce conclusive results.