The research investigated the development of an Israeli teachers’ organization as a result of its competition over many years with another teachers’ organization and shows how it switched its strategy of imitating its competitor, to a strategy of initiating educational reforms that are presently being implemented.

The “High School Teachers’ Association (HTA)” and the “Israel Teachers’ Union (ITU)” are the two main teachers’ associations in the Israel. Already, 57 years ago, secondary school teachers established the hegemony of the “ITU”, while a break-away group left and formed the “HTA”. The ITU did not forgive this desertion, and a tradition of fierce struggles ensued between them, both organizations competing for their audiences’ support and for access to the establishment, but most especially competing for the hearts of junior high school teachers. This public constitutes a joint target for representation opposite employers – multi-unionism (Akkerman, 2008).

In the first years of its existence, the “HTA” fought for recognition, and tried on the one hand to design unique outlines for an assertive organization, but at the same time it resembled its opponent organization in its management of negotiations with employers, and in enlistment of members to its services.

The more veteran “ITU” often cooperated with the Israeli government, and the “HTA” adhered to similar types of action in order to gain legitimization, an approach that can be analyzed as an institutional approach (Scott, 1995, 2008).

Over the years, the “HTA” became more professional in its operations opposite employers, and the competition with its opponent altered its strategy from struggle based on imitation, slander and oppositional achievements to a more experienced and professional strategy. The “HTA” reached the insight that despite its development it did not succeed to change the educational system and the status of its teacher members. Consequently, it began to change its goals.  A committee of experts was convened, which suggested outlines for educational reform (“Courage to Change”) that aimed to develop teaching to become a recognized profession. The Association did not succeed in persuading the establishment to adopt the reform. It found itself fighting about the reform with its opponent organization who also hurried to produce a program for change that quickly because a proposal for educational reform.  The reform of the opponent “ITU” was adopted by the establishment before the reform that was initiated by the “HTA” and the competition reached a new turning point when in 2011 the reform of the “HTA” was also approved and the two reforms began to operate in parallel. The struggle between the organizations continued in the legal arena since there were schools that found themselves operating with two incompatible reforms.

The relation between the developmental strategy of teachers’ organizations and support for reform has been widely reviewed in the past (Stevenson, 2007), and there is evidence that teachers’ organizations now demonstrate more responsibility for educational quality (Lilja, 2014; Mausethagen, & Granlund 2012). The Israeli case is unique since the struggle of the “HTA” against its opponent, motivated it to initiate a reform and to struggle for its realization, while at the same time it was pushed to change its own substance, by developing the characteristics of a professional association (Blau & Scott, 1962; Freidson, 1999; Kerchner & Caufman, 1995), while simultaneously maintaining its traditional goals and its operations as a trade union. 

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