Forty years in the union: Incubating, supporting, and catalyzing socially just educational change
Article
First Online:
- 241 Downloads
- 1 Citations
Abstract
North American teacher unions’ positive contributions to educational change have historically flown under the radar of educational policy makers, a situation that has been reified by recent attacks on public sector unions. In this article, I draw on social movement theory and an institutional case study of a self described social justice union to analyze teacher unions’ unique contributions to educational improvement. The primary product of this analysis is a cyclical model of union-supported, teacher-initiated educational change that codifies 40 years of social justice activism incubated, supported and catalyzed by a Canadian teacher union.
Keywords
Social justice Teacher unions Social movement organizations Educational change Teacher activismReferences
- Amenta, E., Caren, N., Chiarello, E., & Su, Y. (2010). The political consequences of social movements. Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 287–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Au, W., Bigelow, B., Christensen, L., Levin, D., Karp, S., Miller, L., et al. (2011). This is what solidarity looks like. Rethinking Schools, 25(4), 5–8.Google Scholar
- Ball, S. J. (1988). Staff relations during the teachers’ industrial action: Context, conflict and proletarianisation. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 9(3), 289–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Bascia, N. (1994). Unions in teachers’ professional lives: Social, intellectual, and practical concerns. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
- Bascia, N. (1997a). Invisible leadership: Teachers’ union activity in schools. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 43(2/3), 69–85.Google Scholar
- Bascia, N. (1997b). Teacher unions and teacher professionalism in the US: Reconsidering a familiar dichotomy. In B. J. Biddle, T. L. Good, & I. F. Goodson (Eds.), International handbook of teachers and teaching (Vol. 3, pp. 437–458). Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
- Bascia, N. (1998a). The next steps in teacher union and reform. Contemporary Education, 69(4), 210–213.Google Scholar
- Bascia, N. (1998b). Teacher unions and educational reform. In A. Hargreaves, A. Lieberman, M. Fullan, & D. Hopkins (Eds.), International handbook of educational change (Vol. 5, pp. 895–915). Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
- Bascia, N. (1998c). Women teachers, union affiliation, and the future of North American teacher unionism. Teaching and Teacher Education, 14(5), 551–563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Bascia, N. (2000). The other side of the equation: Professional development and the organizational capacity of teacher unions. Educational Policy, 14(3), 385–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Bascia, N. (2003). Triage or tapestry? Teacher unions’ work toward improving teacher quality in an era of systemic reform. Prepared for the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington: Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.Google Scholar
- Bascia, N. (2004). Teacher unions and the teaching workforce: Mismatch or vital contribution? In M. A. Smylie & D. Miretzky (Eds.), Developing the teacher workforce (pp. 326–347). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
- Bascia, N. (2005a). The next generation of Canadian teacher unionism—What will it be? Perspectives, 5, 1–5.Google Scholar
- Bascia, N. (2005b). Triage or tapestry? Teacher unions’ work in an era of systemic reform. In N. Bascia, A. Cumming, A. Datnow, K. Leithwood, & D. Livingstone (Eds.), International handbook on educational policy (pp. 593–612). Dordrecht: Kluwer/Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Bassey, M. (2003). Case study research in educational settings. Maidenhead: Open University Press.Google Scholar
- BCTF. (2006). Social justice. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from http://bctf.ca/socialjustice.aspx.
- Berube, M. R. (1988). Teacher politics: The influence of unions. New York: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
- Bies, R. J., Bartunek, J. M., Fort, T. L., & Zald, M. N. (2007). Corporations as social change agents: Individual, interpersonal, institutional, and environmental dynamics. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 788–793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Bouvier, R. (2004). The critical role of aboriginal educators. Orbit, 34(1), 38–42.Google Scholar
- Bouvier, R., & Karlenzig, B. (2006). Accountability and Aboriginal education: Dilemmas, promises and challenges. In G. Martell (Ed.), Education’s iron cage and its dismantling in the new global order (pp. 15–34). Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.Google Scholar
- Brimelow, P. (2003). The worm in the apple: How the teacher unions are destroying American education. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.Google Scholar
- Calvert, J., & Kuehn, L. (1993). Pandora’s box: Corporate power, free trade and Canadian education, Vol. 4. Toronto: Our Schools/Our Selves.Google Scholar
- Chafe, J. (1968). Chalk, sweat, and cheers: A history of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society commemorating its 50th anniversary 1919–1969. Saskatchewan: The Hunter Rose Company.Google Scholar
- Christopher, D., & Smethen, L. (2009). The effects of reform: Have teachers really lost their sense of professionalism? Journal of Educational Change, 10(2–3), 141–157.Google Scholar
- Compton, M., & Weiner, L. (Eds.). (2008). The global assault on teachers, teaching and their unions. London: Palgrave.Google Scholar
- Cooper, B. S. (2000). An international perspective on teachers unions. In T. Loveless (Ed.), Conflicting missions? Teachers unions and educational reform (pp. 240–280). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
- Cooper, A., Levin, B., & Campbell, C. (2009). The growing (but still limited) importance of evidence in education policy and practice. Journal of Educational Change, 10(2–3), 159–171.Google Scholar
- CTF. (2007). Education for social justice: From the margin to the mainstream. Ottawa: Canadian Teachers’ Federation.Google Scholar
- Danylewycz, M., & Prentice, A. (1986). Teachers’ work: Changing patterns and perceptions in the emerging school systems of nineteenth and early twentieth century central Canada. Labour/Le Travail, 17(Spring), 59–80.Google Scholar
- Davis, G. F., Morrill, C., Rao, H., & Soule, S. A. (2008). Introduction: Social movements in organizations and markets. Administrative Science Quarterly, 53(3), 389–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- DenHond, F., & DeBakker, F. G. A. (2007). Ideologically motivated activism: How activist groups influence corporate social change activities. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 901–924.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Denzin, N. K. (1989). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
- Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2003). Strategies of qualitative inquiry (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
- Denzin, N. K., Lincoln, Y. S., & Giardina, M. D. (2006). Disciplining qualitiative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 19(6), 769–782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Dobbin, M. (2007). I am the BCTF: The story of the 2005 BC teachers’ strike. Vancouver: BCTF.Google Scholar
- Foley, J. (1995). Redistributing union power to women: The experiences of two women’s committees. Unpublished Ph.D Dissertation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.Google Scholar
- Foley, J. (2000). Developing an explanatory framework for the demise of a women’s committee. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 21, 505–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- French, D. (1968). High button boot straps: Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario 1918–1968. Toronto: Ryerson Press.Google Scholar
- Froese-Germain, B., & O’Haire, N. (2007). Perspectives on education for social justice, social justice in education. Professional Development Perspectives, 6(4), 2–3.Google Scholar
- Fullan, M. (2009). Large-scale reform comes of age. Journal of Educational Change, 10(2–3), 101–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Gaskell, J. (2008). Learning from the women’s movement about educational change. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 29(4), 437–449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Gidney, R. D. (1999). From hope to Harris: The reshaping of Ontario’s schools. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
- Gitlin, A. (1996). Gender and professionalization: An institutional analysis of teacher education and unionism at the turn of the twentieth century. Teachers College Record, 97(4), 588–624.Google Scholar
- Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
- Glass, F. (1989). A history of the California Federation of Teachers 1919–1989. San Fransisco: CFT/Warren’s Waller Press.Google Scholar
- Gongaware, T. B. (2011). Keying the past to the present: Collective memories and continuity in collective identity change. Social Movement Studies, 10(1), 39–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Goodson, I. (1992). Studying teachers’ lives. New York: Teachers College Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Goodson, I. (1994). Studying the teachers’ life and work. Teaching and Teacher Education, 10(1), 29–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Goodson, I. (1997). Representing teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13(1), 111–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Graham, E. (1974). Schoolmarms and early teaching in Ontario. In J. Acton, P. Goldsmith, & B. Shepard (Eds.), Women at work 1850–1930 (pp. 165–210). Toronto: Canadian Women’s Educational Press.Google Scholar
- Gruending, D. (October 12, 2011). CLC condemns interference in collective bargaining: Harper government sets dangerous precedent by siding with employers. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://www.canadianlabour.ca/national/news/clc-condemns-interference-collective-bargaining-harper-government-sets-dangerous-prece.
- Hargreaves, A. (2009). A decade of educational change and a defining moment of opportunity–an introduction. Journal of Educational Change, 10(2–3), 89–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Harrison, T. W., & Kachur, J. L. (Eds.). (1999). Contested classrooms: Education, globalization, and democracy in Alberta. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press.Google Scholar
- Hawkey, C. (2006). ‘No child left behind’ fails to achieve goals. Professional Development Perspectives, 6(3), 26–27.Google Scholar
- Huberman, A. M., & Miles, M. B. (Eds.). (2002). The qualitative researcher’s companion. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
- Jesson, J. (1996). The PPTA confronts the state: From militant professionals to bargaining agent. In S. L. Robertson & H. Smaller (Eds.), Teacher activism in the 1990s (pp. 173–190). Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd.Google Scholar
- Jessup, D. K. (1985). Teachers, unions, and change: A comparative study. New York: Praeger Publishers.Google Scholar
- Johnson, S. M. (1988). Pursuing professional reform in Cincinnati. Phi Delta Kappan, 69(10), 746–751.Google Scholar
- Jordan, T., Lent, A., McKay, G., & Mische, A. (2002). Social movement studies: Opening statement. Social Movement Studies, 1(1), 5–6.Google Scholar
- Kerchner, C. T., & Koppich, J. E. (1993). A union of professionals: Labour relations and educational reform. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
- Kerchner, C. T., & Koppich, J. E. (2000). Organizing around quality: The frontiers of teacher unionism. In T. Loveless (Ed.), Conflicting missions? Teachers Unions and Educational Reform (pp. 281–316). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
- Kerchner, C. T., & Mitchell, D. E. (1988). The changing idea of a teachers’ union. Philadelphia: The Falmer Press.Google Scholar
- King, S. (1991). Feminists in teaching: The National Union of Women Teachers, 1920–1945. In A. Prentice & M. R. Theobald (Eds.), Women who taught: Perspectives on the history of women and teaching (pp. 182–201). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
- King, M., & Haveman, H. A. (2008). Antislavery in America: The press, the pulpit, and the rise of antislavery societies. Administrative Science Quarterly, 53(3), 492–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Kuehn, L. (1996). Teachers, NAFTA and public education in Canada: Issues for political action. In S. L. Robertson & H. Smaller (Eds.), Teacher activism in the 1990s (pp. 27–34). Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd.Google Scholar
- Kuehn, L. (2006). Intercambio: Social justice union internationalism in the B.C. Teachers’ federation. Unpublished Ed.D. Dissertation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.Google Scholar
- Kuehn, L. (2007). A perspective on social justice unionism. Professional Development Perspectives, 6(5), 15–19.Google Scholar
- Labatt, M. (1993). Always a journey: A history of the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario 1918–1993. Toronto: Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario.Google Scholar
- Lawton, S. B., Bedard, G., MacLellan, D., & Li, X. (1999). Teachers’ Unions in Canada. Calgary: Detselig Enterprises Ltd.Google Scholar
- Lieberman, M. (1997). The teacher unions: How the NEA and AFT sabotage reform and hold students, parents, teachers, and taxpayers hostage to bureaucracy. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
- MacDonald, B., & Walker, R. (1975). Case study and the social philosophy of educational research. Cambridge Journal of Education, 5(1), 2–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- MacRae, J. (2008). Social justice activist teachers theorize their work in public schools. Unpublished M.Ed. Dissertation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.Google Scholar
- Maecklebergh, M. (2011). Doing is believing: Prefiguration as strategic practice in the alterglobalization movement. Social Movement Studies, 10(1), 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Marquis, C., Glynn, M. A., & Davis, G. F. (2007). Community isomorphisms and corporate social action. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 925–945.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Martell, G. (Ed.). (2008). Breaking the Iron cage: Resistance to the schooling of global capitalism. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.Google Scholar
- McAdie, P., Giles, J., Makan, K., & Flessa, J. (2007). ETFO poverty project. Professional Development Perspectives, 6(4), 17–19.Google Scholar
- McCarthy, J. D., & Zald, M. N. (1977). Resource mobilization and social movements: A partial theory. American Journal of Sociology, 82(6), 1212–1241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- McKenna, T. (1999). Confronting racism in British Columbia. In B. Peterson & M. Charney (Eds.), Transforming teacher unions: Fighting for better schools and social justice (pp. 52–57). Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools.Google Scholar
- Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.Google Scholar
- Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
- Mitchell, D. E., & Kerchner, C. T. (1983). Labor relations and teacher policy. In L. S. Shulman & G. Sykes (Eds.), Handbook of teaching and policy (pp. 214–238). New York: Longman.Google Scholar
- Muir, K., & Peetz, D. (2010). Not dead yet: The Australian union movement and the defeat of a government. Social Movement Studies, 9(2), 215–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Murphy, M. (1990). Blackboard unions: the AFT and the NEA, 1900–1980. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
- Nason, G. (1965). The Canadian Teachers’ Federation: A study of its historical development, interests, and activities from 1919 to 1960. Ontario Journal of Educational Research, 7(3), 297–302.Google Scholar
- Naylor, C. (2005). A teacher unions’ collaborative research agenda and strategies: One way forward for Canadian teacher unions in supporting teachers’ professional development?. Vancouver: British Columbia Teachers’ Federation.Google Scholar
- Naylor, C. (2007). Teacher unions, school districts, universities, governments: Time to tango and promote convergence? International Electronic Journal of Leadership for Learning, 11(20).Google Scholar
- NCEA. (1994). Social justice unionism: A call to education activists. Rethinking Schools, 9(1), 1–4.Google Scholar
- O’Haire, N. (2007). Social justice unionism inventory. In Education for social justice: From the margin to the mainstream (pp. i–v). Ottawa: CTF.Google Scholar
- Paton, J. M. (1962). The role of teachers’ organizations in Canadian education. Toronto: W. J. Gage.Google Scholar
- Peterson, B. (1999). Survival & Justice: Rethinking teacher union strategy. In B. Peterson & M. Charney (Eds.), Transforming teacher unions: Fighting for better schools and social justice (pp. 11–19). Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools.Google Scholar
- Peterson, B., & Charney, M. (1999). Transforming teacher unions: Fighting for better schools and social justice. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools, Ltd.Google Scholar
- Poole, W. L. (2007a). Neo-liberalism in British Columbia education and teachers’ union resistance. International Electronic Journal of Leadership for Learning, 11(24).Google Scholar
- Poole, W. L. (2007b). Organizational justice as a framework for understanding union-management relations in education. Canadian Journal of Education, 30(3), 725–748.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Poole, W. L. (2007c). Teacher identity and social activism. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education.Google Scholar
- Richter, B. (2006). It’s elementary: A brief history of Ontario’s public elementary teachers and their federation. Retrieved May 8, 2010, from ETFO Website, http://www.etfo.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/About%20ETFO%20Documents/ETFO%20History%20Documents/history-pt1.pdf.
- Robertson, S. L., & Smaller, H. (1996). Teacher activism in the 1990s. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd.Google Scholar
- Rodrigue, A. F. (2003). The conceptualization, production, and use of the rhizome of professionalism by Canadian teacher unions: Snapshots of the present, roadmaps for the future. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of South Australia.Google Scholar
- Rottmann, C. (2007). Organized agents: Teacher unions as alternative educational sites for social justice activism. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
- Rottmann, C. (2008). Organized agents: Teacher unions as alternative educational sites for social justice activism. Canadian Journal of Education, 31(4), 975–1014.Google Scholar
- Rottmann, C. (2010). Social justice teacher unionism in a Canadian context: Linking local and global efforts. Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labour, 17, 32–46.Google Scholar
- Rousmaniere, K. (2005). Citizen teacher: The life and leadership of Margaret Haley. Albany: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
- Rucht, D., & Neidhardt, F. (2002). Towards a ‘movement society’? On the possibilities of institutionalizing social movements. Social Movement Studies, 1(1), 7–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Seashore, K. (2009). Leadership and change in schools: Personal reflections over the last 30 years. Journal of Educational Change, 10(2–3), 129–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Shirley, D. (2009). Community organizing and educational change: A reconnaissance. Journal of Educational Change, 10(2–3), 229–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Smaller, H. (1988). Teachers’ protective associations, professionalism and the state in nineteenth century Ontario. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Toronto, Toronto.Google Scholar
- Smaller, H. (1991). ‘A room of one’s own’: The early years of the Toronto Women Teachers’ Association. In R. Heap & A. Prentice (Eds.), Gender and education in Ontario: An historical reader (pp. 103–124). Toronto: Canadian Scholar’s Press.Google Scholar
- Smaller, H. (1998). Canadian teacher unions: A comparative perspective. Contemporary Education, 69(4), 223–227.Google Scholar
- Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
- Stake, R. E. (2003). Case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Strategies of qualitative inquiry (2nd ed., pp. 134–164). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
- Staton, P., & Light, B. (1987). Speak with their own voices: A documentary history of the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario and the Women Elementary Public Teachers of Ontario. Toronto: Federation of women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario.Google Scholar
- Stevenson, H. (2005). From ‘school correspondent’ to workplace bargainer? The changing role of the school union representative. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26(2), 219–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Stevenson, H. (2007a). Changes in teachers’ work and the challenges facing teacher unions. International Electronic Journal of Leadership for Learning, 11(13).Google Scholar
- Stevenson, H. (2007b). Restructuring teachers’ work and trade union responses in England: Bargaining for change? American Educational Research Journal, 44(2), 224–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Stoll, L. (2009). Capacity building for school improvement or creating capacity for learning? A changing landscape. Journal of Educational Change, 10(2–3), 115–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Tyack, D. (1974). The one best system: A history of American urban education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
- Urban, W. J. (1982). Why teachers organized. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.Google Scholar
- Urban, W. J. (2004). Teacher politics. In R. D. Henderson, W. J. Urban, & P. Wolman (Eds.), Teacher unions and education policy: Retrenchment or reform? (Vol. 3, pp. 103–124). Amsterdam: Elsevier.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Urbanski, A. (1998). Turning unions around. Contemporary Education, 69(4), 186–190.Google Scholar
- Walker, E. T., Martin, A. W., & McCarthy, J. D. (2008). Confronting the state, the corporation, and the academy: The influence of institutional targets on social movement repertoires. American Journal of Sociology, 114(1), 35–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Weiner, L. (1998). Albert Shanker’s Legacy. Contemporary Education, 69(4), 196–201.Google Scholar
- Wotherspoon, T. L. (1989). Regulation, resistance and reproduction: The politics of public school teaching in British Columbia. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC.Google Scholar
- Wotherspoon, T. L. (1993). From subordinate partners to dependent employees: State regulation of public school teachers in nineteenth-century British Columbia. Labour/Le Travail, 31(Spring), 75–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Wotherspoon, T. L. (1998). The politics of teaching. In T. L. Wotherspoon (Ed.), The sociology of education in Canada: Critical perspectives (pp. 104–128). Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
- Wotherspoon, T. (2009). Historical dimensions of education in Canada. In The sociology of education in Canada, 3rd edn (pp. 54–77). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
- Yin, R. K. (1993). Applications of case study research. London: Sage.Google Scholar
- Zald, M. N. (2008). Epilogue: Social movements and political sociology in the analysis of organizations and markets. Administrative Science Quarterly, 53(3), 568–574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Zald, M. N., & Berger, M. A. (1978). Social movements in organizations: Coup d’etat, insurgency, and mass movements. American Journal of Sociology, 83(4), 823–861.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copyright information
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012