The Challenges of Being a Good Citizen and a Good Teacher: Lessons From the Wisconsin Protests

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

In the midst of controversial public issues, how do educators negotiate between their responsibilities as teachers, their obligations as union members, and their roles as citizens? Dramatic events in Wisconsin this past spring provide a powerful case study to help answer this difficult question. Governor Walker’s Budget Repair Bill prompted intense debate, in large part because of a provision that effectively eliminated the collective bargaining power of teacher’s unions. Months after its passage, Wisconsinites remain sharply divided over issues raised by the legislation and the demonstrations. This session brings together teacher educators and classroom teachers to explore their experiences as “citizen-teachers” during these events with insights into the tensions between their obligations to their students and to their activism.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Teachers Work/Teacher Unions

Chair

• Diana E. Hess, Spencer Foundation

Papers

• “See You on the Square”: The Contested Nature of Teachers’ Public Activism - Katy Swalwell, University of Maryland - College Park

• When Silence Speaks: A Case Study Investigating the Effects of Restricting Teachers’ Classroom Speech - Janel Anderson, Lodi High School

• “Teacher Hat” and “Citizen Hat”: One Strategy for Negotiating Tensions Between Union and Teaching Duties - Ann Herrera Ward, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• The Learnable Moment: On Becoming “Political” and Taking Action as Preservice Teachers - Mary Klehr, Madison Metropolitan School District/University of Wisconsin-Madison Teacher Education Center

Discussant

• Michael W. Apple, University of Wisconsin - Madison