Natural Allies? Understanding Teacher-Parent Alliances as Resistance to Neoliberal School Reform in England

• In Event: Reimagining Family, School, and Community Partnerships as an Educational Change Strategy in the United States, Canada, and England

Abstract

Objectives and Theoretical Framework

As advocates for public education seek to challenge the neo-liberal restructuring of schools, emphasis is frequently placed on the need for organized teachers to build wider alliances with their communities, principally parents, in order to enhance their political influence. Such ideas draw heavily on Gramsci’s (1971) notion of a "war of position" whereby progressive forces construct broad alliances of social forces in order to establish hegemonic leadership.

Methods and Data Sources

This paper will draw on case study evidence from two local authority areas in England to explore how organized teachers sought to construct alliances with parents as they challenged key aspects of neo-liberal school reform.

Warrants for Arguments/Point of View

The paper will draw on theories of "social movement unionism" (Moody, 1997) plus accounts of historical and contemporary cases (from the Newark Teachers’ strike in 1971, to Chicago 2012) to develop an understanding of the factors that help and hinder coalition building between teachers in struggle and parent and community groups.

Scientific or Scholarly Significance

This analysis provides an understanding of how alliances, or the absence of alliances, are shaped by experiences of class, race and gender.

Authors

• Howard Stevenson, The University of Nottingham

• Allison Gilliland, University of Lincoln