Activism as Teacher Leadership: Lessons From Portraits of Four Teacher Activists

• In Event: 16.040 - Teacher Leaders as Activists for Social Justice

Abstract

Teacher activists are those who understand their work to be political, see themselves as social justice change agents, and act upon this understanding with deliberate intention. Teacher activists might fight for educational equity or focus on other social justice causes inside or outside of the classroom. They might be supported by unions and grassroots teacher organizations, or their activism might be embedded within broader social justice movement groups.
Drawing from a portraiture study of four teacher activists connected to the New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE), this paper sheds light upon activism as a unique form of teacher leadership by focusing primarily on the question: How do teacher activists attempt to put their activist commitments into practice?

Author

• Keith C. Catone, Brown University