Strong Leaders, Powerful Unions, Effective Schools, and a Just Society

• In Event: Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Biographical and Documentary Research in Education

Abstract

This paper seeks to enrich the conversation on biographical research in education by adding the stories of contemporary union leaders who are seeking to educate their memberships, the communities they serve, and society as a whole. Karen Lewis of the Chicago Teachers Union, Bob Peterson of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education, and Barbara Madeloni of the statewide union in Massachusetts have built and/or are building democratic unions and leveraging the power of teachers who are united by solidarity, and motivated by a commitment to public schooling and the communities they serve. Their stories will inspire ongoing activism in the face of an extraordinarily challenging public policy context.

Author

• Isabel Nunez, Concordia University - Chicago