Beyond Bread and Butter: Rethinking the Influence of Education Unions in Policy and Practice

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Unions play a central role in the daily lives of educators and in local, state, and federal policy debates. Despite this, there is scant research on education associations beyond bargaining for pay and benefits. This interactive symposium will focus on the work of the National Education Association (NEA) in three areas – supporting early career educators, developing and sustaining community schools, and expanding the scope of collective bargaining beyond compensation. Each presentation will include the perspectives of both NEA staff and members to allow for a multi-faceted view of the union’s work. Time will be provided for participants to discuss these specific projects and how to include education associations in and beyond the United States in their research agendas.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Teachers Work/Teacher Unions

Chair

• Stacey L. Pelika, National Education Association

Papers

• Bringing Schools Back Into Communities: The Union Role in the Community Schools Movement - Andrea I. Prejean, National Education Association

• Putting Students at the Center: Bargaining for the Common Good in Education - Dale Templeton, National Education Association

• Union Innovation in Supporting Early Career Educators: National Education Association's Early Career Learning Labs - Ann L. Nutter Coffman, National Education Association

Discussant

• Roar Grottvick, Union of Education Norway