Bargaining for the Future of the Profession: Trade Unions and the Teacher Crisis in Europe

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Twelve
  In Roundtable Session: The Work of Teachers: Unionization, Labor, and Retention (Table 16)

Abstract

Teacher recruitment and retention is a global policy concern. While teacher shortages are often attributed to the attractiveness of the profession, trade unions' capacities to engage with government policymakers to improve teacher supply are spatially and temporally contingent. With a critical realist theoretical lens, this qualitative case study explores teacher union involvement in teacher policy development through social dialogue in five European contexts: Ireland, Latvia, Romania, Spain, and Sweden. Based on data from document analysis, a survey, and semi-structured interviews with trade union officials, analysis reveals that the teacher crisis is experienced and addressed differentially across Europe and is dependent on various social conditions which support or limit trade union strategic actions to transform both the profession and industrial relations.

Authors

• Alison Milner, Aalborg University
  Presenting Author

• Howard Stevenson, The University of Nottingham
  Presenting Author