Who Speaks for Teachers? Teachers' Voice and Teacher Unions in a New Era

• In Event: Walkout! Teacher Militancy, Activism, and School Reform: Bridging the Research-Practice Divide

Abstract

Together, these authors consider how socio-political trends converge to call into question alignment between teachers unions and teacher voice and propose new ways unions could move forward in the face of these developments. The authors look closely at three trends that may bear on the alignment between teachers union and teachers’ voice: (1) shifting political philosophies and, specifically, the reemergence of progressive social and political movements within mainstream politics; (2) the growth of teachers’ engagement with electoral politics; and (3) the rise of political activism among teachers and increasing prevalence of collective action in the form of strikes and walk-outs. Reviewing these trends, we ask: What do they mean for teachers’ unions? How relevant are teachers’ unions in today’s context? If these trends continue, what role do we envision for teachers’ union in the future, especially the near future, in which a global pandemic reconfigures teachers’ professional lives and requires new and different partnerships with families and caregivers?

To begin to answer these questions, the authors focus their inquiry on public discourses (e.g., newspapers, magazines, social media outlets) and descriptions of the relationship between emerging trends and various teachers’ unions. Public discourses shape and reflect the decision-making of teachers’ unions at the federal, state, and local level and in different locales. However, it is important to distinguish, as have others, between the larger, public discourse about teachers’ unions and how individual affiliates or members may feel about a given issue. Thus, their goal is not to argue that all teachers’ voices and views align with, or diverge from, those of their union, or even that most local teacher unions would stand with all aspects of the socio-political movements we describe. Instead, our aim is to consider how current trends align with, or depart from, the potential interests of teachers’ unions at the national and local level.

Authors

• Morgaen L. Donaldson, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Jennie Weiner, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author

• Julianna E. Lopez Kershen, University of Oklahoma
  Non-Presenting Author