Coming to Terms With Neoliberalism: How Canadian Educator Unions Position and Counter Neoliberalism

• In Event: Educators' Responses to Issues Teachers Are Facing Globally

Abstract

This study engages critical discourse analysis (CDA) to deconstruct how Canadian educator unions position and challenge neoliberal policy and discourse in public education. We analyze the official websites of sixteen major unions in Canada to assess how Canadian educator unions position and push back against neoliberal rhetoric, policy, and practice. Specifically, we consider how unions challenge neoliberalism by promoting the public school ideal (Winton, 2022), advancing social justice (Weiner, 2012), and countering de-professionalization (Smyth, 1999). Overall, we find that Canadian educator unions push for enhanced political and fiscal commitment to public education, while tending to avoid directly naming neoliberal ideology and policy and its specific impacts on public education systems, social justice, and the de-professionalization of teacher’s work.

Authors

• Rhiannon M. Maton, SUNY - College at Cortland

• Shannon D.M. Moore, University of Manitoba

• Justin Fraser, University of British Columbia