Advocacy while Teaching: The role of teachers unions as political actors in national education policy advocacy

• In Event: The Power of Collective Civil Action: Exploring advocacy and accountability in global and national education policy through Education Out Loud

Proposal

Most national education coalitions have sought the presence of teachers’ unions, especially when national advocacy agendas are centered around the expansion of free, public education (Robertson et al. 2012). The dynamics between education-based CSOs and unions are often complex, particularly due to concerns such as the greater likelihood of inclusion of national education coalitions in policy dialogue by government (in contrast to unions), service delivery outside of public education systems, and teacher accountability concerns (Archer 2007). Additionally, tensions between NGO-dominated coalitions and teachers’ unions may arise if there are disagreements regarding the approach to engagement with government. Tensions between NGOs and aid-funded CSOs and teachers’ unions mean the latter may be excluded from formal policy spaces such as local education groups or forums.
The scholarship on teachers’ unions in developing country contexts, despite their prominence as powerful political actors, is relatively limited (Moe and Wiborg 2016). Some scholars emphasize the power of teacher unions in the politics of education, particularly in the United States, though their impact on educational outcomes is still debated (Cowen and Strunk 2015; Moe 2011; 2009; Hartney and Flavin 2011; Lovenheim 2009). Beyond the U.S., it is argued that “teachers’ unions are highly organized, politically very active, and play central roles in the politics of education is likely to be an exceedingly common fact of political life across all nations” (Moe and Wiborg 2016, 85). However, the comparative research on teachers’ unions – particularly on their impact on educational reform or outcomes – is limited. The internal characteristics of teachers’ unions and how that shapes their role in education politics in developing contexts also remains relatively unclear.
Building on the existing research (Schneider 2022; Novelli and Verger 2012), our research proposes to delve deeper into cases where teachers unions have leveraged their collective power to advocate for changes in education policy making and implementation, both within and beyond formalized national education coalitions. More specifically, what are the dynamics between teachers’ unions and education-based civil society organizations in developing contexts? How might tensions arise between divergent agendas or how might agendas coalesce and advocacy be strengthened through solidarity? This research will also look at the conditions that either hinder or enable teachers' unions to play a role in national-level education influencing.

Authors

• Abrehet Gebremedhin, Accountability Research Center, American University

• Naomi Hossain, Accountability Research Center, American University