Teaching and Organizing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Session Type: Paper Session

Abstract

This session focuses on the experiences of teachers and union organizers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first paper discusses the effects of union organizing on three Ohio Catholic schools for Fall 2020 reopening plans. The second paper provides insight into how unions and grassroots organizing worked to mobilize teachers, pushing for better policies for teachers’ safety. The third paper identifies how social justice unionism in several larger teachers’ unions was critical, utilizing ethical and strategic reasoning to effect policies and practices. The final paper focuses on teachers’ experiences, illustrating advocacy needs due to working and learning conditions that were troublesome and resilience teachers exhibited in adapting learning methods frequently. The papers offer several directions for advocacy and organizing post-pandemic.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Teachers Work/Teacher Unions

Chair

• Denisha Jones, Sarah Lawrence College

Papers

• Assessing Union Impact: Factors Impacting 2020 Reopening Plans of K–12 Catholic Schools in Ohio - Kathleen M. Sellers, Duke University

• "What We Want Is the Same Thing You Want": Teacher Union Organizing for the "Common Good" During COVID-19 - Rhiannon M. Maton, SUNY - College at Cortland

• "You Just Do It": Teaching During a Pandemic - Kerry Kretchmar, Carroll University

• Teacher Organizing in Arizona Amid COVID-19: Limits and Radical Possibilities - Riley Collins, University of California - Santa Cruz

Discussant

• Brianne Kramer, Southern Utah University