Teachers’ unions, educator organising, and global struggles for educational justice

Abstract

In this introductory article we present nine themes that cut through the twenty-one articles in the Special Issue. First, we highlight the continued impact of neoliberalism, austerity, and the casualization of teacher labor on educators and educator organising. Second, we look at how state context shapes teacher unionism, including in authoritarian political regimes. The third section examines how teachers' unions have chosen to relate to the state. The fourth section is on the organising strategies that unions have embraced, including the increased use of social media during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The fifth section is about how and when teacher organising has influenced education policy. The sixth section focuses on educators' disappointment with their unions. The seventh section examines the demands for direct and participatory democracy in unions. The eighth section is about the pedagogical alternatives developed by teachers' unions and the need for centering educational alternatives within teacher union movements. Finally, our ninth section reflects on how teachers' unions can play a larger role in academic knowledge production and the role of researchers who study teachers' unions but are also invested in making them stronger, more democratic, and more just.