North American teacher unions' positive contributions to educational change have historically flown under the radar of educational policy makers, a situation that has been reified by recent attacks on public sector unions. In this article, I draw on social movement theory and an institutional case study of a self described social justice union to…

At first glance, public-sector labor unions are just one of many types of organizations that participate in the political process. However, these unions differ significantly from other interest groups made up of individual citizens or non-labor organizations. Because their members' interests are tied to government policy, these unions are more…

This paper renews the case for social action as a necessary and exciting part of the social studies curriculum and suggests that the social study of public issues should have a central place within this vision. The document focuses more on practical ideas that social studies teachers who have chosen to work in the area of social action, or those…