In an earlier essay in the Reviewing Policy section of this journal, I examined many of the major arguments for social justice teacher unionism. This combines both more traditional union concerns over wages, working conditions, professional autonomy, and respect with a much more concerted focus by unions on social justice issues in schools,…

Social movement organisations and unions can be spaces of transformative learning in which organisers research, debate, create, and put into action frameworks for social change. In this article, I engage with themes from Aziz Choudry's writings to explore learning and knowledge-making within and through the United Caucuses of Rank-and-File…

This paper is about the politics of policy knowledge production. It calls for spaces to be forged to allow teachers' voices to have centre stage in knowledge creation and production. Specifically, this paper discusses the need for alternative ways of conducting educational research so that power in research design is utilised as a capacity for…

Recent union-supported teachers' walkouts and strikes across several U.S. states and cities highlighted union-led and grassroots efforts to amplify teachers' voices. Yet, the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, "Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31," provides a strength test for teachers' unions and members engaging in social justice/equity work…

In the last four years, teacher-activists in the United States have engaged in an unprecedented wave of protests and strikes. The developing body of literature seeking to understand this flurry of activity has taken various analytical approaches; for example, distilling movements into their key tactics in the hopes of lending important tools to…

This essay addresses theories, research, and practices of promoting arts and social justice across the curriculum toward collaboration between schools and their surrounding communities. As secondary students grapple with challenging issues, they can extend their learning experience in meaningful ways with creative expressions in the visual,…

This paper draws on the concepts of settled expectations and the educational racial contract to provide an analysis of the current social movements calling for the improvement of teacher salaries and work conditions in K-12 schools. This paper argues that some teacher unions' lack of centering race in their advocacy to ameliorate educational…

As public-sector unions such as teachers' unions used the boon of post-war liberalism to form their political power, they imported many of liberalism's key contradictions: its formation of racial contracts, its misappraisal of affective labour, and its opportunistic collective action logics. This article suggests cracks within liberalism weakened…

Teachers' unions and community organizing emerged out of shared collective struggles for social justice in the United States in the twentieth century. Beyond broad general aspirations for a better society, however, their interests and tactics have not always been compatible. This interpretive essay revisits three recent case studies of interaction…

Why does a divide exist between scholars of critical education and teachers unions and how might it be bridged to develop a more robust, mutually beneficial relationship? In this article I explain why supporters of critical education have a huge stake in the transformation and regeneration teachers unions and describe how critical education might,…

In this paper, we discussed major issues of mathematics teaching and learning in Nepal. The issues coming from theories such as social and radical constructivism suggest that teachers are not trained to use such approach in teaching mathematics, and there is a lack of teaching aids and materials and technological tools. The issues related to…

What roles can and should teachers' unions play in the deliberations, debates, and conflicts over school reform in a time when education sits at the center of so much of our economic, political, ideological, and cultural tensions? Lois Weiner's new book, "The Future of Our Schools: Teachers Unions and Social Justice," speaks…

When they graduate I want them to feel, "I went through a real thing, not an approximation of college, but I went through college and that means something!" (Adjunct Instructor) This article explores the complexity of providing an academically rigorous college education to adult students enrolled in a union-supported worker education program…