In "The Teacher Insurgency," Leo Casey addresses how the unexpected wave of recent teacher strikes has had a dramatic impact on American public education, teacher unions, and the larger labor movement. Casey explains how this uprising was not only born out of opposition to government policies that underfunded public schools and…

In times of crisis it is good to look back. Not only is it comforting, but better understanding of events in our past can inform decision-making and help us find direction at uncertain times. COVID-19 may have presented new challenges, but this exploration of historical disruptions to school exams highlights themes and a recognisable human spirit.…

Since November 2018, Australian high school climate strikers have become leaders in the movement for climate action, giving rise to a new generation of young people who have learnt how to lead change. This article focuses on the question of leadership across social movements and in global youth movements. It then investigates the different forms…

In 2018, thousands of teachers in West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Arizona walked off the job to protest low salaries and increase school funding. These strikes were significant because they were statewide and took place in "right to work" states. We analyze news media articles published in these states about the teachers' strikes for…

The 50-State Comparison on teacher employment contract policies provides a national comparison of teacher employment contract policies in all states. All of the information was gathered from and focused on state statutes and regulations. State case law was also utilized for metrics related to collective bargaining. Data collection focused…

Teachers are working in disturbing and challenging times, characterised by coterminous crises, the COVID-19 pandemic and human induced climate change; these are transforming our working conditions and the lives of students and teachers. In this research, we looked to our own pedagogical practices as teacher educators to collaboratively explore…

Since 2018, school students around the world have gone on strike from school to call on leaders to take decisive action on climate change. Prominent in the resultant rallies are placards created by participants -- from small children to their adult allies. This paper explores how students in the movement enact and activate visual approaches to…

Highlighting the relationship between the racial slavery in the formation of U.S. colleges and universities and the archive of Black student revolt, this dissertation examines one of the longest and most violent Black student strikes in the history of postsecondary education--the San Francisco State College strike in 1968-1969. Rather than…

During the spring of 2019, approximately 1.6 million people in over 1700 cities worldwide participated in strike action to raise public awareness of government inaction on climate change. The large proportion of youth and young people mobilized through these climate strikes was unprecedented. However, we know very little so far about who these…

This article explores the realm of educational politics and the organization of opposition to neoliberal school reform in the United States of America. A distinguishing feature of the current reform movement--which blends free-market rhetoric with austere governance and undemocratic corporate control--is the callous normalization of educational…

The COVID-19 pandemic, societal racial reckonings, and pressure from parents and the media have put education leaders in a crisis. Carole Learned-Miller of the Leadership Academy in New York spoke with school and education organization leaders who saw their organizations through a variety of challenges, including the pandemic, racial inequities, a…

The challenge of reopening US public schools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has high-lighted the significant role that local teachers unions play in setting policy. The politics of school reopening during the pandemic has brought to the national spotlight the outsized role that teachers unions play in managing big cities. Bureau of Labor…

In this paper, the 2019 Polish Teachers Strike (PTS), joined by 75 percent of all public schools and kindergartens for over three weeks, gives rise to an investigation in teacher professionalism that is grounded in local activism. Reading the Polish Teacher Strike (PTS) as a moment of social upheaval (Buchowski, 2017), I claim that the strike…

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…

This paper investigates the case of Singapore where there are teachers' unions but industrial actions are rare. It questions why and how has educator organising, steered by Singapore Teachers' Union, transformed? Our findings show that historical, political, and socio-economic dynamics have influenced the transformation of STU. For more than…