Historically, teachers’ unions have been some of the major organizational sites of social justice leadership in K-12 education (Kuehn, 2007; M. Murphy, 1990; Urban, 1982), but until the mid 1990s, the term “social justice unionism” (Peterson & Charney, 1999) had little currency in teacher union circles. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the concept of social justice unionism in context. In particular, I asked how teacher union activists contributed and responded to the institutionalization of social justice in their organization. I used a critical constructionist (Ball, 1987; Berger & Luckmann, 1966; D. E. Smith, 1987) perspective to analyze 25 career history (Goodson, 1994) interviews with teachers, staff and elected officials affiliated with the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation between 1967 and 2007, and found that successive generations of union-involved activists dedicated to labour solidarity, feminism, multiculturalism, anti-colonialism and anti-homophobia used networks of like-minded colleagues to counter bureaucratic norms within their organization, the education system and society. A qualitative depiction of these changes suggests that they were layered, multi-dimensional and uneven. They played out on a contested, uphill gradient shaped, but not determined, by four factors: the organizational prioritization of teacher welfare over social justice; historically persistent micro-political struggles between two federation caucuses; the centralizing tendencies of union leadership in response to the provincial government’s centralization of educational authority; and broader ruling relations in Canadian society. Still, despite this uphill gradient, all activist networks left a durable trace on federation history. The major significance of this finding for critical theorists and social justice activists is a modestly hopeful alternative to the traditional conceptions of change embedded in organizational theory: revolution, evolution or despair.

Historically, teachers’ unions have been some of the major organizational sites of social justice leadership in K-12 education (Kuehn, 2007; M. Murphy, 1990; Urban, 1982), but until the mid 1990s, the term “social justice unionism” (Peterson & Charney, 1999) had little currency in teacher union circles. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the concept of social justice unionism in context. In particular, I asked how teacher union activists contributed and responded to the institutionalization of social justice in their organization. I used a critical constructionist (Ball, 1987; Berger & Luckmann, 1966; D. E. Smith, 1987) perspective to analyze 25 career history (Goodson, 1994) interviews with teachers, staff and elected officials affiliated with the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation between 1967 and 2007, and found that successive generations of union-involved activists dedicated to labour solidarity, feminism, multiculturalism, anti-colonialism and anti-homophobia used networks of like-minded colleagues to counter bureaucratic norms within their organization, the education system and society. A qualitative depiction of these changes suggests that they were layered, multi-dimensional and uneven. They played out on a contested, uphill gradient shaped, but not determined, by four factors: the organizational prioritization of teacher welfare over social justice; historically persistent micro-political struggles between two federation caucuses; the centralizing tendencies of union leadership in response to the provincial government’s centralization of educational authority; and broader ruling relations in Canadian society. Still, despite this uphill gradient, all activist networks left a durable trace on federation history. The major significance of this finding for critical theorists and social justice activists is a modestly hopeful alternative to the traditional conceptions of change embedded in organizational theory: revolution, evolution or despair.

The purpose of this study is to explore tensions and themes that have influenced my activist identity. Drawing on theories of reflective practice, self study and autoethnography I use a narrative inquiry approach to trace significant experiences in my life, from student to high school teacher, to teacher educator. Themes that arise include a shift from a political to a “student voice”-focused approach to educational activism, the ongoing influence of my privileged identities, the importance of mentorship, the recognition that social change is possible, and the awareness and embracing of my “unfinishedness”. This study attempts to add to literature on educational or teacher activism and speak to the value of narrative inquiry approaches in teacher education and professional development programs.

The purpose of this study is to explore tensions and themes that have influenced my activist identity. Drawing on theories of reflective practice, self study and autoethnography I use a narrative inquiry approach to trace significant experiences in my life, from student to high school teacher, to teacher educator. Themes that arise include a shift from a political to a “student voice”-focused approach to educational activism, the ongoing influence of my privileged identities, the importance of mentorship, the recognition that social change is possible, and the awareness and embracing of my “unfinishedness”. This study attempts to add to literature on educational or teacher activism and speak to the value of narrative inquiry approaches in teacher education and professional development programs.

Given the trends of increased teacher activism and civic engagement, and the implications of this shift for teachers and schools in general, we need a better understanding of how teacher activism connects to teachers’ views on professionalism. The purpose of this study, then, is to better understand the current growth of politically engaged, activist teachers and the connections they draw between their activism and their role as educators. This study addresses an identified gap in the education reform scholarship around the relationship between teacher activism and teacher professionalism. Education research has looked at teacher activism and a number of different interconnected issues, such as identity (Picower, 2012); unionism (Weiner, 2013); leadership (Little, 2003); and online social networking (Baker-Doyle, 2017), but very few studies have explored teacher activism as it connects to professionalism. Yet without this research, we are left with an insufficient understanding of both what it means to be a teacher in the 21st century U.S. and the ways in which teachers themselves can be agents of social and educational change. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, twelve-months of observations and document analysis this qualitative study explores the experiences of twenty-five teacher activists. / Urban Education