Teachers' strikes a new social movement, researcher says
College of Education researcher immerses herself in teachers unions
Leading up to their January 2019 strike, more than 30,000 teachers and staff who are part of the United Teachers Los Angeles union began rallying support months in advance. Leaders are seen here addressing a crowd in May 2018.
IMAGE: REBECCA TARLAU
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With every social movement, there is a moment — an event or instance that sparks a time for change. With the recent rise of teachers striking across the United States, one Penn State researcher argues that, for the first time in decades, public education is seeing its own moment that's prompted a new movement.
"The last big strikes of teacher unions in the United States were in the late 1980s and early 1990s," said Rebecca Tarlau, an assistant professor of education and labor and employment relations at Penn State. "In 2012 there was the Chicago teachers' strike, which gave new momentum to teacher unions. Then in 2018, there was this huge mobilization of teachers in West Virginia, which took everybody by surprise, and then there were strikes and walkouts in Oklahoma, Arizona, Kentucky, North Carolina and Colorado. Why now? Why were teacher unions demobilized for so long and why are they suddenly very mobilized?"
Tarlau, an ethnographic researcher whose research is funded by a National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, knew the best way to answer her questions was to immerse herself in the culture of teacher unions and speak with the union leaders and members across the country.
"My ethnography is about teacher movements within unions, so what I've been doing is trying to participate in teacher actions when they happen," she said, adding that she spent a week in Los Angeles in January during the recent teacher strike. She also spent time this year in Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Oakland, California.
"I was not only interviewing people but also participating in the actions of the union. I was part of a volunteer team with the Unified Teachers of Los Angeles and I was able to observe their inner workings and help out during the rallies. It gave me this unique insight into what was happening on the ground," she said.
The big finding, she said, is that unions are now focused on social justice for CONTINUE READING: Teachers' strikes a new social movement, researcher says | Penn State University
