Saturday, September 15, 2012

An Urban Teacher's Education: The Good Teachers Unions Can Do

An Urban Teacher's Education: The Good Teachers Unions Can Do:


The Good Teachers Unions Can Do

The way people talk about teachers unions these days, you’d be forgiven for thinking they serve no useful purpose. It seems all we hear about is how teachers unions do a disservice to students and public education by keeping bad teachers in front of students. It is disturbing, therefore, how few people actually understand what unions do and how they help students, schools, communities and teachers. As a teacher, neither entirely supportive nor entirely cynical of unions, I think that needs to change. The discussion needs to be more fleshed out, and our understanding more mature.

I do not come from a background supportive of unions. As far as I know, I’m the only person in my extended family who belongs to (or has ever belonged to) a union. I was pretty cynical of unions when I began teaching.