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Educators learning through struggle: Political education in social justice caucuses

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Abstract

At a time when educators are increasingly rising up within and beyond their unions to protect public education, it is vital to understand how activist educators become politicized and how their activist organizations contribute to such political education efforts. In this article, Maton and Stark examine the grassroots organizing work of three educator-led social justice caucuses and a national network in order to explicate how five forms of political education—relational, structured, situational, mobilized, and networked—support educators’ political learning within and beyond their unions. We tease apart the characteristics and central knowledge sources inherent to these five forms of political education, showcasing examples of how caucuses capitalize upon and embed political education within their change-making efforts.

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Notes

  1. It may be argued that there are localized examples of social justice caucuses and unions embracing values and priorities that at times diverge from community interest. However, the literature shows that social justice unionism as a philosophy and movement strives to avoid such divisions and foster solidarity amongst unions, union members, community groups, and community members (Fletcher & Gapasin, 2008; McAlevey, 2016; Weiner, 2012).

  2. Ideological diversity among caucus members can, at times, foster tensions within caucuses. For example, some caucus members may prioritize internal union politics while others prioritize advocating for curricular reforms. These tensions can be productive when navigated through democratic processes, but unresolved tensions risk alienating new members. For more on intracaucus tensions, see Asselin (2019) and Stark (2019).

  3. For more on how such campaigns and mobilizations are identified and selected, please see Stark (2019), Bradbury et al., (2014), and McAlevey (2016).

  4. For more on the similarities and differences between these caucuses, see Stark (2019).

  5. While our IRBs would have technically allowed us to share de-identified transcripts or longer quotations with one another, such information might have unintentionally revealed participant identity. Thus, we chose to talk through rather than de-identify our data.

  6. In 2013, Seattle educators at Garfield High School led a successful boycott against the implementation of the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) standardized test.

  7. In 2016, six educators at Feltonville School of Arts & Sciences in Philadelphia organized a campaign to inform families about their right to opt out of standardized tests.

  8. Following its 2016 emergence in Seattle, the BLM at School movement has expanded to include hundreds of U.S. K-12 schools and colleges. The movement centers Black voices, curriculum and pedagogy, and seeks tangible antiracist institutional educational change (see Jones & Hagopian, 2020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College at Cortland, State University of New York, Cornish Hall, Room 1223, P.O. Box 2000, Cortland, NY, 13045, USA

    Rhiannon M. Maton

  2. Bowdoin College, Riley House, Brunswick, ME, 04011, United States

    Lauren Ware Stark

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  1. Rhiannon M. Maton
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Correspondence to Rhiannon M. Maton.

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Maton, R.M., Stark, L.W. Educators learning through struggle: Political education in social justice caucuses. J Educ Change 24, 291–315 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-021-09444-0

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