Abstract:
Teacher unions are by far the biggest teacher organisations in Australia. The Australian Education Union (AEU) represents 175,000 teachers and associated professionals across the country. Commentators often see the AEU as akin to a blue collar union concerned only with wages and working conditions. The rules of the AEU however, make it clear that the organisation's purposes are to meet the professional as well as the industrial interests of members and to work towards improving the quality of education for all students.
There are few published studies of the role of the unions in teacher professional matters and this presentation will show how, as a union representing professional people, the AEU provides support for members on a range of complex professional issues and contributes to the national debate about the quality of education.
The presentation will describe how two state branches of the AEU [Victoria and Tasmania] who represent the majority of public education teachers in their states are presently engaging with this professional agenda. It will also provide evidence about the way in which members are calling for a 'new unionism' involving broader issues of improving teachers' work and effecting change in educational policy. This call is for a unionism which is 'proactive'; engaging with others in the education and wider community to participate in setting the agenda for education.
Analysis of this focus on teacher professional concerns shows that it involves the same principles of unionism - organising around issues, solving problems collectively, empowering people to take control of their work-lives - that are traditionally employed by unions on more purely industrial matters.
There are few published studies of the role of the unions in teacher professional matters and this presentation will show how, as a union representing professional people, the AEU provides support for members on a range of complex professional issues and contributes to the national debate about the quality of education.
The presentation will describe how two state branches of the AEU [Victoria and Tasmania] who represent the majority of public education teachers in their states are presently engaging with this professional agenda. It will also provide evidence about the way in which members are calling for a 'new unionism' involving broader issues of improving teachers' work and effecting change in educational policy. This call is for a unionism which is 'proactive'; engaging with others in the education and wider community to participate in setting the agenda for education.
Analysis of this focus on teacher professional concerns shows that it involves the same principles of unionism - organising around issues, solving problems collectively, empowering people to take control of their work-lives - that are traditionally employed by unions on more purely industrial matters.