Teachers’ Unions and Critical Theories

The teachers; unions, the American Federation of Teacher (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) did not always support Critical Race Theory (CRT). It took several punctured equilibriums to make that happen. But they do now with a vengence. 2015 had several key events that led to a punctured equlibrium that broke their path dependency. But even these dod not do it. That year, Lois Weiner, in “Democracy, critical education, and teachers unions: Connections and contradictions in the neoliberal epoch” discussed the need for a relationship between teachers’ unions and critical education (pedagogy).

I contend that critical education and teachers unions ought to have a more vibrant relationship than they currently do, and that supporters of critical education have a huge stake in the transformation and regeneration teachers unions.

Obviously in 2015 the relationship in the US was weak to non-existent. Five years later, however, it was strong and getting stronger. If we look at unions and The Teachers; Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) now we can see the direct support for the liberal agenda. Note that “liberal” is very different than the “neoliberal” Weiner discusses in her article. Her concept of “neoliberal” is an educational system that supports employers and gives them what they want. She says:

Neoliberalism’s project in education are fueled by three inter-dependent premises:

1. Workers in every country will be competing with one another for jobs that require only a basic education.

2. Since most workers will require only a basic education, educating them to higher levels is a waste of scarce public money.

3. Workers who are minimally educated require only minimally educated teachers. Educational quality can be controlled through use of standardized tests. Therefore, a highly-educated teaching profession is a waste of scarce public resources.

Her objectives are clearly anti-capitalist:

In this article I explore how scholars of critical education and teachers unions might collaborate to imagine and advance an alternative to capitalism, one that is ecologically sustainable and thoroughly democratic in political, social, and economic relations, and within this alternative set of social relations, schooling that develops human potential.

As discussed in The “Critical” in Critical Theories, the core thrust of critical education/pedagogy is anti-capitalist and socialist. While I support the concept of “schooling that develops the human potential” the divide between visions of this development is vast. For example, if you look at the P21 and other 21st century skills concepts, they advocate critical thinking skills, communication skills and effective collaboration. Yet their focus is on helping schools educate students that will succeed in the workforce. Sounds like a “neoliberal” concept in Wieners’ view. We will come back to this point after looking at the changed union landscape since ascendency of Black Lives Matter (BLM), Critical Race Theory (CRT), and the 1619 Project. See Reconstructing History, Part 4: Multiple Punctured Equilibriums for details on how these events transformed education. Giving Wiener the benefit of the doubt, the current environment has a very specific view of human potential than Wiener may have meant.

So let us look at the two major teachers’ unions.

NEA’s mission on their website states:

We are as diverse as the students we represent, but united in our purpose: championing justice and excellence in public education.

Their 2021-2022 policy statements are:

• Affirmative Action Policy for Ethnic Minorities and Women
• Privatization and Subcontracting Programs
• Kindergarten and Prekindergarten
• Teacher Evaluation and Accountability
• Digital Learning
• Discipline and The School-To-Prison Pipeline
• Charter Schools
• Community Schools

Many of these take negative stances against the listed items. They are decidedly pro-Public School and the control of public schools by educators rather than parents.

The AFT mission statement on their website states:

The American Federation of Teachers is a union of professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do.

Now, let us look at TIAA. Financial management companies provide investment services and portfolio management to pension and retirement funds. The TIAA is among the largest of these companies. It added the College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF) in 1952 and began its growth trajectory to one of the largest financial institutions in the world. In 2020, it had over $33 billion, in revenues and nearly $39 billion in capital, over $326 billion in assets, and nearly 15,000 employees. Fortune rated them #79 in the Fortune 500. They call themselves a socially responsible company. Their website states:

While we’ve evolved into a Fortune 100 organization, we’ve never lost sight of the altruistic premises of our beginnings and live by a set of values that guides the decisions we make. They’re at the core of everything we do—from how we support our clients, interact with each other and give back to our communities.

TIAA supports the NATIONAL CENTER for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, which is linked and supported by NEA and AFT.

The combination of AFT’s and NEA’s political power and TIAA’s financial power is serious support for CRT, the 1619 Project and other social justice agendas. As we have seen from kindergarten to university, these programs teach dogma and suppress any ideas and speech counter to their narratives. Therefore, by definition, they do not teach critical thinking or many other 21^st century skills.

So we must ask the question, do they really help the people they say they want to help? If they do not teach the skills needed to thrive in the 21^st century, what do they accomplish? Are students better off without these programs? The next few blogs will look at social justice programs and the 21^st century skills. Per employers and universities, the situtation was troubled before the unions went all in on social justice programs. Now, with woke employers also opting into social justice programs and diversity, inclusion, and equity, is there hope for excellence?

References

(AACTE), A. A. of C. for T. E. (2010). 21St Century Knowledge and. In Education (Issue September). https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264193864-en

Care, E., Kim, H., Vista, A., & Anderson, K. (2018). Education system alignment for 21st century skills: Focus on assessment. Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution., January, 1–40. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Education-system-alignment-for-21st-century-skills-012819.pdf

Care, E., & Wednesday, A. V. (2017). Education assessment in the 21st century: New skillsets for a new millennium. 21–23. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2017/03/01/education-assessment-in-the-21st-century-new-skillsets-for-a-new-millennium/

Care, E., Kim, H., & Tuesday, A. V. (2017). How do we teach 21st century skills in classrooms? 2017–2019. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2017/10/17/how-do-we-teach-21st-century-skills-in-classrooms/

Griffin, P., & Care, E. (Eds.). (2015). Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills. Springer Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9395-7

P21. (2019). Framework for 21st Century Learning.

Wiener, L. (2015). Democracy, critical education, and teachers unions: Connections and contradictions in the neoliberal epoch. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 13(2), 227–245.