Case Studies: Overview | CEC | MITUL
The Tom Mooney Institute for Teacher and Union Leadership (MITUL) aims to develop the leadership skills and organizational capacity of emerging progressive teacher unionists. MITUL grew out of the efforts of the Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN), which since 1995 has helped to foster a national community around the union’s role in progressive reform. The institute’s mission is to help prepare next-generation union leaders to employ a progressive vision of the role of the teachers union in advocating for and implementing change. In January 2005, nine urban locals were invited to be part of the first cohort of leaders.
Too often, education leaders discount and marginalize teachers’ voices and that of the union in educational improvement. As a result, the education leadership community remains fragmented and full of unnecessary conflict. Without teachers’ ownership, reforms can’t be sustained and real change in classrooms is unlikely to occur. When progressive union leaders rise to the challenge and become full partners in the decision-making process in public education the union repositions itself as a proponent of high quality teaching and learning and an agent of reform.
A Vision of Progressive Unionism
The institute’s philosophy of unionism focuses on teacher unions and teacher unionists taking responsibility for improving the quality of teaching and learning by focusing on the following guiding principles, outlined below. Like TURN, MITUL recognizes that teaching is complex and as such, reform must begin with the unions':
- responsibility to students, to families, and to the broader society to improve public education so that all children learn and achieve at high levels,
- dedication to improving the quality of teaching, the terms and conditions of work in schools, and the learning and teaching climate in schools,
- commitment to promote democratic participation in the union and in union leadership,
- promotion of teacher leadership at the heart of instructional leadership in schools, and teacher professional growth and development with the union as partner in the design and delivery of that growth system, and
- expanded collective bargaining to include instructional and professional issues, school governance and leadership, so the union to becomes a constructive engine of reform.
This vision of progressive unionism asserts that teachers’ hard won protections and living standards will likely be increased to the extent that the public views the union as focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning. These goals are not mutually exclusive. As unions expand their influence to take responsibility for quality teaching and improved student learning, their agenda broadens and spans “three frames” of unionism:
- Industrial Unionism. Uses collective bargaining power to ensure fairness from management and secure improved pay and working conditions.
- Professional Unionism. Focuses on professional growth for all educators to improve the quality of teaching.
- Social Justice Unionism. Promotes equity and empowering education for all students through engagement with families and the community.
The Three Frames of Progressive Unionism tool was developed by the Mooney Institute for Teacher and Union Leadership to help union locals understand the indispensable role of all three aspects of a progressive approach to unionism – their orientation, view of management, and position on various issues – and how the union is made stronger when it constructs an agenda for progressive change.
Putting the Vision into Practice
MITUL engages in consultations with local teams that include the current local leadership and next generation potential leaders. The consulting relationship begins with a local capacity audit and strategic planning conversations tailoring the definition of progressive unionism to the local context. Out of that work, new areas of union work and projects emerge that develop into the union’s reform agenda. The process of developing that reform work begins with a set of essential criteria including that progressive union work must:
- be based on evidence and data gathered by the local team
- be aligned with MITUL’s definition of progressive unionism
- improve student learning or student outcomes
- build capacity of members, leaders, and of the local itself
- build progressive strategic alliances with the community
The Broad Acres Elementary School in Montgomery County Public Schools (MD) provides a useful case study of union-district collaboration in practice. Though there were some obstacles along the way, all stakeholders ultimately worked together to successfully improve teacher instructional leadership in the district’s lowest performing elementary school.
The following resources provide additional information on MITUL’s vision for progressive unionism.
- The Power of Progressive Thinking
(Mark Simon and Naomi Baden, Education Week 27, no. 21, January 30, 2008)
This article discusses the role that teachers unions could and should play in reforming public schools and highlights some of the practices promoted by the MITUL – peer review, collaboratively designed professional development programs, support for accomplished teachers, differentiated teacher roles and new career paths, and alliance building. - Mooney Institute Tries to Blend Unionism, School Reform
(Vaishali Honawar, Education Week 27, no. 32, April 9, 2008)
This article provides a useful overview of how the Tom Mooney Institute is preparing a new generation of progressive union leaders.