Teacher Activism in the 1990s

Alexander D. Gregor is associate dean of the Faculty of Education at the
University of Manitoba and co-editor of Postsecondary Education in
Canada: The Cultural Agenda.

Public institutions—particularly those in the sectors of education,
health care, and social services—are currently under siege. Written by
practising teachers and teacher educators, this book provides an
explanatory framework for this state of affairs by outlining an economic
interpretation of contemporary government policies and actions both
within Canada and in Australia, New Zealand, and France.

The Canadian chapters use Alberta and Nova Scotia as case studies in
examining the effects of international forces like NAFTA as well as
professional resistance to emerging public-policy initiatives. One of
the book’s central arguments is that the restructuring of public
services is being driven by international pressures, and that those same
forces are acting to redefine basic workplace conditions, including
those of professionals. The contributors argue that professional
organizations (including teacher unions) must rethink their role in the
new order and discover appropriate supporting linkages—regionally,
nationally, and internationally—both within and among the professions,
if they are to have any hope of influencing events.

Teacher Activism in the 1990s provides a much-needed framework for
examining and debating a fundamentally important social issue.