Increasing Capacity
There's lots we can do to increase our collective capacity to forward good decisions, practice, and service to students in school. This begins with creating communities of trust where good communication is a priority. People-to-people communication was supported in many ways today, communication that begins with establishing conversations that relate to the concerns and ideas of you and your colleagues. Simple questions such as How's it going? What do you love about your job? What takes the joy out of teaching for you? And, What will help you be able to teach better? can help to build common purpose and collective capacity. One local president remarked that when educational groups focus on concrete change that results in greater confidence, capacity, and team.
A focus on consistent respect with regard to body language and discussion was emphasized too in order to be inclusive and welcoming. Also the idea of building "cultures of deliberation" was emphasized, and in these cultures focusing on collective needs and ideas, and then bringing people together to deliberate about what they are going to do about it. In one system where teachers felt the evaluation system was not fair, teachers began reading their evaluations to each other. It was then that they could see as a group that the evaluations weren't fair which resulted in collective action to remedy the situation.
To increase capacity, it's also important that the membership identify themselves as the union, and find ways to spread out the work that it takes to run a union in ways that benefit all members. Training members to process their own grievances was discussed in this regard as well as revising typical union meeting agendas by putting members' and building concerns first, and leaving the nuts and bolts issues for the end of the meeting.
Political Action
To be present is to have a voice, and this is the first step with regard to political action. There was a lot of discussion about a union's member's role as an advocate, and it seemed to be a consistently held premise that educators need to be political advocates for education and the students and families they serve. There are many, many ways to become politically active, and the union has many resources such as the Campaign School, PALs (Political Action Leaders), workshops about leadership and political activism and more to help union members speak up for what they need to teach well. It was noted that most legislators are not education experts, and it takes the education experts, teachers, to help law makers understand what schools need to do their jobs well.
There are many processes in place to make the union's political activity member-driven, and there's lots of information about that available on the MTA website. There are opportunities to be fully involved as a political delegate, annual meeting delegate, and NEA RA delegate. I will create a political action page on our local union website with links and information for members who are interested in getting involved at this level.
Reading and Research
Multiple books were brought up throughout the day. One that I hope to read soon is The Testing Charade by Daniel Koretz. Our union has been working to lessen the emphasis and time devoted to standardized tests, and a member suggested that this book provides good rationale for that advocacy. The union is also working to assure recess in schools across the commonwealth.
Candidate Support
There was discussion about what to look for with regard to the candidates you choose, and it was suggested that one important point of consideration is that candidate's opinions and support for public education. By looking at the policies candidates support and foster as well as the way they promote spending tax dollars, you will be able to see if that candidate is a friend to public schools or not. Since I'm choosing the union as an institution I will support, and I am a fan of public schools with conditions for excellence for every child, I will be supporting candidates who support public schools and adequate or better funding for those schools.
There's a lot to learn and understand when it comes to working as part of the teachers' association and union--there is great opportunity to be involved, and there's great potential to uplift the education and lives of students and their families in Massachusetts with that involvement. I plan to continue to pay attention and do what I can. Onward.
