ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the role of teachers’ unions in promoting the professional development of their members. A working definition of the term ‘professional’ is offered and the status of teachers is measured against it. To protect the interests of their members, it is argued, teachers’ unions have a duty to enhance this status.
The task of teachers’ unions is to improve the professionalism of teachers. The regard in which they are held is examined with particular reference to three areas of policy: education, conditions of service and salaries.
The effects of delegating educational decision-making to possibly unrepresentative activists are examined; there are inherent dangers in unions facilitating changes for which the profession as a whole is not ready: The unions must have educational policies but they must take care that the views they express are representative of the profession.
Teachers’ unions are under pressure to demand better working conditions, smaller classes and hence more teachers. This has implications for salary levels and hence for the quality of recruitment. Within foreseeable financial circumstances, only limited improvements in the conditions of service are seen to be possible.
The chapter considers the use of the salaries structure as a tool for encouraging professional development; a clear need is seen for rewarding successful classroom practitioners rather than administrators.
