Are you a teacher or any other kind of education worker who feels like you have to compromise on your values in order to pay your rent, feed your kids, and just live your life? You’re not alone. Radical Sunday School thinks that we who work in the educational system can support each other as we try to fight for our rights, our friends, and our sanity. On this page, we’re trying to compile some resources for people with libertarian socialist hopes who are working within the educational system.
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If you’re an education worker in the Netherlands interested in networking with others about how to do more anarchist pedagogy in your work, organize with your fellow academic workers, or just keep your sanity in this system, send us an email at radicalsundayschool@riseup.net and we can add you to the Signal groupchat!
Further inspiration:
Education workers in the Anarchist Struggle:
The 2006 Oaxaca Rebellion: What began as a teachers’ strike demanding more resources for education quickly turned into a massive movement that demanded direct, participatory democracy. The seven-month uprising has been the subject of films and documentaries, books, and at least one podcast episode.
The 2018-2019 RedForEd strike wave was a series of strike actions across schools in nine US states. The strike wave was significant for its scale, its bottom-up organization, and the fact that it spread through areas of the country known for low union density and conservative politics. The strike wave has been discussed in books, theoretical tracts, labor reporting, films, and materials produced by the striking teachers themselves.
The 2028 General Strike and Climate Change: In this episode of It Could Happen Here, host Mia Wong talks with Rosewater from the Sunrise Movement about how classrooms can become a training ground for a new generation of labor organizers.
More to come….
Currently-existing Unions/Collectives:
Solidarity Federation Education Union (SFEU) is a UK-based union established out of the desire for connected struggle and defence of all education workers. In [their] small but growing union, [SFEU] welcome[s] all workers within the industry – from early years, primary, secondary, special education – and all job roles within the industry – including admin, cleaners, facilities, kitchen, learning support, through to teachers, student teachers, lecturers and researchers.
The Virginia Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators (VCORE) are a US-based organization of education workers committed to building a fighting labor union to defend the collective interests of education workers and advance the struggle for a public education system that serves the people.
The Anarchist Pedagogies Collective (APC) is a digital meeting place that promotes anarchist pedagogical practices based on the principles of freedom, collective self-organisation and direct action, mutual care, and mutual aid.
More to come...