Alliances, assemblages, and affect: Teacher activism within and beyond the union in Saskatchewan

Abstract

In recent decades, Canadian governments have increasingly drawn upon global neoliberal policies to regulate the work of teachers and their professional organizations (Bascia, 2015; Smaller, 1998). Neoliberalism has radically altered educational policies with respect to curriculum, teaching pedagogy, and teachers’ professionalism (Apple, 2006; Ball, 2003), impeding teachers’ ability to deliver democratic education (Darder, 2019). Viewing teacher activism broadly, this research explored Saskatchewan teacher activists’ resistance to marketdriven educational reforms through their engagement with both the power of grassroots social movements and the institutional authority of their union. Guided by Harding et al.’s (2018) poststructural framework of alliances, assemblages, and affects, this dissertation utilized Bartlett and Vavrus's (2017) comparative case study approach to explore teachers’ activism across place, space, and time. Sources included semi-structured interviews with ten known teacher activists and two focus groups with the same participants. Informed by Saldaña (2021), data was analyzed using eclectic coding then interweaved to generate poetry-like narratives representing teachers’ individual and collective voices. Findings showed that teachers strategically navigated activism amidst conflicting personal, professional, and political demands. Both cognitive and affective motivations served as the impetus for participation and activists’ involvements shifted dependent upon factors such as work-life balance and perceived risks. Though teachers viewed grassroots activism as more responsive and hopeful, they also valued the collective strength of the union and recognized its role in their political development. This dissertation distinguishes itself by exploring multifaceted teacher activism through poststructuralism thereby moving beyond mere critique and emphasizing how teachers resist neoliberalism through intentional acts. Keywords: teacher activism, teacher unions, social movements, poststructuralism