Collective Wisdom – The Power of Teacher Activism

By: Lesley Porter, STF Communications

Advocacy has been a common theme for most of Trudy Keil’s career. “It’s just always been part of my job,” she says. “I think all teachers are advocates for their students.”

Keil, who is based in Regina, has been teaching for 20 years. She is finishing a PhD that examines the rise of teacher activism in Saskatchewan, particularly as a response to policies that undermine teacher professionalism and public education more broadly.

Keil’s sense of teacher advocacy became particularly pronounced in 2007. As a new English as an additional language teacher, she was witnessing the complexities her students had to navigate in learning a new language and adjusting to an unfamiliar culture.

“Our students and their families are still adjusting to their lives in Canada, so often we take on this additional advocacy role. That could be within the school, but it’s also accessing various resources within the broader community,” Keil says, pointing to organizations like the Regina Open Door Society that provide services to new Canadians.

Keil put this knowledge to use for her master’s degree, which she completed in 2015. Her thesis looked at how EAL teachers collaborate with other teacher colleagues to collectively support EAL students.

A few years later, COVID-19 was wreaking havoc in classrooms, and Keil noticed the ensuing heightened political tension. This was countered by what she called grassroots activism from teacher colleagues across the province.

“Teachers got the public on board, and that made a difference in Saskatchewan schools for a certain amount of time. That activism had an impact on what happened in schools, and I really do believe it saved lives,” she says, referring to masking and smaller class cohorts that were implemented during this time.

She leaned into the advocacy element of her master’s project and decided to pursue it further with a doctoral degree.

“It got to the point where I felt like that advocacy maybe wasn’t enough,” says Keil. “I needed a bigger space for it because there are bigger issues in Saskatchewan’s education system that need to be dealt with.”

She started her PhD in 2020. This past fall, at Councillor Conference, Keil presented her work, entitled Rebels With a Cause: Teacher Activism Against Neoliberalism in Saskatchewan.

What is neoliberalism?

Neoliberalism can be thought of as an umbrella ideology that has broad social, political, and economic ramifications. It is characterized by privatization, individualism, free markets, austerity budgets, and government centralization with reduced local autonomy.

This ideology started to enter the mainstream in the 1980s, Keil says, pointing to the governments of former US President Ronald Reagan and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as contemporary examples of neoliberalism in the western world.

“It’s definitely an ideology that the world has shifted towards,” says Keil. “We’re so immersed in it that people don’t even realize it, because it becomes normalized.”
When it comes to educational policies, it can look like increased school hours, a reliance on public-private partnerships, increased funding for independent or private schools, the use of unregulated teachers, and fundraising to make up for funding shortfalls.

“We’re already down that path in Saskatchewan, maybe more than we realize,” she says.

She explained that these policies, fueled by the intent to promote further privatization, gradually erode trust in teachers and public education.

“We know what students need,” she says, adding that one would never question a doctor’s intent when treating a patient. “We trust that the doctor is going to give us the right information and prescription to meet our needs. But we’ve moved away from that trust in education.”

What role does activism have in all this?

Keil sees teacher activism as a conduit for disrupting inequitable systems and creating social and political change.

“A lot of teachers might feel that we don’t have a lot of power or influence, but in fact we’re very impactful political actors,” she says.

Her research explores the valuable role teacher unions can play to serve as a platform for activism; these organizations aim to enhance the capacity of teachers and have the means to mobilize many people. They also have the power of the collective – a crucial element for social support.

“It feels cliché at times, but solidarity is absolutely our strength,” she says. “When we have that solidarity and collectivity, teachers can feel more confident about speaking out because they’re part of a collective.”

Teacher activism can also take more of a grassroots approach where teachers might advocate on social media or through community involvement. Grassroots activism offers teachers an additional way to fight for public education by harnessing the transformative power of social movements.

“There are different ways to advocate,” she says. “Not every teacher needs to go to local association meetings or join the Executive. They can put a sticker on and take a picture and post it on social media. Teachers can still do their part to help the collective and maintain their work-life balance.”

Keil recognizes that when there’s progress, there’s almost always pushback, because people don’t always like change. With that in mind, it’s important to celebrate successes along the way and recognize the impact of your actions. She points to the Tell Them Tuesday campaigns as an example that empowered people to contact decision-makers in government.

“We got people to make phone calls and write letters,” says Keil. “Whether it was teachers or members of the public, it’s something they were willing to do – and that they felt was important to do.”

What does the future of teacher activism look like?

Over the last century, activism has evolved from in-person events such as rallies and demonstrations to online initiatives and campaigns. Given rapid societal and technological changes, it is hard to say what form teacher activism will take in the next five to 10 years.

“It has to be about where the most effective places to advocate are,” says Keil. “I think it needs to be strategic based on what’s happening in a certain context.”

Regardless of how it looks, Keil hopes that teachers realize they have a voice – a powerful one, at that.

“A lot of teachers feel powerless. But we’re not. We actually have a great deal of power, but we need to believe that. And if we do, we take the actions and change things in the way we’re hoping for – in the best interest of our students.”

From Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation Bulletin – Spring 2025