“Obey”, “disobey” or “tinker with” reforms to the system: a subject for French teacher trade unions to work on

Abstract

This paper presents our work to support and train members of the teaching sectors of two trade unions. The aim was to encourage participants to discuss practices, the difficulties in their day-to-day work and impediments to taking action, given the current reforms to primary education, and thereby assess the reforms’ impact on the teachers’ activity. It was also intended to help trade unions build up a collective dynamic around their work and re-positioning the work activity at the heart of their preoccupations. This project consisted of one/two day workshops held at local trade union branches. They were led by an ergonomist and a trade union representative. The discussions revealed that the prescriptions received from the management increasingly contradict the values of the profession. Therefore, in the name of professional ethics, different strategies of resistance have emerged, from minor modifications to the prescriptions received, to disobedience. However, adopting such strategies is itself a cause of suffering for teaching staff, and leads to some leaving the profession prematurely. We will discuss the difficulty trade unions have in dealing with the issue of work, their strategic positioning as regards developments within the profession, and the role an ergonomist can play in this process.