Striking out on their Own - Lessons Learned from Student Teaching during and after the Chicago Teachers Union Strike

Oct 15, 2026

Study examines pre-service teachers’ experiences as they began student teaching during the 2012 Chicago Teachers Union strike. Four yearlong student teachers reflected on how the strike shaped their understandings of teaching, unionism, and activism across periods before, during, and after the labor action. Findings indicate teacher education should expand opportunities to learn the politics of school, engage with families and community members beyond school, and grow into truth-telling political activists for social justice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background and Context

Case Study Questions

Theoretical Framework

Sociocultural Theory and Narrative Approach

Methodological Truth-Telling

Methodology and Data Sources

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| Striking out on their Own: Lessons Learned from Student Teaching during and after the Chicago Teachers Union Strike | | --- | --- | Brian Horn, Illinois State University Abstract This study looks at the experiences of pre-service teachers who began their student teaching assignments amidst the 2012 Chicago Teachers Union strike. Four yearlong student teachers reflected on their understandings of teaching, unionism, and activism before, during, and after the strike. Findings suggest pre-service teachers need greater opportunities to a) learn about the politics of school, b) work with families and community members outside of school, and c) develop as truth-telling political activists. Keywords: urban teacher education, urban student teaching, unionism, teacher activism On September 4, 2012, 19 Illinois State University (ISU) Chicago Professional Development School (PDS) yearlong intern teachers embarked on their very first, first day of school as teachers. They entered into buildings and classrooms ready to greet hundreds of students ranging in grades K-8. The ISU intern teachers had spent the three weeks prior to this first day of school working in their classrooms with their cooperating teachers, attending professional development sessions in their schools, attending ISU classes, and meeting with community leaders. Like many teachers on the first day of school, they were excited to meet their new students, nervous about how they would be received, and anxious to get the year started. Nevertheless, less than one week later, on September 10, 2012, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) declared a strike, and the start of the intern teachers’ first year was seriously altered. This study examines the experiences of four out of 19 ISU Chicago PDS intern teachers as they were ushered into the teaching profession amidst the CTU strike. This case asks four questions: 1) In what ways did the preservice teachers perceive teachers unions and the politics of school before the strike? 2) In what ways did the preservice teachers’ experiences during the strike affect them professionally? 3) In what ways do the preservice teachers perceive teachers unionsand the politics of school after the strike? 4) In what ways should teacher education programs prepare preservice teachers for the politics of school, political activism, and truth-telling for social justice? While recent research regarding teachers unions, labor relations, and strikes exist (i.e. Barnetson, 2010; Jacoby, 2010; Jacoby and Nitta, 2012; Robertson, 2008), critical research involving both teachers strikes and preservice teachers education is less prominent. It is the hope of this case study to begin to fill that void. 194 Horn—Striking out on their Own Theoretical Framework This paper adopts the concept of sociocultural theory (Bakhtin, 1986; Dewey, 1938/1997; Lave and Wenger, 1991; Vygostsky, 1978; and Wenger, 1998) as a lens through which to make sense of the social and cultural nature of preservice teachers’ experiences and descriptions of what they learned as a result of the CTU strike. I chose to focus on preservice teachers’ personal narratives as a primary source of data, and because I viewed the narratives through a sociocultural lens, my findings describe and interpret preservice teachers’ learning within varied social and cultural contexts. In short, I used a narrative approach to research (Moen, 2006) to identify preservice teacher experiences of learning in terms of power, which are understood as occurring within the social organization of schooling and the culture of the school. Influenced by sociocultural theory, a narrative approach to research is defined simply as“the study of how human beings experience the world”(Gudmundsdottir, 2001, p. 16). Essentially, a narrative approach focuses on how individuals assign meanings to their experiences through the stories they tell (Moen, 2006). A narrative approach is not only subject-centered by drawin

FAQs

What situation prompted the pre-service teachers’ student teaching experience in this study?

The study centers on pre-service teachers who started student teaching assignments during the 2012 Chicago Teachers Union strike, which altered the beginning of their first year as teachers.

What key changes are the findings suggesting for teacher education programs?

The study suggests programs should provide more opportunities to learn the politics of school, collaborate with families and community members outside school, and develop as truth-telling political activists for social justice.

How does the paper frame its analysis of learning from the strike?

It uses sociocultural theory as a lens and employs a narrative approach, treating participants’ personal narratives as primary data to interpret learning within social and cultural contexts.

Oct 15, 2026

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