The book Cracking Labour’s Glass Ceiling Transforming Lives Through Women’s Education, co-authored by Cindy Hanson, Adriane Paavo and Sisters in Labour Education is a collaborative work in which women labour educators share their research, beliefs and personal experiences from their lengthy involvement in women’s labour educationals. As stated in the introductory chapter: “They take a feminist view of the historical and conceptual roots of women’s labour education in its contemporary form, all the while asking, is this what was intended? Are there things that we could be doing differently? What lessons can be learned from the record of existing schools?” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 6). In this essay, I will focus on these important questions, exploring the purpose of women only labour educationals and discussing what can be learned from women’s educationals such as those presented in Cracking Labour’s Glass Ceiling.
The chapters written by the contributing authors all state a similar view of the purposes of women only labour schools, emphasizing their intent to organize safe, supportive learning opportunities for women to empower them to take on leadership roles in the union movement. The Prairie School for Union Women (PSUW) discussed in the first few chapters was first organized in the nineties as a four-day school where labour education courses were designed by women, facilitated by women and presented using the methodologies of popular education. “Popular education invited contributions from all participants, who would learn from each other as well as from the facilitator” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 7). The facilitators learned from the participants as well in the open exchange of ideas, experiences and beliefs. Future facilitators were trained from former participants, expanding the development of new leadership opportunities in the safety of familiar surroundings. Researchers interviewing former PSUW participants about the impact of their educational experience commented favourably on the women-only aspect of the courses. “In particular, women said that the school felt like a safe space where they could speak up and not be judged” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 25). Those interviewed added that although they left the school inspired and ready to make changes in their lives, they missed the support of their learning groups at the school. The PSUW researchers concluded that: “Further progress will depend on how well the PSUW is able to reconstruct itself as the start, not the end, of a process of transformation” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 27).
Union Women of Turtle Island is a popular course taught annually at the PSUW. The course “integrates Indigenous knowledge, history, storytelling and even humour” to “look at Indigenous Peoples’ ongoing efforts to resist and thrive, and to build greater capacity for solidarity (and allies) by workers and unions with these struggles” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 28). As with other PSUW courses, popular education techniques facilitate the learning with an emphasis on traditions of Indigenous storytelling and sharing of deeply emotional struggles. Inclusiveness, trust and respect are of utmost importance in fostering the personal growth occurring through participation in the exercises of this course. In the traditional learning circles, used throughout this course, a safe place is created where the holder of the talking stick speaks uninterrupted and without judgement. The women-only aspect of the course eases any anxieties that could arise by introducing an extra element of perceived gender bias to the group. The Blanket exercise is described by Sandra (one of the facilitators and an Indigenous woman) as a powerful roleplaying exercise: “You’re a child that has been taken from your home to go to a residential school. Step off the blanket and you are no longer on Turtle Island.” “You have been infected with smallpox. Step off the blanket because you’ve died” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 32). Learning in this experiential way can have a much more profound emotional impact than reading about struggles in history books, on news broadcasts or sorting through masses of often misleading information on social media. Sandra cautions that the lessons learned in the course are only a beginning to understanding the diverse cultures of Indigenous People: “So it’s pretty hard to throw us all in one [pile] and then to give us three and a half days to facilitate the history of Indigenous People and incorporate all that. There’s much more that needs to be done” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 35). Once again, the need to find effective ways to proceed to further action after course completion is expressed.
Feminist activist Donna Smith begins her discussion of challenges faced by the LGBTQ community with a quote attributed to Monica Ramirez, co-founder and president of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas: “Activism is born from the things that we care about and that we believe need to change for our lives and our communities” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 37). The PSUW course Inside and Out was designed to educate union women about issues faced by the LGBTQ community in the workplace and in their everyday lives. Knowledge, understanding and acceptance of individual differences and similarities and the necessity of collective action by union women to present a diverse range of issues was a focus of the course. “The more women have a chance to talk and interact with LGBTQ participants and staff, the more educated and supportive they become” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 43). Educating women to prepare them to believe in themselves and take on more significant leadership roles in local and international unions continues to be a theme of this book.
The annual Regina V. Polk Labour Leadership Conferences offered through the University of Illinois provides similar experiences those of the PSUW. First labeled as “A Curriculum for Women Who Need to Refresh and Recover” it later became “A Curriculum for Women Who Need to Fight” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 67). The women-only aspect of these educationals allowed learning to focus on issues union women faced and difficult choices they made in order to become involved in union leadership. “By opening the whole range of labour issues to a group that was entirely women, we made it possible for women to take on any role, including ones like chief negotiators, ordinarily assumed by men” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 68). Extended roleplaying exercises based on current collective bargaining issues were central to the learning experience and gave each participant an opportunity to build the confidence and skills needed to become more vocal in union leadership roles. Discussion, reflection and active performances such as music, skits and mimes around a circle (similar to the talking circle of Indigenous peoples described earlier) as well as many opportunities for informal learning and social interactions are important parts of the experience. “Labour education is applied. It tells a truth about the struggle: it requires the whole heart and the whole body—and the rest of the women in the circle” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 75). However, this supportive circle may not be readily available after the course is completed.
Other stories are told in this book and many approaches to learning suited to women only settings are explored. Sustaining the energy and resolve developed in these classes is a problem that requires much more attention. Starting in 2004, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) instituted a program called Leaders For Tomorrow (L4T) with a mandate to educate union women from diverse backgrounds and prepare them to seek senior leadership positions in their union and beyond. The L4T program included opportunities to continue the learning following the original course with such strategies as holding annual reunions to reconnect with other participants and “attending ETFO’s annual conference for women members, where they helped host or present in workshops, and observed ETFO’S representative council and/or provincial executive” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 97). Support after course completion was recognized as essential to continued growth and involvement of L4T graduates in union leadership.
In the background of most of the labour education examples presented is the metaphor of the glass ceiling referred to in the title of the book–the invisible barriers to union leadership faced by women and other marginalized groups. Cracking this ceiling requires the knowledge, strategies and belief in personal self-worth to organize positive action to overcome these barriers. The anecdotal stories and more formal research studies show that educating women in the welcoming, supportive and non-judgmental environment of women only educationals is an effective start to increasing representation of women in union leadership positions. A challenge that remains is finding more effective ways to deliver continued support of newly developed knowledge, skills and attitudes. In their concluding conversation, Hanson, C. and Paavo, A. (2019) state that: “I’d offer the advice that we acknowledge that our schools are special bubbles and that the outside world is still there to be engaged with. During women-only events, before participants leave, we need to alert them that they may not be using their new confidence, skills and ideas in an environment as supportive the school was, so that they are not destroyed by that sharp shock of transition” (p. 126). Most of the schools described in the book offer leadership opportunities to women having a background or self-identified interest in union activism. Another possible way to increase future feminist involvement in union leadership could be to hold women-only educational events for recent union enrollees or members who are interested in increasing their knowledge of union activities. “There is no doubt that as Kirton (2017) suggests, “strong unions need women” and a key ingredient in developing strong women is labour education that works to shatter the glass ceiling” (Hanson et al, 2019, p. 130). The book Cracking Labour’s Glass Ceiling Transforming Lives Through Women’s Education provides concrete evidence of this conclusion.
Works Cited:
Hanson, C., Paavo, A. and Sisters in Labour Education (2019). Cracking Labour’s Glass Ceiling Transforming Lives Through Women’s Education. Fernwood Publishing.
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