Equality Recommendations Proposed
The ETUCE Standing Committee for Equality proposed a set of recommendations in its last meeting on 2-3 June 2014. The recommendations shall be presented for adoption to the ETUCE Committee in October 2014.
Recommended actions aim to identify and strengthen competences teachers and other education staff need for addressing diversity issues, to include migrants in education, and to support education staff dealing with disability and special needs education.
A wide range of equality issues were addressed in the committee meeting. While gender equality remains on top of the agenda, current developments in Europe call for teacher unions to discuss teaching competences framed by a broader understanding of equality. In many countries, society is growing more diverse in status and income. The European elections made the rise of right-wing political parties and extremist groups visible. In his opening address, ETUCE European Director Martin Rømer stressed the responsibility of teachers to fight for a democratic development in Europe and to give access to free and public education for all.
Under the heading “Mainstreaming Diversity and Tackling Inequalities”, three guest speakers provided valuable input which fostered the discussion in three working groups. Dan Taubmann, ETUCE representative to several OMC working groups and senior national officer at the University and College Union (UK), highlighted knowledge, skills, values, understanding and attitude teachers need to address diversity in their work. These competences should be included in initial teacher training and in professional development and managerial and team support. Rubina Boasman, independent consultant on social performance/global development management (The Netherlands), called on teachers to realise the key position they play. Creating equity involves a change in consciousness and goes beyond the curriculum. Education can enhance children to a better future, so failures ultimately result in missed opportunities in society. Teachers need to reconnect to their original role which is preparing someone for the next step in society. Francisca L. Castro, Regional Committee Member from the EI Asian-Pacific Region, spoke of the need of unions to be sensitive to their communities’ equality problems. Teachers must ask themselves for whom they teach. In the Asia-Pacific Regions, inequality is connected to the cultural diversity in the region. More boys than girls attend school, and poverty and a lack of infrastructure force one third of children to work instead of attending school. Education plays an important role in addressing these issues and teacher unions should tackle these challenges.
