Trade unions and OECD’s role in education policy

Interview with Larry Flanagan, new chair of TUAC’s Education and Skills Working Group.

Question Why do you think it is important for trade unions to follow and engage with the work of the OECD in education and skills?

Larry Flanagan The OECD is a highly influential body in terms of education policy across its member countries, so it is essential that teacher trade unions engage as early as possible with those developing OECD thinking in order that the voice and distilled experience of the practitioner, the teacher, is part of the conversation. We call for social dialogue at all levels – the TUAC Working Group on Education and Skills is a platform for such a discussion – the greater the teacher trade union involvement, the better.

Question How has the role of teacher changed in the time you have been involved in education? What would you say are the key issues currently being faced by teachers, and education professionals more broadly, across different OECD countries? How can the OECD contribute to addressing these issues?

Larry Flanagan The basic role of the teacher remains the same – to establish the relationships which help nurture growth in our children and enable learning. In the classroom that is what matters but of course education systems face huge challenges – a shortage of teachers and other education specialists, excessive workloads and endless bureaucracy, and the impact of external factors on children’s ability to learn, for example poverty.  You can add to that the pressure of budget cuts and developments such as AI. OECD can act as a catalyst to the prioritisation of Education and the seeking of solutions, but again, the voice of the practitioner needs to heard throughout the discourse.

Question How can the OECD contribute to supporting those working in education with the changes and additional demands resulting from the green and digital transitions?

Larry Flanagan OECD is a repository of very critical research, which teacher unions can access and deploy. By working in conjunction with EI (Education International) and the TUAC Working Group, OECD can play a leading role in setting out an ethics-based approach to challenges such as AI and climate change, which could be critical to the next phase.

Question Life-long learning seems to be big policy buzz word at the moment but there continue to be significant barriers in terms of participation and access for workers in many countries across the OECD. Why is that the case and what needs to change?

Larry Flanagan In the modern world, lifelong learning, especially around skills, is absolutely essential to the jobs market and employment, as well as offering its own intrinsic benefits to all of us as humans. It suffers from short term approaches by some governments and a lack of investment. Trade unions, especially the confederations, need to be part of the dialogue around this agenda.

Question What do you see as being the priorities of the TUAC Education and Skills Working Group in the next two years?

Larry Flanagan The single biggest priority is to be an effective conduit for the voice of the trade union movement in relation to education and skills. We are the experts, we have the knowledge and experience, and we need to articulate that loudly and clearly. To that we need active engagement from members. Cleary trade unions need to operate effectively within their own jurisdictions but there are also huge synergies to be tapped by being part of the global conversation. Also, I would invite those unions who do not currently engage with TUAC to take a fresh look.

Question Why do you think it is important for trade unions to follow and engage with the work of the OECD in education and skills?

Larry Flanagan The OECD is a highly influential body in terms of education policy across its member countries, so it is essential that teacher trade unions engage as early as possible with those developing OECD thinking in order that the voice and distilled experience of the practitioner, the teacher, is part of the conversation. We call for social dialogue at all levels – the TUAC Working Group on Education and Skills is a platform for such a discussion – the greater the teacher trade union involvement, the better.

Question How has the role of teacher changed in the time you have been involved in education? What would you say are the key issues currently being faced by teachers, and education professionals more broadly, across different OECD countries? How can the OECD contribute to addressing these issues?

Larry Flanagan The basic role of the teacher remains the same – to establish the relationships which help nurture growth in our children and enable learning. In the classroom that is what matters but of course education systems face huge challenges – a shortage of teachers and other education specialists, excessive workloads and endless bureaucracy, and the impact of external factors on children’s ability to learn, for example poverty.  You can add to that the pressure of budget cuts and developments such as AI. OECD can act as a catalyst to the prioritisation of Education and the seeking of solutions, but again, the voice of the practitioner needs to heard throughout the discourse.

Question How can the OECD contribute to supporting those working in education with the changes and additional demands resulting from the green and digital transitions?

Larry Flanagan OECD is a repository of very critical research, which teacher unions can access and deploy. By working in conjunction with EI (Education International) and the TUAC Working Group, OECD can play a leading role in setting out an ethics-based approach to challenges such as AI and climate change, which could be critical to the next phase.

Question Life-long learning seems to be big policy buzz word at the moment but there continue to be significant barriers in terms of participation and access for workers in many countries across the OECD. Why is that the case and what needs to change?

Larry Flanagan In the modern world, lifelong learning, especially around skills, is absolutely essential to the jobs market and employment, as well as offering its own intrinsic benefits to all of us as humans. It suffers from short term approaches by some governments and a lack of investment. Trade unions, especially the confederations, need to be part of the dialogue around this agenda.

Question What do you see as being the priorities of the TUAC Education and Skills Working Group in the next two years?

Larry Flanagan The single biggest priority is to be an effective conduit for the voice of the trade union movement in relation to education and skills. We are the experts, we have the knowledge and experience, and we need to articulate that loudly and clearly. To that we need active engagement from members. Cleary trade unions need to operate effectively within their own jurisdictions but there are also huge synergies to be tapped by being part of the global conversation. Also, I would invite those unions who do not currently engage with TUAC to take a fresh look.

Larry Flanagan is a teacher and a trade unionist. He is President of the European Trade Union Committee for Education. He was General Secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland – Scotland’s largest teaching union – from 2012-2022.