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There is clearly a desperate need to revive political, philosophical, historical and economic inquiry as
the basis for trade union education.
Equally there is a need to modernise the methods of learning delivery to make it inspirational and
life changing. A very peculiar thing has happened in Britain in this regard. The progressive debate on
how workers learn best and what techniques really inspire them has almost completely bypassed
trade union education circles and has been advanced instead in youth and community work, adult
education and some school based traditions or radical pedagogy.
This is not the case in many other Labour Movements. They have embraced radical learning theories
and methods that enhance the development of progressive politics and solid organisation. At the
GFTU we have been looking at some of their work in Latin America, but look too at a book called
Education for Changing Unions
about the Canadian experience. Consider the work of Paulo Freire or
Antonio Gramsci.
The way learning is delivered is as important as what is delivered, sometimes more so. Progressive
learning techniques are linked to democratic practice and social change and have a long tradition in
Britain going back to the Medieval ‘conventicles’ which argued that the Bible should be translated in
English so that ‘the merest ploughboy could read the word of God’. Ultimately their work led to the
collapse of the authority of the dominant Latin speaking Catholic Church and the aristocracy it
propped up.
It continued through the dissenting churches whose ideas very much aided the birth of the unions,
many Sunday schools were in fact very socialist. It flourished in Britain when many women trade
unionists developed theories of youth engagement and community work to involve workers outside
the workplace in the struggle for reforms. The richness of this tradition around the world can be
explored on the fantastic websit
e www.infed.org.uk .The new priesthood of neoliberal pundits and politicians and the crowds of dilettante ‘economists’
who seek ultimately to persuade us that we are too stupid to run society in the interests of the
majority, should be replaced by a new generation of deeply educated union activists able to see
through the myths and compel us in another direction.
At the GFTU we have opened a forum on our website for all those interested in a progressive future
for trade union education to swap notes, share details of good resources and examples and sharpen
our minds. Please join the debate ther
e www.gftu.org.uk .We are also looking for new partners and
tutors to join our work delivering the highest quality independent working class education. Let’s
change the content and form of trade union education and base it on participative, collective
learning to demonstrate another world is possible with a new kind of PPE student in control of our
country.