Unlikely Radicals: Irish Post-Primary Teachers and the ASTI, 1909-2009

Unlikely Radicals provides a lively account of the ASTI's role in the representation of teachers, in the development of the teaching profession, and in the expansion of second-level education. It traces the fortunes of a trade union which in endeavouring to promote the values of teachers and their aspirations for those they teach has had a significant impact on social and education policy. Examining the evolution of relationships with governments, with state agencies, with school managements, with parents' organisations, and with generations of young people, the book confirms the significant contribution made by post-primary teachers to Irish society over a period of one hundred years.