Berkshire Educator Action Network is engaged in deep listening and organizing for change
By Laura Barrett
W e have something like a vortex coming down — federal, state, DESE, administrators — funneling down,”
said Lanesborough Elementary School teacher Anna
Mello, making a gesture with her hands to show how
policy descends on classroom educators from above.
“Really, it needs to come from the bottom up,”
Mello continued. “Those roots, the big things, need
to come from the bottom and push up to support that
plant to grow.”
The “strategic intent” of the MTA’s Strategic
Action Plan expresses a similar sentiment, calling for
more input on education policy and practice to come
from the ground up. Where changes are in a school
district’s control, members should identify which
changes are needed and advocate for them through
their local associations. If members want changes at
the state level, they should work through the MTA
governance structure to advocate for them statewide.
In Berkshire County, local leaders are taking this
philosophy to heart through a “listening tour” that
they hope will lead to organizing for change.
Plans are also being developed to bring deeper
listening to other parts of the state, either through
similar tours or by other methods developed
regionally.
Meanwhile, educators in the Berkshires aren’t
stopping with listening. They are getting ready to
move their campaign to another level.
MTA Board member Ginger Armstrong and
local association leaders have formed the Berkshire
Educator Action Network — BEAN — to develop
and implement the program. With help from MTA
field representatives in the area, BEAN members
have been holding face-to-face conversations, either
individually or in small groups, throughout the
county.
Some of those discussions were videotaped by
the MTA Communications Division staff, resulting
in a “Berkshire Listening Tour” video that is being
shown at other meetings to kick off discussions
based on several open-ended questions:
Information gathered in the discussions has
been reinforced through member surveys. As MTA
Today went to press, approximately 250 of the
1,550 teachers in Berkshire County had participated
through a survey, an in-person meeting or both.
“BEAN leaders are to be congratulated for
taking the initiative,” said MTA President Paul
Toner. “This is the way the MTA’s decision-making
structure is supposed to work. Presidents need to find
out what their members are thinking and then convey
those ideas and principles to their representatives on
“
the MTA Board of Directors. The Board then votes
on major MTA policies and positions, as do members
directly if they participate in our Annual Meeting of
Delegates.”
Toner said that the MTA has held leadership
trainings and sponsored organizing institutes to
improve member engagement. The MTA has urged
Board members and local presidents to stay in closer
touch with one another to find out members’ views
on issues. Most recently, MTA leaders have been
seeking member input on the rollout of PARCC
assessments.
“Our success as an organization depends on
regular and meaningful two-way conversations,”
Toner said. “That is why we hold multiple presidents’
meetings each year in every region and two all
Members taking part in the BEAN listening
tour raised a variety of issues, some specific to
their districts and others related to state and federal
policies. Certain themes emerged in virtually all of
the locals, including a lack of time to teach because
educators are so busy implementing new initiatives
and a belief that too much emphasis on standardized
tests is interfering with educating the whole child.
“It’s amazing how many of your members come
out when you’re talking to them,” said Armstrong.
“They want somebody to hear them. They want to
know that you’re listening. As a member of the MTA
Board, I’m sitting there voting on policy issues.
But unless I’ve talked to my presidents and they’ve
Brendan Sheran, president of the United
Educators of Pittsfield, agreed. Speaking at a meeting
of Berkshire County presidents in December, Sheran
said, “One of our members’ biggest complaints is that
people never ask them what they think about how
things should be. This listening tour has given us an
opportunity to do that. I’m a new president this year,
so this is not only BEAN’s opportunity but also my
Members taking part in the tour said they
appreciated the chance to speak their minds. Lisa
Messina, a second-grade teacher at Lanesborough
Elementary School, said, “These are things I
think about all the time, so I’m glad to have the
opportunity to say something and maybe it will make
an impact somewhere.”
‘Our success as an organization
depends on regular and
meaningful two-way
conversations. That is why
we hold multiple presidents’
meetings each year in every
region and two all presidents’
meetings a year.’
— MTA President Paul Toner
Continued on next page
English teacher Jane McEvoy, left, guidance counselor Daniel Korte and librarian Amy Consolati
were among the Lee educators who participated in the BEAN listening tour.
Photo by Christine Peterson
