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147 years of fighting for the interests of teachers and pupils alike
As the NUT merges into the new National Education Union, Phil Katz looks back at a century and a half of campaigning
PROUD HISTORY: Joint NEU general secretary Kevin Courtney applauds Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at 2016's NUT conference

DELEGATES gathering for the last conference of the National Union of Teachers will have a number of chances to celebrate the extraordinary history of a union that has been centre stage in public life for all of 147 years.

They will receive a copy of a popular pictorial history entitled Pride, Passion, Professionalism: The NUT and the Struggle for Education 1870-2017.

Though written by author and activist Martin Cloake, this history draws on a collaboration between colleagues with a variety of skills. But then how could a history of the main teachers’ union not be based on working together?

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