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?
MEIC BIRTWISTLE offers an appreciation of the renaissance man GARETH MILES
Maggie Bowden was a trailblazing campaigning lawyer at Birnberg and Thompsons, women’s organiser of the Communist Party, and general secretary of Liberation
Robinson successfully defended his school from closure, fought for the unification of the teaching unions, mentored future trade union leaders and transformed teaching at the Marx Memorial Library, writes JOHN FOSTER



