Association of Teachers and Lecturers
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) was a trade union, teachers' union and professional association, affiliated to the Trades Union Congress, in the United Kingdom representing educators from nursery and primary education to further education. In March 2017, ATL members endorsed a proposed merger with the National Union of Teachers to form a new union known as the National Education Union, which came into existence on 1 September 2017.[3] At that time, approximately 120,000 individuals belonged to the union (apart from those professions included in the name, education support staff and teaching assistants were also members), making it the third largest teaching and education union in the UK. ATL had members throughout England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, and British Service schools overseas.
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Full name | Association of Teachers and Lecturers |
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Founded | 1978 | (merger of AAM and AMA)
Date dissolved | 1 September 2017 |
Merged into | National Education Union |
Members | 200,631 (2015)[1] |
Affiliation | EI, TUC, Unions 21[2] |
Key people |
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Office location | 7 Northumberland Street, London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Website | www |
The ATL brand continues as a section or subsidiary of the National Education Union.
Governance and administration
ATL was led by its Executive Committee who were assisted by a General Secretary. All senior officers and officials were elected by an Association wide ballot and the overall direction was determined by the Annual Conference which had delegates from each branch.
The ATL President served a one-year term. From September 2009, Lesley Ward. From September 2010, Andy Brown. From September 2011, Alice Robinson. From September 2012, Hank Roberts. From September 2013, Alison Sherratt. From September 2014, Mark Baker. From September 2015, Kim Knappett. From September 2016, Shelagh Hirst. From September 2017, Niamh Sweeney. From September 2018, Kim Knappett who became Joint President of the National Education Union on 1st January 2019. The final ATL General Secretary was Dr Mary Bousted.
History
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The origins of ATL go back to 1884 when 180 women met to create the Association of Assistant Mistresses (AAM). These women worked in schools founded for higher education of girls. Their concern was primarily for the pupils. However, in 1921, the AAM appointed representatives to the newly formed Burnham Committee on Salaries in Secondary Schools.
1891 saw the formation of the Association of Assistant Masters in Secondary Schools (AMA). Its purpose was to protect and improve the conditions of service of secondary teachers. Between 1899 and 1908 it played an influential part in obtaining security of tenure for assistant teachers through the Endowed Schools Act.
Then in 1978 AAM and AMA merged to form the Assistant Masters and Mistresses Association (AMMA) with a membership of approximately 75,000. The name was changed in 1993 to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).
ATL affiliated to the TUC in 1999. It resigned from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in 2015.
In January 2011, the Association for College Management merged into ATL.[4]
Annual Conferences from 2009
- 2009 Liverpool
- 2010 Manchester
- 2011 Liverpool
- 2012 Manchester
- 2013 Liverpool
- 2014 Manchester
- 2015 Liverpool
- 2016 Liverpool
General Secretaries from 1978
- 1978: Andrew Hutchings and Joyce Baird
- 1979: Geoff Beynon and Joyce Baird
- 1988: Peter Smith and Joyce Baird
- 1990: Peter Smith
- 2003: Mary Bousted
See also
References
- https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/528367/584T_2015.pdf
- "ATL and the union movement". ATL. Association of Teachers and Lecturers. 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/22/nut-atl-merge-national-education-union
- About AMiE Archived 4 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Official website
- Catalogue of the AMMA archives held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
- Catalogue of the Association of Assistant Mistresses archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick