ATL

Wales

ATL Cymru president Dr Philip Dixon explains how looking to the past can provide lessons for moving forwards

The Roman god Janus, after whom we name the first month of the year, famously looked back to the past and forward to the future. As ATL celebrates 125 years, we too need to be similarly 'two-faced': it's good to look back and celebrate our inheritance but only if we use that to plan for our continued vigour and development.

Talking to ATL members of all ages and in all sectors, three key qualities seem to characterise the union past and present: professionalism in practice, moderation in action, and rigour in intellectual debate. From its inception, ATL has been convinced that teaching is more than just a job, that cooperation is better than confrontation, and that arguments are won by reason, not force.

The education world of 2009 is very different to that of 1884. ATL has had to change to remain the same. We have had to consider what is core and what is transient, what really matters and what was once useful but is no longer.

In the workplace of the 21st century, roles are changing and the workforce is diversifying. The challenge for us in our generation is to make the association true to its strapline - the education union.

The next 125 years will be secure if we continue to transform ATL into a union for all professionals engaged in education: teachers, lecturers, support staff and headteachers. Professionalism, moderation and rigour are needed now more than ever before in all sectors, strands and segments of the education world.