The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) is inviting teachers and school leaders to share their first-hand accounts of the 2025 provincewide teachers’ strike, aiming to document this historic moment in the province’s educational landscape.
ATA archivist Maggie Shane says the project is an important opportunity to capture the human side of a moment that will shape Alberta’s educational history.
“Official documents can tell us what happened,” Shane said. “But personal accounts tell us what it meant. Without these stories, future researchers lose the context, emotion and lived experience that make historical events understandable.”
The project seeks written, audio, video and artistic submissions that reflect the experiences of teachers and school leaders during the strike. The collected accounts will be preserved in the ATA’s archives and made available to researchers studying the 2025 strike. All identifying information will be redacted before materials are accessed for research.
Shane emphasized that every submission, regardless of length or format, has value.
“Even a brief reflection can provide nuanced insight into how this moment felt for teachers, for the province—something future generations wouldn’t otherwise get to see,” she said.
Participation in this archival project is voluntary, and contributors may choose to share their story in any form of material that suits them.
Submissions can be sent by June 30 to archives@ata.ab.ca. It is recommended that attached files be password protected, with the password emailed separately to the same address.
Questions about the project can be directed to ATA archivist Maggie Shane at archives@ata.ab.ca.
