make their students a priority, a visiting speaker said last week.

US Virgin Islands Commissioner of Education Dr. Linda Creque made this statement during her keynote address to hundreds of teachers at St. Paul's Centennial Hall on Tuesday.

As the Bermuda Union of Teachers celebrates its 75th anniversary, Dr. Creque praised the unions founders' "visionary leadership'' because she said they "realised they needed new rules and regulations and a means of enforcing them''.

Furthermore, she said, the BUT was ahead of its time and possessed great foresight because it agitated for things such as increasing the school leaving age, scholarships and teacher development.

This was during a time (the 1920s) when many American unions had not even considered such issues.

Dr. Creque said the effects of the collective bargaining process had produced profound effects on the teaching profession.

And these events thrust certain commitments upon teachers if they were going to ensure that the BUT remained viable into the 21 century.

Collective bargaining must be seen within the context of the social and fiscal constraints of the larger economy, she said.

This was necessary because collective bargaining and politics cannot be separated.

Meanwhile, Dr. Creque said teachers' growing professionalism, increased class sizes and telecommunications all presented new challenges.

Moreover, these challenges required teachers to become more politically active.

"In order to be heard,'' she said. "(Teachers) need to place themselves in the halls where decisions are made.'' Violence, drugs, parental concern or its absence, she said, were also added pressures on teachers who often are the surrogate mothers and fathers for their students.

But one of the more fundamental challenges she urged, are those often conflicting concerns and directions various public groups present to teachers.

As an example Dr. Creque cited discipline.

Some people wanted to encourage critical thinking and cooperative learning but that often leads to heated exchanges that question the teacher's authority.

Others demanded more discipline and an"orderly, quiet classroom''.

"Both wishes conflict, forcing some teachers to adopt various behaviours to cope,'' she said. "All they are trying to get is a satisfying experience from teaching -- they want balance.'' But as teachers try to grapple with these conflicting demands, the union often has to step in, she said.

"But the present state of collective bargaining leaves both sides in a bad way.'' In order to prevent win-lose types of agreements, she urged both sides to adopt win-win approaches which will improve the teaching profession because (quoting an African proverb): "When two elephants fight, the grass suffers.''