Enterprise education on how to be an enterprising individual, ready to respond flexibly to the workplace, complements the hidden curriculum with its stress on competition, marks and individualism. Given the 'challenges' of the modern world it is useful for young people to be exposed to critical perspectives which do no simply accept the status quo and seek to slot them into it, but raise questions about whether things are organised in the best possible way, the existence of profound social conflicts, whether things could be different, how they could be changed and the possibilities of collective struggles for change. And the reporting of unions usually emphasises conflict. For the same reason conflict sells newspapers, it can arouse interest among students. Participating in it can also be a major solvent of accepted ideas.
Unions are a significant feature of contemporary societies, a factor in politics and economics.
Their existence points to some fundamental conflicts of interest in this kind of society. Unions are a way into history, geography and social studies. Unions provide a way in which ordinary people can collectively shape their world, especially their world at work. The more people understand unions the more likely they are to join them. In stating this I am not arguing that we should present students with a single position.