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Jordan Peterson would be a 70s streamer with options to move up.

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Understandable to see a local teacher facing these stresses--it's definitely an especially difficult time for educators, but there are lot of issues here that are being conflated and then blamed on de-streaming that are stretches.

1. Igor is right--the Ford government has been systemically defunding education way before the pandemic started. Remember how kids were barely in school because of how nasty the fight between the government and the unions got? So, how is defunding and the reality of larger class sizes now somehow the fault of social justice? Why is the Ford government all-of-a-sudden synonymous with PDSB and other boards in this case? Larger class sizes are the fault of the defunding of the Ford government, not social justice lol.

2. Yes, teachers are working longer and harder hours right now. But guess what? So are nurses, and doctors, and everyone else on the frontline. Really, we all should be doing our best to push a little harder right now to mitigate what the youth has been sacrificing this whole time. No one forced Igor to be a teacher and these are the times that show what one is in it for. As a teacher there are going to be times you are handed difficult situations to teach in...that's just part of the trade. Great teachers do what they can to bring the best out of their students regardless of the circumstances.

3. I think it's important to note that Igor fails to mention that new, digital-based forms of pedagogy are much more effective at individualizing education and working to support students in the variety of ways that they learn. This is certainly part of the calculus in de-streaming efforts--using gamification within education provides faster, more accurate, and more personalized feedback for students without extra overhead from the teacher. Not only are these new pedagogical forms better in general, they are super helpful in mitigating the lack of physical presence we are experiencing on account of COVID. Even leaving the pandemic, I think these forms of education will continue to replace the forms we are using now. Igor should really look into this to save himself lots of time and energy!

4. "By 2015, it had been clear for a long time that students who identified as male and black had been underachieving in Ontario schools. Based on the principles of traditional liberal anti-racism, it was assumed that these students were facing obstacles that were impeding their scholastic achievement and leading them to engage in negative behaviours"

Throughout many places in this piece, Igor offers skepticism whenever the reality of Black students in Toronto is brought up. Phrases like "if there really are" and "allegedly" caption every mention of racism within the education system. He even smugly raises the question of "how is it racist if the Asians are doing so well?". Igor should be reminded that anti-Black racism functions in a specific, unique way just as anti-Asian racism and islamophobia and all other forms of discrimination function in their own way.

Here are some facts (not allegations) to center the dialogue:

"Black teachers are over three times more likely to recommend a Black student to a gifted program than their non-Black counterparts."

"Black students who had a Black teacher in high school were 39% less likely to drop out of school which resulted in a 29% increased interest in post-secondary education."

This begs the question: if it's not exterior obstacles impeding scholastic achievement, then what is it? Our current race regime (called "democratic racism") allows us to make the determination that it's unlikely or impossible for the state to be the central determinant /cause of lower qualifiers of life for Black folks without providing an answer to what that cause actually is.

So again: if it's not prejudices in the education system that causes lower turnout for Black students, then what is it? 🤔

Expand full comment

Understandable to see a local teacher facing these stresses--it's definitely an especially difficult time for educators, but there are lot of issues here that are being conflated and then blamed on de-streaming that are stretches.

1. Igor is right--the Ford government has been systemically defunding education way before the pandemic started. Remember how kids were barely in school because of how nasty the fight between the government and the unions got? So, how is defunding and the reality of larger class sizes now somehow the fault of social justice? Why is the Ford government all-of-a-sudden synonymous with PDSB and other boards in this case? Larger class sizes are the fault of the defunding of the Ford government, not social justice lol.

2. Yes, teachers are working longer and harder hours right now. But guess what? So are nurses, and doctors, and everyone else on the frontline. Really, we all should be doing our best to push a little harder right now to mitigate what the youth has been sacrificing this whole time. No one forced Igor to be a teacher and these are the times that show what one is in it for. As a teacher there are going to be times you are handed difficult situations to teach in...that's just part of the trade. Great teachers do what they can to bring the best out of their students regardless of the circumstances.

3. I think it's important to note that Igor fails to mention that new, digital-based forms of pedagogy are much more effective at individualizing education and working to support students in the variety of ways that they learn. This is certainly part of the calculus in de-streaming efforts--using gamification within education provides faster, more accurate, and more personalized feedback for students without extra overhead from the teacher. Not only are these new pedagogical forms better in general, they are super helpful in mitigating the lack of physical presence we are experiencing on account of COVID. Even leaving the pandemic, I think these forms of education will continue to replace the forms we are using now. Igor should really look into this to save himself lots of time and energy!

4. "By 2015, it had been clear for a long time that students who identified as male and black had been underachieving in Ontario schools. Based on the principles of traditional liberal anti-racism, it was assumed that these students were facing obstacles that were impeding their scholastic achievement and leading them to engage in negative behaviours"

Throughout many places in this piece, Igor offers skepticism whenever the reality of Black students in Toronto is brought up. Phrases like "if there really are" and "allegedly" caption every mention of racism within the education system. He even smugly raises the question of "how is it racist if the Asians are doing so well?". Igor should be reminded that anti-Black racism functions in a specific, unique way just as anti-Asian racism and islamophobia and all other forms of discrimination function in their own way.

Here are some facts (not allegations) to center the dialogue:

"Black teachers are over three times more likely to recommend a Black student to a gifted program than their non-Black counterparts."

"Black students who had a Black teacher in high school were 39% less likely to drop out of school which resulted in a 29% increased interest in post-secondary education."

This begs the question: if it's not exterior obstacles impeding scholastic achievement, then what is it? Our current race regime (called "democratic racism") allows us to make the determination that it's unlikely or impossible for the state to be the central determinant /cause of lower qualifiers of life for Black folks without providing an answer to what that cause actually is.

So again: if it's not prejudices in the education system that causes lower turnout for Black students, then what is it? 🤔

Expand full comment