I'm an elementary teacher who has worked at large independent schools in the Greater Toronto Area for the last 15 years. I also consult for a large technology firm that has allowed me to speak with elementary teachers nationwide.
This stuff has been around long before my time. It was always pushed by the activist teachers, who thankfully were largely ignored. However, the pandemic and George Floyd blew the doors off the common sense in the room. And it happened in the blink of an eye. In June 2020 I had no idea why someone would use they/them pronouns, let alone a child. By September 2020, I had a grade six class of 22 kids where 11(!) identified as they/them, the opposite gender or something wacky like zir. All of them but 1 were biological girls.
When I raised my hand and suggested that the 32 full-size inclusion flags in our tiny middle school hallway might actually be promoting gender dysphoria instead of the intended inclusion message, well, I'll let you guess what happened. I no longer work at that school.
Thankfully I now teach at a large single-sex school in Toronto where none of this nonsense exists...yet. There are seedlings everywhere, but I'm trying to stamp them out!
Keep doing great work! The middle school students I teach now have no interest in this stuff and openly mock it. If nothing else, we'll outgrow it eventually.
I personally think that a growing number of teenagers will rebel against being told what to think, as teenagers have done for generations. There will be those captured by the ideology, though, especially if it's been drilled into them from an early grade. What you say about the contagion of the non-binary ideology with respect to young girls is quite frightening.
Well, the video makes the point that teenagers actually need to be told what to think. The problem is, as teenagers do, they think they know it all and know what is best for them. Now that has meant that "affirmation clinics" don't do any medical due diligence at all and take what a teenager says to them at face value. If I change my sex (which isn't medically possible really) I will get rid of all these bad feelings. How this relates to schools is as you say, ideology being drilled into them from an early grade. the ONE student who complained about Mr. McMurtry was simply parroting back what has been instilled in every facet of their education. So if teenagers need to be told what to think we best make sure that what we're telling them is the right thing. in every way.
I would say teenagers need to be taught how to think critically. As you say, the one student who complained was parroting back what was instilled. Indoctrination is not education, no matter who does it. On the other hand, teenagers do think they know it all, and they need limits and boundaries, they also need room to forge their own thinking, to learn how to question and to reason. Jason Alexander, the Ontario boy who argued back against what he was taught to think in school, is one example.
Blue state US teacher here and same phenomenon! After the tumultuous summer of 2020, when so many people were locked down and glued to BLM-saturated social media, the social justice warrior teachers came back to school on a mission, literally. They went around my high school with carts "weeding" books with "cis white males" on the cover (I'm not kidding) and began an indoctrination campaign of DEI trainings. I think the lunacy of gender identity theory and the epidemic of depression among our youth may signal the end of this phase but what comes next? What do reasonable people want a new normal to look like? Here in the States I feel trapped between truly bigoted and homophobic Confederate flag wavers and the lunatic fringe Trans rainbow crowd. Moderates have no voice. Hope you can figure it out better up north!
you're right, moderates have no voice. Any deviation from the view of the left places us, in their opinion, firmly in the "homophobic Confederate flag wavers" camp. I'm not sure we are figuring it out better up here.
Wow, thanks for that firsthand report. I was a teacher a number of years ago so I know how precious "progressive" thought is to most teachers, and their unions (and the Admins, for that matter), but when I taught there was little of the social justice agenda actually being taught.
Gee golly whiz those courses will not do you much good if you wish to become a lawyer, doctor , engineer, accountant, or even a cashier at your local supermarket. I also wonder how well you will do going for a job overseas or even in the US as a graduate of the Nibi Emodsaawdang school (dang it). We need to ask ourself if it is a good thing to re-write history and tear down statues I do know that it did not work out to well for the Taliban, the Nazis, the Russians or at the inquisition nor has it changed the deep south after tearing down Confederate statues.
However in all fairness to the woke idiots I will volunteer my services to pull down any statues erected to the Trudeau clan.
Very interesting article, as a former teacher (although I did not teach in public school) I am intrigued by the curriculum. There doesn't seem to be any curriculum about Canadian History per se, except how it relates to First Nations..and the overview course in Grade 10....I don't see anything on the immigrant experience from the French to the Asian diaspora, for example, or the founding of Canada as a nation.
I was very fortunate to attend public school in the 1950's when history and geography were actually taught as exclusive subjects. When a young indigenous boy, with the last name Brant, joined our school everyone recognized the historical significance of the name and he was overwhelmed by his sudden popularity and acceptance. The British North American Act of 1867 was known by all and our teacher even had us memorize the division of powers sections. The lessons learned in that three room school stayed with me all my life and were powerful stimulants for my love of history today. In another culture I might have been honored with the moniker, "Knowledge Keeper and Elder" (just kidding).
My own children were not so fortunate. History for them was part of a smorgasbord of unrelated topics thrown into a cultural blender that produced little flavor or any of the important ingredients. To compensate, our summer vacations were theme based trips to all parts of Canada with emphasis on visits to important historic sites and National Parks. Entertainment for the long periods of travel was provided by the iconic folk singer and patriot, Stompin Tom Connors, who seemed to have a signature song for every province we visited.
Professor Emeritus, Jack Granatstein, prophetically warned us of the impending educational holocaust we are currently experiencing back in 1998 with his iconic publication, "WHO KILLED CANADIAN HISTORY". Granatstein accurately pointed out that Canada was one of the few countries in the Western world that was not teaching its youth and new citizens its own history. The result, according to Granatstein, was ," a nation that does not understand and respect its own past."
So within the context of Granastein's articulate explanation of our educational crisis it is not difficult to understand the slanderous and disrespectful treatment of our historic leaders and institutions and the shameful actions of our parliamentarians in capriciously and erroneously accusing our country of genocide.
"History is a race between education and catastrophe. –H.G. Wells"
The present attack on our liberal institutions that now occupies our attention is not some arbitrary serendipitousness that let itself down into our world by its own bootstraps. It is one of many expressions of crisis now enveloping our economic, social and existential order, from the global platform to the familial.
There is a major contradiction within the twin pillars of Indulgence Capitalism as a result of the now ongoing collapse of the many and various Common's infrastructures that hold the whole system up and keeps it stable,
(Indulgence Capitalism is defined here as the result of the asset stripping transformation of a disciplined, rationed and scarcity driven economy and culture endowed with restrained, responsible, accountable and intellectually objectively derived patterns of collective institutional and personal behavior/judgement, by boundary delimited/obscured, deregulated, sectional interest and individually privatized, and subjective fantasy driven indulgence across all its platforms, regardless of the devastation caused to ecological, social and existential infrastructure)
Both the traditional mining/manufacturing/services and social reproduction/administrative pillars of Indulgence Capitalism are looking down the barrel of their own end. Both are unsustainable in their present form and intensity. Both are trying to obfuscate, deny and/or blame shift responsibility for the disaster that is coming upon them. Both are entirely correct in their assessment of the malfeasance and incompetence of the common's stewardship of the other. Both are struggling with the consequences of the business models that they set up over the last three generations of roll out of the system.
Neither side can reform sufficiently to save themselves, because they have so already weakened and pulped the very things that hold them up, any major shift will further undo them, which is why, despite the urgency of getting out of the carbon economy, the main response has been greenwash, and why The Woke are now so urgently and blatantly resorting to neo clerical heresy sniffing dogma and oracular authoritarianism, reminiscent of Dominican priests employed by The Inquisition, 500 years ago.
The washup is going to be a very uncomfortable and violent epochal transition that will force everybody to go back to the basics of what it means to run a sustainable economy and culture, that offers defensibility-in-depth, stability, a balance between responsible/accountable adult agency and liberty, and a capacity to raise and mentor children with an integrity that will empower them to become worthy successors of that profound pioneering effort.
I'm an elementary teacher who has worked at large independent schools in the Greater Toronto Area for the last 15 years. I also consult for a large technology firm that has allowed me to speak with elementary teachers nationwide.
This stuff has been around long before my time. It was always pushed by the activist teachers, who thankfully were largely ignored. However, the pandemic and George Floyd blew the doors off the common sense in the room. And it happened in the blink of an eye. In June 2020 I had no idea why someone would use they/them pronouns, let alone a child. By September 2020, I had a grade six class of 22 kids where 11(!) identified as they/them, the opposite gender or something wacky like zir. All of them but 1 were biological girls.
When I raised my hand and suggested that the 32 full-size inclusion flags in our tiny middle school hallway might actually be promoting gender dysphoria instead of the intended inclusion message, well, I'll let you guess what happened. I no longer work at that school.
Thankfully I now teach at a large single-sex school in Toronto where none of this nonsense exists...yet. There are seedlings everywhere, but I'm trying to stamp them out!
Keep doing great work! The middle school students I teach now have no interest in this stuff and openly mock it. If nothing else, we'll outgrow it eventually.
I personally think that a growing number of teenagers will rebel against being told what to think, as teenagers have done for generations. There will be those captured by the ideology, though, especially if it's been drilled into them from an early grade. What you say about the contagion of the non-binary ideology with respect to young girls is quite frightening.
Well, the video makes the point that teenagers actually need to be told what to think. The problem is, as teenagers do, they think they know it all and know what is best for them. Now that has meant that "affirmation clinics" don't do any medical due diligence at all and take what a teenager says to them at face value. If I change my sex (which isn't medically possible really) I will get rid of all these bad feelings. How this relates to schools is as you say, ideology being drilled into them from an early grade. the ONE student who complained about Mr. McMurtry was simply parroting back what has been instilled in every facet of their education. So if teenagers need to be told what to think we best make sure that what we're telling them is the right thing. in every way.
I would say teenagers need to be taught how to think critically. As you say, the one student who complained was parroting back what was instilled. Indoctrination is not education, no matter who does it. On the other hand, teenagers do think they know it all, and they need limits and boundaries, they also need room to forge their own thinking, to learn how to question and to reason. Jason Alexander, the Ontario boy who argued back against what he was taught to think in school, is one example.
Blue state US teacher here and same phenomenon! After the tumultuous summer of 2020, when so many people were locked down and glued to BLM-saturated social media, the social justice warrior teachers came back to school on a mission, literally. They went around my high school with carts "weeding" books with "cis white males" on the cover (I'm not kidding) and began an indoctrination campaign of DEI trainings. I think the lunacy of gender identity theory and the epidemic of depression among our youth may signal the end of this phase but what comes next? What do reasonable people want a new normal to look like? Here in the States I feel trapped between truly bigoted and homophobic Confederate flag wavers and the lunatic fringe Trans rainbow crowd. Moderates have no voice. Hope you can figure it out better up north!
you're right, moderates have no voice. Any deviation from the view of the left places us, in their opinion, firmly in the "homophobic Confederate flag wavers" camp. I'm not sure we are figuring it out better up here.
this is a heartbreaking video on "gender affirmation" in the US. it's a difficult watch and likely won't remain posted. Worth watching though. https://odysee.com/@AFFIRMATION_GENERATION:8/AFFIRMATION-GENERATION-Feb18.mp4_SD_DOWNLOAD:8?fbclid=IwAR1CSZbn3kyv-Rj-hlGsGJyQ1ypT6OkHMVhyTeCx3MSyOzDsYuxHmg6111c
Wow, thanks for that firsthand report. I was a teacher a number of years ago so I know how precious "progressive" thought is to most teachers, and their unions (and the Admins, for that matter), but when I taught there was little of the social justice agenda actually being taught.
Gee golly whiz those courses will not do you much good if you wish to become a lawyer, doctor , engineer, accountant, or even a cashier at your local supermarket. I also wonder how well you will do going for a job overseas or even in the US as a graduate of the Nibi Emodsaawdang school (dang it). We need to ask ourself if it is a good thing to re-write history and tear down statues I do know that it did not work out to well for the Taliban, the Nazis, the Russians or at the inquisition nor has it changed the deep south after tearing down Confederate statues.
However in all fairness to the woke idiots I will volunteer my services to pull down any statues erected to the Trudeau clan.
Comments above better than my article. What bright people.
Very interesting article, as a former teacher (although I did not teach in public school) I am intrigued by the curriculum. There doesn't seem to be any curriculum about Canadian History per se, except how it relates to First Nations..and the overview course in Grade 10....I don't see anything on the immigrant experience from the French to the Asian diaspora, for example, or the founding of Canada as a nation.
I was very fortunate to attend public school in the 1950's when history and geography were actually taught as exclusive subjects. When a young indigenous boy, with the last name Brant, joined our school everyone recognized the historical significance of the name and he was overwhelmed by his sudden popularity and acceptance. The British North American Act of 1867 was known by all and our teacher even had us memorize the division of powers sections. The lessons learned in that three room school stayed with me all my life and were powerful stimulants for my love of history today. In another culture I might have been honored with the moniker, "Knowledge Keeper and Elder" (just kidding).
My own children were not so fortunate. History for them was part of a smorgasbord of unrelated topics thrown into a cultural blender that produced little flavor or any of the important ingredients. To compensate, our summer vacations were theme based trips to all parts of Canada with emphasis on visits to important historic sites and National Parks. Entertainment for the long periods of travel was provided by the iconic folk singer and patriot, Stompin Tom Connors, who seemed to have a signature song for every province we visited.
Professor Emeritus, Jack Granatstein, prophetically warned us of the impending educational holocaust we are currently experiencing back in 1998 with his iconic publication, "WHO KILLED CANADIAN HISTORY". Granatstein accurately pointed out that Canada was one of the few countries in the Western world that was not teaching its youth and new citizens its own history. The result, according to Granatstein, was ," a nation that does not understand and respect its own past."
So within the context of Granastein's articulate explanation of our educational crisis it is not difficult to understand the slanderous and disrespectful treatment of our historic leaders and institutions and the shameful actions of our parliamentarians in capriciously and erroneously accusing our country of genocide.
"History is a race between education and catastrophe. –H.G. Wells"
Amazing article very insightful, thank you so much for this article our parent group will love it
The present attack on our liberal institutions that now occupies our attention is not some arbitrary serendipitousness that let itself down into our world by its own bootstraps. It is one of many expressions of crisis now enveloping our economic, social and existential order, from the global platform to the familial.
There is a major contradiction within the twin pillars of Indulgence Capitalism as a result of the now ongoing collapse of the many and various Common's infrastructures that hold the whole system up and keeps it stable,
(Indulgence Capitalism is defined here as the result of the asset stripping transformation of a disciplined, rationed and scarcity driven economy and culture endowed with restrained, responsible, accountable and intellectually objectively derived patterns of collective institutional and personal behavior/judgement, by boundary delimited/obscured, deregulated, sectional interest and individually privatized, and subjective fantasy driven indulgence across all its platforms, regardless of the devastation caused to ecological, social and existential infrastructure)
Both the traditional mining/manufacturing/services and social reproduction/administrative pillars of Indulgence Capitalism are looking down the barrel of their own end. Both are unsustainable in their present form and intensity. Both are trying to obfuscate, deny and/or blame shift responsibility for the disaster that is coming upon them. Both are entirely correct in their assessment of the malfeasance and incompetence of the common's stewardship of the other. Both are struggling with the consequences of the business models that they set up over the last three generations of roll out of the system.
Neither side can reform sufficiently to save themselves, because they have so already weakened and pulped the very things that hold them up, any major shift will further undo them, which is why, despite the urgency of getting out of the carbon economy, the main response has been greenwash, and why The Woke are now so urgently and blatantly resorting to neo clerical heresy sniffing dogma and oracular authoritarianism, reminiscent of Dominican priests employed by The Inquisition, 500 years ago.
The washup is going to be a very uncomfortable and violent epochal transition that will force everybody to go back to the basics of what it means to run a sustainable economy and culture, that offers defensibility-in-depth, stability, a balance between responsible/accountable adult agency and liberty, and a capacity to raise and mentor children with an integrity that will empower them to become worthy successors of that profound pioneering effort.
https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/2205477-Luthers-Last-Laugh-Indulgermania