Only woke principals to be recruited: the PDSB is embarrassing itself again

Dividing educators with radical ideology

By

James Pew

Last week, former teacher Chanel Pfahl published a Twitter thread about the principal and vice principal hiring criteria at the Peel District School Board (PDSB). I have reassembled that tweet thread, including highlighted images of the board documents, and added some of my own commentary. Chanel’s comments from Twitter are in bold. Let’s begin.

Here’s the application criteria for the position of vice principal and principal at the Peel District School Board.

Ex: “clear commitment to […] leading through an anti-oppressive framework,” “focused on decolonizing the curriculum and learning environment,” etc.

In the above principal and vice principal promotion documents, the sixth criteria is the demonstration by candidates of “intentional and impactful interruption of acts of oppression and racism […]” is particularly alarming. Of course we oppose racism, and of course we oppose oppression - that’s not the issue - but this formulation makes one thing clear: this is Critical Race Theory praxis in action. It is looking at issues of race and oppression through a specific, illiberal lens. What kind of environment is a school, or any public institution, where people seeking employment opportunities must adopt a specific political ideology to be successful? Where people are incentivized, even required, to demonstrate their affinity for Red Guard philosophy to get a promotion?

It is worth pausing on criteria number six to remember that Critical Race Theory (CRT) sees racism in all situations. According to “anti-racists,” who view the world through a CRT lens, it is just a matter of being able to identify how the racism took place, not whether it did. In other words, future PDSB principals and vice principals must, as a prerequisite, perform publicly the “interruption of racism” - which should be easy since apparently everything is racist, but this also means that any innocent person can easily be used as a target or scapegoat, and be called out for non-existent racism that only anti-racists can see, so someone else can get their vice principal or principal promotion.

This seems like a deliberate attempt to be divisive, and to clearly exclude candidates who won’t tow the line of a radical ideology. And when one considers that the emphasis is on anti-black racism and that future principals and vice principals (and everyone else who might want to be employed in education) must always be “doing the work” of dismantling white supremacy, then one starts getting the impression that what is called combating anti-black racism, is actually practicing anti-white racism.

Other suggestions & criteria to become a principal or VP in Peel:

In the above, candidates are told that “important steps” must be completed before starting the application process, and that they must compile an “Evidence of Growth portfolio” (#3), which includes showing supporting evidence for the candidates commitment to equity, anti-oppression and anti-racism. These prerequisites essentially incentivize those interested in applying to militate against fellow employees and citizens. To take this perverse form of activism with them wherever they go. To scrutinize others in the workplace or the larger public using the same negatively skewed mode of critique employed by self-described anti-racists. To accuse anyone who disagrees with overt and militant anti-racists, as being overt and militant racists. To see racism where it is not, and feel compelled to “interrupt it,” and show evidence of oppression that wasn’t there but was never-the-less somehow interrupted anyway, is thought of simply as “doing the work.” But it is known broadly by all clear thinking adults not infected with the woke mind virus, as the paragon of performative moral grandstanding, the disgusting, shameless, and sadly, ubiquitous practice of naïve social justice do-gooding and gutless woke virtue signaling.

Here are screenshots from the “Peel Equity Leadership Competencies Framework” document mentioned above.

Ex: “How have you leveraged your power and privilege to question or challenge racial and other forms of inequities, and to promote justice and fair treatment for all?”

In the above, there is so much repetition of woke buzzwords and ideas, it doesn’t take an I.F. Stone to see that the pattern of concern over equity is always about discrimination against black and indigenous and others in “historically marginalized” groups. That white people, the only group excluded from categories like - “visible minority,” “BIPOC,” or “historically marginalized” - are routinely absent from all such accountings of those groups deemed susceptible to racism/oppression, implies guilt.

When white supremacy is invoked - or the term systemic racism, which really means the “systems of white supremacy” - one can consider it confirmed that equity is really about the othering of white people, and the re-education of all people to loathe “whiteness.” Equity ensures that “whiteness,” or the customs, cultures, or characteristics of people who belong to various ethnic groups that happen to have white skin, are to be despised by everyone. White people and non-white people are meant to interrupt, disrupt, dismantle, abolish, erase, and obliterate all aspects of whiteness a.k.a cultural features commonly associated with people who have white skin. You can’t get more racist and awful than this.

Applicants are expected to “provide a written account with 3 authentic examples of the work done” for each one, and answers will be used to determine “leadership readiness.”

In the real world, polices like these don’t dismantle anything. They simply lead to far too much virtue signaling, pearl-clutching, moral grand-standing, and power tripping. Not good.

___

Thanks for reading. For more analysis on wokeism in education read, ETFO Recommends Gender Lessons for Your 5 Year Old by Canadian teacher Chanel Pfahl, AND for more analysis of the PDSB read, Woke Supervisor Hands Back Control of the Peel District School Board by anonymous high school teacher, Igor Stravinsky.

There are now two ways to support Woke Watch Canada through donations:

1) By subscribing to the paid version of the Woke Watch Canada Newsletter for - $5/month or $50/year

2) By donating to the Canadian School Board Investigation fund, which is raising money to expand Woke Watch Canada’s research and investigation into dysfunctional Canadian school boards.