Thread by @MPaiMD

I’ve been following the conversation around #OntEd’s destreamed math curriculum. Today I read this thoughtful thread from @realJ_Mitchell. Please take a look, then come on back for my take as a mom, an Ontario voter, and a university educator.

https://twitter.com/realJ_Mitchell/status/1415285871415373831?s=20

My students are well past school-age, but my kids aren’t. And my work exposes me to the direct impacts of structural racism, sexism, and colonialism on adults. Here’s what I’ve learned in my career, and how I think it intersects with the issue Jamie discusses:

The point of education - especially elementary and secondary - is to prepare kids for the world they’re entering. To teach them how to think critically, how to reckon with our collective past and repeat the good parts while honestly addressing and working to repair the horrors…

It’s to teach them that they live in a world filled with all kinds of people - many who are different from them. Acting disrespectfully, not understanding context, and propping up systems that keep others down… that’s not going to work in the world our kids are emerging into.

Justice, equity, environmental and cultural awareness…. These are big picture issues which must be weaved into the curriculum. Every part of the curriculum. Doing so will equip our kids to survive and thrive in the world.

We don't just do this because it "feels good." It's because it's essential. Not equipping them with an understanding of these realities is like asking them to navigate the globe but not tipping them off that we've discovered the world isn't actually flat.

I have a bachelors degree in science, and a masters degree in research methods (which involved a whole lot of math). Anyone who thinks that science & math exist in a bubble, separate from the world, with no relationship to culture / society is deeply misinformed.

Pretending that science & math are separate from society is the most naive take ever. It serves nobody. Except people who want to twist (of all things) school curriculum to meet their own ends: as talking heads / politicians who are more about cult of personality than substance…

I see patients who have been harmed due to lack of opportunity, the objective health effects of racism and colonialism, and an education that didn’t teach them to think critically. I’m disappointed that they’ve been ill served by a system that should have done more for them.

This year the public education system - with a whole lot of stakeholder input - tried to do better. BUT then the government walked it back. To please who? Not the majority of voters. Not Ontarians who work hard, try to help their neighbours, try to do better for their kids.

They changed it to please a bunch of far-right politicians (who in some cases don’t even live in this country). Because it’s an election year... And we have to keep these people comfy cozy.... Or they might get mad! And sway those precious votes! 🙄

Whatever your political or social leanings: understand that keeping things “the same” will not serve our kids. It will not help Ontario be a competitive, thriving force in the world. It will please people with deep pockets and big twitter followings. And that’s not right.

I expect educators to educate. To design high quality curricula that will help every kid reach their full potential, and create a better society for us all. They did that. And then their efforts were torn down. Every Ontarian should know about this, every Ontarian should care.