An Ohio teacher, who was reading The Sneetches to her Grade 3 class, was abruptly cut off by an admin when a student said "It's almost like what happened back then, how people were treated. Like, disrespected. Like, white people disrespected Black people.” dispatch.com/story/news/edu…
There's a bit more context, but none of it is exculpatory. The occasion was a visit from NPR's Planet Money, which was recording an episode about how economics gets discussed and taught in children's books. One of the readings that day was The Sneetches. And you can see why.
Robek, the teacher, is just a page or so in when the following exchange takes place.
If you're a teacher, this is gold. Noah, a 3rd grade student, has connected the book to something else he knows. He's thinking things through, analyzing a text, applying what he's learned. Parents, you know what I'm talking about. It's magic.
Suddenly, Beeman, a school admin present for the recording, starts waving her hands and interrupts Robek. "I just don't think it might be appropriate," she says of The Sneetches.
But the kids still really want to know how The Sneetches ends! Beeman tries to fend them off with some nonsense about standing up for your bellies, but they remain unsatisfied. So she says to go ask your parents.
Bear in mind that this was a comment initiated by the student, not the teacher. And note that the teacher was already moving on before the interruption. But as Beeman explained, parents should be warned before any conversation about discrimination takes place.
And that, said Jeffrey on Twitter that day
Is the stupidest thing I've heard anyone say.
Should teachers need parents to give their consent
Before any second of class time is spent
On answering students with questions on race?
My God. How'd we ever wind up in this place?
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There is no person on earth with a stronger claim to my house than me because when I am in it, I remember that it is where my daughter took her first steps. No theory of Indigeneity or ethno-religious descent is more powerful than that.
IOW, what matters is community.
A rant:
It's important to keep in mind what the real crime of settler colonialism is. Not "theft" per se. No single ethnic group or cultural lineage can own the land, and if your political theory claims otherwise, it is evil and I want nothing to do with it.
The real crime of settler colonialism is the destruction of communities, the loss of one's home, the denial of self-determination. After all, that's what really matters to you, right? The freedom to move through the world how you like and in the company of those you love.
Another lawsuit has been filed against an anti-CRT bill. This time it's in Tennessee. @ThePlumLineGS has the details, which are pretty crazy. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/…
@ThePlumLineGS The 2021 law at issue is what @PENamerica calls an "Inclusion" ban. That means it forbids K-12 teachers from including certain ideas in classroom instruction. The other types of bans, Compulsion and Promotion, are also bad, but less so.
@ThePlumLineGS @PENamerica In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that the law is unconstitutionally vague. It permits discussion of "controversial issues", but only if they're "impartial". What do "controversial" and "impartial" mean? I have no idea, nor (I suspect) does the state. tnea.org/_data/media/82…
This incredible admission comes after plaintiffs pointed out (and a lower court agreed) that the law's ban on saying that "[a] person, by virtue of his or her race, color, national origin, or sex should be discriminated against...to achieve DEI" would bar support for AA.
Is affirmative action good or bad? Does it achieve its stated goals or not? Should we keep it, change it, or get rid of it all together?
What plaintiffs were trying to do was make a reductio: Florida's argument, taken to its logical conclusion, would ban faculty -- and even...
The brain drain is real. Tampa Bay Times pulled records on faculty retention at four Florida universities. Resignations are way up, failed searches are common, fear and self-censorship are palpable. A disaster in the making.
“These may be the times that try men’s souls (Thomas Paine, The Crisis, 1776), wherein the masses, yearning to breathe free (Colossus, 1883, Statue of Liberty) were instead everywhere enchained (Rousseau, Social Contract Theory…
Under HB 1069 (signed by DeSantis in May), county residents may object to any book they feel "depicts or describes sexual conduct." Challenged books must be immediately removed and quarantined pending the outcome of a formal review.
There is one exception, but it is narrow: books that are part of a sex ed course or have been explicitly approved by the Florida Board of Education. Remember this. It's going to matter in a sec.
https://t.co/YDdQfdajaHflsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2…