Writing posts like the one about Richard Bilkszto yesterday, causes me a lot of anxiety in a world where people are looking to attack you and take you down for any opinions that descent from the so-called norm.
Regardless of how you feel about any particular social issue, this is not the way any of us should be made to feel for having an opinion. This is not the way I want any of our children to feel. We can’t teach them curiosity if a simple question or challenge to a point sends them cowering into a corner.
This past semester, my eldest was made to feel that way during her grade 11 ‘English’ course. I am of course being sarcastic when I place things into quotes all of the time. This particular instance is because the teacher chose to focus solely on Indigenous content, with no introduction to Shakespeare or any classic literature for that matter.
Now, the curriculum does state that “literary works should be drawn from many genres, historical periods, and cultures to reflect the diversity of Canada and the world.” Makes sense. Canada is a beautiful cultural mosaic. Learning about our First Nations people has thankfully increased in recent years. Great. I believe I have talked in length about my own passion for learning about Indigenous traditions and history. I want my kids to hold these same passions passed onto me by my grandfather.
I could list many things that bothered me about this educator, but the main issue I have is about how she handled in-class debates. This teacher has obvious biases which of course we all do, but it is my opinion that a teacher should try to not make their viewpoints obvious. The point of debate is to not have a right or wrong, but to welcome and argue opposing views, with the teacher being the non-biased moderator. To me, the most fascinating element of these discussions is not the points being argued, but that two people can bring such a diversity of thought to the question posed.
My daughter talked about how when she would argue a point, that her peers would mock her and tell her that she was wrong. Of course, that’s what our education is all about today; educators teaching kids what they believe to be truth within complex issues where the groups being discussed have different opinions within their own circles. The teacher never backed my daughter up by at least stating that a debate isn’t about telling the other they are wrong; it’s about articulating their own opinion on the given topic.
I’m proud of my daughter for standing up for what she believes in – most importantly the right to an opinion. She failed English, mind you, but how do you stay engaged when you love to write, want to be a teacher, and are hungry to learn the classics?
I need to work on helping my kids push through this kind of adversity as we have all had bad teachers and bosses over our lifetime, but we must find a way to push through. This issue is also further proof of the need to be an active part of your kids unlearning because if we continue to allow opinion to be passed as truth and for our children to feel like their thoughts on a given issue do not matter, there will be no curiosity, creativity and critical thinking left in education for our grandchildren.