I appreciate your efforts here and can see how the legislative change you describe led to CRT-like pedagogy in Ontario schools, but as a high school English teacher and then department head in downtown Toronto from 1987-2013, I can't recall very much if any of what we now call woke policy being discussed, let alone implemented, in TDSB schools. Sure, there was always talk of how to better address racism in society, and I modified my approach in related lessons to show more sensitivity, but I don't recall the oppressor-oppressed narrative becoming noticeable until about 2008-2010. And when I retired in 2013, while various teachers had become pomo advocates, institutional pressure to adopt this philosophy was minimal. Related workshops may have been offered on PD days, but I never went to any of them. The self-righteous overtones would have repelled me. Gender issues never came up; this conflict is entirely due to trans activism and I can't recall it ever being discussed when I was a teacher.
Clearly, that has all changed dramatically since then. The first Board initiative I recall responding to was in about 2010 when, as a "Curriculum Leader", I was required to identify a "racialized" community in my school, an alternative school with about 120 students, about 80% white. Given that racialized in this context meant disadvantaged, and given that no group in my school was clearly disadvantaged, I identified students with excessive anxiety as the most disadvantaged in our community. I was surprised that the Board accepted this, but to their credit, they acknowledged this group as notably disadvantaged, and that was that. And given that excessive anxiety is at the root of a lot of woke thinking, this all made sense. No doubt, identifying anxiety as a symptom of being racialized would not be accepted today.
By 2010 woke advocates became more prominent and strident at staff meetings, yet I could still speak my mind freely with no fear of censure in the classroom, at staff meetings and in social situations. That said, newer teachers by that time were conversant in IP and brought it into the classroom.
Trusting unions to fight for members was always a 50/50 proposition, but now, from what I've heard and read, they will not support members who voice any opposition to the woke orthodoxy. Similarly, school superintendents will not support dissenting teachers and won't engage with parents on related issues either. A sad state of affairs in a Board, which, before amalgamation, was a model for upholding Enlightenment ideals.
Thank you for sharing this Peter. You are correct in everything you are saying. When the Harris government took over from Bob Rae in 1996, they got rid of all the antiracism and equity stuff. This will be the topic of up coming article. What this shows is that, even though Harris attempted to kill what he correctly identified as ideology rooted in identity politics, this insidious woke movement that subverts liberal democratic norms, is not so easy to kill!
What I noticed, as my children went through the English Catholic system was a trend toward mindless environmentalism.
No. There was the time when the school principal gave my 11 or 12yo daughter (@2004) a novel to read. It was award-winning (Silver Birch?). Not a bad book until the end, when the mum of one student fell in love and moved in with the female RCMP officer...
It's bad enough Neo-Marxist critical theory maniacs are destroying civilization. Using Ginger from Gilligan's Island somehow makes it worse.... What is really appalling is that there was no one in the education establishment who recognized this poison for what it was. Hard to believe anyone could be fooled by counterfeit terms like "antiracism" (a nice, convenient shorthand for the more commonly used term "racism"). Now, of course, the barbarians are well past the gate.....
I appreciate your efforts here and can see how the legislative change you describe led to CRT-like pedagogy in Ontario schools, but as a high school English teacher and then department head in downtown Toronto from 1987-2013, I can't recall very much if any of what we now call woke policy being discussed, let alone implemented, in TDSB schools. Sure, there was always talk of how to better address racism in society, and I modified my approach in related lessons to show more sensitivity, but I don't recall the oppressor-oppressed narrative becoming noticeable until about 2008-2010. And when I retired in 2013, while various teachers had become pomo advocates, institutional pressure to adopt this philosophy was minimal. Related workshops may have been offered on PD days, but I never went to any of them. The self-righteous overtones would have repelled me. Gender issues never came up; this conflict is entirely due to trans activism and I can't recall it ever being discussed when I was a teacher.
Clearly, that has all changed dramatically since then. The first Board initiative I recall responding to was in about 2010 when, as a "Curriculum Leader", I was required to identify a "racialized" community in my school, an alternative school with about 120 students, about 80% white. Given that racialized in this context meant disadvantaged, and given that no group in my school was clearly disadvantaged, I identified students with excessive anxiety as the most disadvantaged in our community. I was surprised that the Board accepted this, but to their credit, they acknowledged this group as notably disadvantaged, and that was that. And given that excessive anxiety is at the root of a lot of woke thinking, this all made sense. No doubt, identifying anxiety as a symptom of being racialized would not be accepted today.
By 2010 woke advocates became more prominent and strident at staff meetings, yet I could still speak my mind freely with no fear of censure in the classroom, at staff meetings and in social situations. That said, newer teachers by that time were conversant in IP and brought it into the classroom.
Trusting unions to fight for members was always a 50/50 proposition, but now, from what I've heard and read, they will not support members who voice any opposition to the woke orthodoxy. Similarly, school superintendents will not support dissenting teachers and won't engage with parents on related issues either. A sad state of affairs in a Board, which, before amalgamation, was a model for upholding Enlightenment ideals.
Thank you for sharing this Peter. You are correct in everything you are saying. When the Harris government took over from Bob Rae in 1996, they got rid of all the antiracism and equity stuff. This will be the topic of up coming article. What this shows is that, even though Harris attempted to kill what he correctly identified as ideology rooted in identity politics, this insidious woke movement that subverts liberal democratic norms, is not so easy to kill!
What I noticed, as my children went through the English Catholic system was a trend toward mindless environmentalism.
No. There was the time when the school principal gave my 11 or 12yo daughter (@2004) a novel to read. It was award-winning (Silver Birch?). Not a bad book until the end, when the mum of one student fell in love and moved in with the female RCMP officer...
I called the principal out on that
Great article!
It's bad enough Neo-Marxist critical theory maniacs are destroying civilization. Using Ginger from Gilligan's Island somehow makes it worse.... What is really appalling is that there was no one in the education establishment who recognized this poison for what it was. Hard to believe anyone could be fooled by counterfeit terms like "antiracism" (a nice, convenient shorthand for the more commonly used term "racism"). Now, of course, the barbarians are well past the gate.....