I have often shared Frederick Hess’ insights on schools here.
Unfortunately, for the first time, I feel moved to critique one of his pieces that just appeared in U.S. News, Stop Teaching Anti-Trump Bias (thanks to Alexander Russo for sharing it on Twitter). The piece says, among other things, that educator “histrionics” are causing student anxieties about the impact of a Trump Presidency.
I have to wonder if Rick or his co-author have been in a public school over the past week, or if they’ve seen these news reports over the past few days:
Trump surrogates are already citing Japanese internment camps from WW II as “precedent” for Muslim registry pic.twitter.com/DVnjtom0mc
— Brendan Karet (@bad_takes) November 17, 2016
Donald Trump’s proposed “Muslim registry,” explained is from Vox.
How Painful Can Trump Make the Lives of Immigrants? is from Slate.
“What happens January 21?” How California’s Latino immigrants felt the week after the election. is from Vox.
Donald Trump promises to deport 3 million “illegal immigrant criminals.” That’s literally impossible. is from Vox.
Donald Trump is doing a great job on his own fueling those anxieties – no help is needed from teachers.
I’m sure some teachers — on both sides — have not handled this past week as well as they should have done. However, I’m equally sure that thousands have done a good job, using lessons like the ones found at The Best Posts & Articles On How To Teach “Controversial” Topics and at the bottom of The Best Sites To Learn About The 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections, including the ones I did in my own classroom.
Educators get blamed for enough problems that we don’t cause – let’s not add another one to the list.
ADDENDUM: This post was picked up by The Washington Post, which reprinted a portion in an expanded critique of the article. It’s headlined Educators get blamed for everything. Now, it’s for fanning fear of Trump.
Thank you Larry! I would say that most of my peers are *calming* anxieties.