slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Valerie Strauss

You may recall that President Trump held a border wall rally in El Paso on Monday and that his eldest child, Donald Trump Jr., made a speech that roused the crowd.

The president’s son drew cheers when he urged young conservatives to “bring it to your schools” (though he didn’t say exactly what “it” was) because “you don’t have to be indoctrinated by these loser teachers that are trying to sell you on socialism from birth.”

Three teachers explain why Trump Jr.'s comment was more than simply mean.

Jelmer Evers of the Netherlands, Michael Soskil of the United States and Armand Doucet of Canada were featured authors in the 2018 book “Teaching in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Standing at the Precipice.”

Evers is also the author of “Flip the System: Changing Education From the Ground Up.” Soskil was the 2017-18 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year. Doucet was a recipient of Canada’s teachers award and is the author of “Teaching Life: Our Calling, Our Choices, Our Challenges.”

By Jelmer Evers, Michael Soskil and Armand Doucet.....

“You know what I love? I love seeing some young conservatives because I know it’s not easy. (Crowd applauds and shouts.) Keep up that fight. Bring it to your schools. You don’t have to be indoctrinated by these loser teachers that are trying to sell you on socialism from birth. You don’t have to do it. Because you can think for yourselves. They can’t.” (Crowd applauds and shouts again.) – Donald Trump Jr. in Texas on Feb. 11, 2019

For teachers around the globe, this was a chilling moment.

In a stadium filled with people chanting “USA, USA,” the son of the president of the United States called for hostility toward teachers because of their so-called political leanings. This is a message you would expect in an authoritarian regime, not at a rally for the U.S. president.

As teachers, we come from varied backgrounds and political leanings, but there is an undeniable core to who we are and what we stand for. Teachers nurture, care and protect students. Teachers champion the pursuit of knowledge.

By working daily with young people, teachers are the stewards of the future. Whether Democratic or Republican, liberal or conservative, right, left, center, blue or red — seeing and reinforcing the value of a teacher should be a national pillar that rises high above partisan politics and cheap applause.

Throughout history, schools and teachers have always been among the first to be targeted by authoritarian regimes and extremists. Independent thinking, creativity, compassion and curiosity are threats to dogmatic beliefs and rule.

Many of our colleagues in countries ravaged by war or in shackled societies teach in difficult circumstances. They are often ruthlessly persecuted and even k**led for providing a well-balanced education to children, which should be a basic human right.

Echoes of these authoritarian practices are increasingly being heard in democratic countries as well. In Germany, the radical right party Alternative for Germany has launched a website where students and parents can report “left-wing teachers.”

In the Netherlands, right-wing parliamentarians have called on students to out their socialist teachers because they were indoctrinating their students in “c*****e c****e propaganda.”

In Canada, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has accused student unions of “crazy Marxist nonsense” and has raised alarms by throwing out one of the most progressive sex education curriculums, which dealt with topics from consent, to g****r identity to “sexting” in the age of social media.

In Hungary, textbooks are censored to follow the government’s nationalistic agenda. After years of denouncing teachers and schools, President Jair Bolsonaro’s first education policy in Brazil is to go after the “Marxist” curriculums, which bars teachers talking about feminism and L***Q issues.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has fired thousands of teachers. In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte is attacking teacher unions.

Research by the United Nations has shown that the globe is spinning toward a dramatic teacher shortage, with analysts predicting a shortage of 69 million teachers by 2030. This is the crisis we should be talking about.

We’ve seen overcrowded classrooms, long working hours, lack of professional development, burn out, low salaries, terrible retention rates and teachers across the United States striking to demand better teaching and learning conditions.

How does Donald Trump Jr.’s description of teachers as “losers” and the encouragement of hostility toward us solve these problems? How does it ignite passion in a new generation to pursue the world’s most important profession?

If we can be accused of anything, it is that we are on the front line of democracy. Education reformer John Dewey famously said, “Democracy has to be born again each generation and education is its midwife.”

As members of a global profession, we reject the narrowing of the mind and we stand by our colleagues defending academic freedom. We call upon parents, teachers and politicians to stand with us. Our academic freedom is what allows our democracies to remain strong.

Quakerwidow Loc: Chestertown, MD

Amen.

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Can't say as I agree with all of the points that the article used for support..

But its premise gets 101% (I teach English, not math ) of my support...

That was an i***tic comment...
And I hope he apologizes for it...

Cheers Slat.. Great post

Kevyn

They used to say “the Apple dosn’t fall far from the tree” in this instance “the turd dosn’t drop far from the arsehole” is more appropriate.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

I agree with your comments, CD. It's not often that I agree 100% with a cut 'n paste article. Instead, the gist of a message is what should carry the day.

Wolf counselor Loc: Heart of Texas

If the teacher, professor, instructor, etc ; are teaching these youngsters the same as what Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer has been teaching you and the rest of their left wing constituents, then I would definitely say they 'all' fit the description of loser.

That's my spin and I'm stickin' to it.

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

The more I look at it, the more irrate I become...

Teachers teach the curriculum provided...
If there is fault to be found it should be with the people who put the curriculum together...

There are some pretty lousy teachers out there... But the majority are worthy of our utmost respect...

Back in high school and university I didn't agree with everything I was taught... But I was fortunate enough to have teachers who challenged me to challenge them...

The comment was worthy of a redneck tennis ball... Clang!

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Clang!

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

The difference is in being taught how to think for yourself, and taught WHAT to think. Free thinking has ever been the salvation of democracy...............and the bane of autocratic ideologies.

What is interesting ( and terrifying ), is that the people who accuse schools of brainwashing children and promoting Marxist ideology, themselves want to censor what ideas children are exposed to, want to dictate behavior and punish those that do not conform.............................just like every Marxist society known to mankind.

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Spoken like an educated gentleman...

Mllstd40

So Wrong

Gatsby

Jr. was not referring to all teachers, only those who abuse their position of trust

to advance their own political agenda ("serial" sexual identity).

They are charged with a sacred trust to Educate our youth, it is truly shameful to abuse

that trust, to advance their own political agenda.

Those most guilty, will be the most inflamed.

"You don’t have to be indoctrinated by these loser teachers

that are trying to sell you on socialism from birth."

Lonewolf

Canuckus Deploracus Loc: North of the wall

Care to provide an example of said 'loser' teachers?

Gatsby

Those who refute biology, to advance sexual fantasy.