Since my kids started virtual school this semester, I am seeing and hearing classroom discourse that I otherwise might not be privy to had they returned to a bricks-and-mortar school. 1/ #BlackLivesMatter Edition https://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2020/08/28/the-politics-of-teaching-blacklivesmatter-edition/ via @plthomasEdD

I’m heartened by a few of my kids' teachers who are making their virtual learning spaces LGBTQ and BLM friendly. I also enjoy following local admin and teachers on Twitter who express their political views morally and ethically, with transparency and without partisanship. 2/

Experienced teachers are models for young teachers at a time when young teachers predominate a professional field that is quickly shrinking due to retirement and attritions. These novice teachers will likely assume an apolitical stance out of fear and self-preservation, 3/

when now, more than ever, we need teachers to model civil discourse and not be afraid to challenge the status quo. It's hard work, as many first-year teachers begin their careers as "outsiders" in new communities where they may not be familiar with local standards and mores. 4/

It seems logical for early-career teachers to fall in line, not make waves. But they MUST know that their decision to do so is a political choice, and, by their silence, they are complicit in reproducing values and standards that may conflict with their own principles. 5/

I speak from experience as one of those teachers who was and, to some degree, still is complicit. This is perhaps the toughest part of teaching and helps explain why attrition rates are what they are. 6/

The silencing of teachers — who are mostly female, by no coincidence — is psychically damaging, emotionally exhausting, and thoroughly ruinous. (And you thought it was because of low pay.) 7/

In fact, name any factor commonly attributed to teacher burnout, and it will almost surely point you straight back to a labor “force” that exercises little agency or control over its work conditions. 8/

Because politics is always about "the negotiation of power in any human interaction," when teachers opt out of the negotiation, they surrender whatever power they had in the first place. 9/9