{"id":137521,"date":"2023-11-18T11:58:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-18T16:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=137521"},"modified":"2023-11-18T12:00:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-18T17:00:38","slug":"worried-about-your-kids-politics-just-look-at-what-our-english-teachers-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/worried-about-your-kids-politics-just-look-at-what-our-english-teachers-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Worried about your kids’ politics? Just look at what our English teachers do."},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’ve been scratching your head at how so many college and high school students can be out there protesting for<\/em> Hamas and against<\/em> Israel, look no further than the National Council of Teachers of English.<\/p>\n

The organization, which began its annual convention<\/a> on Thursday, claims<\/a> to “improve the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.”<\/p>\n

So why, then, does it put out a “Statement on Palestinian Genocide<\/a>“?<\/p>\n

Here’s why: Its Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English “believes ignoring current global realities hampers students ability to learn, process, and comprehend the world in critical ways.”<\/p>\n

As such, it “stands for Palestinians’ right to self-determination and justice [and] against genocide.”<\/p>\n

What’s more, since the NCTE convention is in Ohio this year, the racism\/bias committee crafted a Native American land acknowledgement which manages to shoehorn the Palestinians into it:<\/p>\n

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MORE:<\/strong> The problem with English departments: they don\u2019t teach English<\/a><\/p>\n

And it only gets, er, better. Here are some of this year’s NCTE convention sessions (h\/t to Daniel Buck<\/a>):<\/p>\n

— “Learning for Critical Consciousness among Teacher Educators, Secondary Students, and Preservice Teachers in Literacy Education”<\/em> featured the sharing of strategies for “engaging with BIPOC narratives, histories, and literacies in the development of critical and culturally sustaining pedagogies.”<\/p>\n

One of the session speakers, Rutgers’ Lauren Kelly<\/a>, researches Black feminist theory, Hip Hop pedagogy, and, yes, critical consciousness.<\/p>\n

— “Using Critical Race Theory to Deconstruct the Historical Context in a Short Story: Learning how to Use CRT to Deepen Our Teaching of Literature.” <\/em>Wait — critical race theory … in our K-12 classrooms? We were told this is not true<\/a>! That such claims are lies<\/a>! (Sane people always knew better<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

— “Youth Climate Activism: Connecting Community, Ecosystems, and ELA Classrooms”<\/em> asked “How can we tap into our learners’ interests in climate justice?” Panelists “shared ideas” on how to connect literacy to science in order “to engage young people in ecoactivism.”<\/p>\n

— The description for “We Can Be Heroes: Queerness and Graphic Novels”<\/em> claims “queer books of all genres and formats” have been targets of book “bans.” Presenters Jung Kim (Lewis University; research interests include critical race theory, equity and social justice), shea wesley martin (Ohio State University; a “Black, queer, and not-quite-woman” who researches the “liberatory potential of embedding queer\/trans pedagogies and narratives in literacy learning spaces”) and others will discuss on Sunday “queer representation in graphic novels” and the “current challenges within a historical context.”<\/p>\n

— “Decolonizing the Department: Promoting Antiracist Grading Practices Through Collaboration and Networking”<\/em> features a quartet of teachers from a California high school who utilize “student-led grading.” The session asserts attendees will leave with “a plan […] for equitable [and] antiracist” grading.”<\/p>\n

These all should hardly be surprising given that a subcommittee of the NCTE once put out a list of demands<\/a> calling for an end to “White Mainstream English” in order to “decolonize” students’ brains and help them “unlearn white supremacy.”<\/p>\n

The Conference on College Composition and Communication Special Committee for the Statement on Anti-Black Racism and Black Linguistic Justice made its demands<\/a> in the “historical and sociopolitical context” of a “pandemic that [was] disproportionately infecting and killing Black people,” and the “anti-Black racist violence and murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and a growing list of Black people at the hands of the state and vigilantes.”<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Woke scholarship harms the humanities. Love of beauty can save them.<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGES: NCTE, Daniel Buck\/X<\/p>\n

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