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The Dangers of Teaching A Selective Memory

As Remembrance Day draws near I fear the current movement to tell half truths and erase parts of our history are going to have some dire consequences. When older generations see young people toppling statues and spouting historical ignorance under the logic of the ends justifying the means, we all have reason to be worried.

You don’t have to connect many dots to lay the blame at our education system. Schools are where we teach our history, celebrate our victories and learn from our mistakes. What started with shedding more light on Canada’s sins, has now devolved to removing accomplished figures in education for the crime of being white.

Schools across Ontario have already started removing our first Prime Minister, Sir John A, from the names of schools bearing his name. Parks have removed or boarded up his statue. Those who objected were reminded of his role in establishing residential schools. He should be in a museum, not a park, is the progressive cry. But you need to meet people where they are. Nothing is learned from removal, but it does happen when you add context and balance. In doing so you might remind Canadians that without the contributions of Macdonald, Trump might be our President - again. Yes, adding context would have been a nice compromise, but when your goal is to erase, why confuse the masses with facts.

Next “progressives” came after the police. Liaison officers were removed from schools because males in police uniforms are a negative emotional trigger for people and communities who have faced police brutality and mistreatment. I do not doubt the concern, but avoidance is not how problems are solved. Students need to see uniformed officers in non – threatening situations and interact with them personally, so negative associations can be undone, and trust established. It is also important for officers to interact with all members of the community in these same environments to dismantle any of their own prejudice. But that is of no matter to people who leverage their own virtue on the backs of others.

I argued in this space that Truth and Reconciliation Day should be given the same reverence in schools as Remembrance Day. While I am glad that is the case, I never thought a day meant to remind all of us of the horrors of war would now be overshadowed. Once again we see the effort to manage our history by picking and choosing what is told. It is ironic that we have decided the way to include teaching the dark sins of our past is to exclude the lessons we’ve always taught. It’s like we don’t believe two things can be true at the same time and that students can only hold so many truths at once.

In the latest move, schools in an effort to attract more diversity in school administrators, are removing the paintings and photos of school principals. Not because of sins or ties to the past, but because of their race. Again, while I wholeheartedly support the goal, it’s the tear down methods these social justice warriors use that I oppose. Instead of putting up images of education leaders from diverse backgrounds to inspire, school boards pick the low hanging fruit of removing educational leaders to check off their equity to do box. Perhaps once we do have more diverse leaders we will stop making these bad decisions.

If you didn’t know schools were doing all this I am not surprised. “Progressives” would rather treat parents like mushrooms, which tells you something about the merits of their actions.

For those who believe the impact of these policies is of little consequence and concern I offer the following caution. Look at the negative blowback that has arrived and what is surely coming. When you try to push people out of their comfort zone with society’s most cherished souls - you can expect them to push back. Political opportunists seeking power or retaining it will seize on the discontent with policies that are usually more dramatic than a return to the norm. So take your students to a political protest, and school boards will end field trips and political discussion altogether. Host drag queen story time and policies will be put in place to screen anyone coming into the school - even fellow educators or the police. Ontario citizens only have to look at what’s going on in other jurisdictions to see what happens when the culture wars enter the school system.

If schools keep ignoring parents it won’t take them long to give up on public education altogether. Record enrollment of private education is already here, will tax credit vouchers and charter schools be next. I certainly hope not, but it is time for moderates in public education to sound the alarm.

Educators who view schools as their own social experiment need to be reigned in. That doesn’t mean that school boards should ignore societal issues like inequity or racial and historical injustice. But it does mean that policies to address these issues can’t be made in a vacuum. Bringing in all stakeholders may slow the process, but it will lead to better solutions that galvanize communities rather than divide them.

The impact on schools from upset parents pales in comparison to what can happen when we ignore the lessons of HIS story in order to white wash our past.

History is the best teacher, but only if we teach the whole story. While I applaud the efforts to shine the light on our dark secrets, we risk history repeating itself when we cherry pick the lessons being taught.

By Gregory Cawsey

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