Sensitive school subjects aren’t dangerous; they’re essential to education
The Florida governor and his team have made national news by rejecting textbooks recommended for use in elementary and middle-grade mathematics classrooms. Their objections are apparently based on claims that the 41% of books continued to rely on outdated Common Core standards, included references to critical race theory, and/or included passages related to social and emotional learning.
Next year is likely to bring a more difficult review season, with stronger divisions: K-12 social studies textbooks are to be considered for statewide school adoption. It is likely that there will be a confident claim from state leaders that the social studies books contain topics that, as education commissioner Richard Corcoran claimed regarding some mathematics textbooks, might lead to “indoctrination or exposure to dangerous and divisive concepts in our classrooms.”
Do the adolescents of Florida need to be kept away from thoughtful classroom exploration of social topics such as the following, which would likely be banned if they appeared in a textbook under the governor’s present criteria: School violence; contributions of the Latinx community to Florida’s arts and sciences; questions regarding national and international political trends; the impact of climate change on Florida’s coastal cities; and the connections between poverty and health? These are troubling issues, but they are of real social substance, and they matter to 21st-century students. They should not be excluded from study in today’s public schools for fear of discomfort or divisiveness.
Most of us would agree that it is a goal of public education for today’s adolescents to become engaged citizens. Essential to this goal is a focus on the historic events that have shaped United States culture and society. Will the state prevent students from reading about topics including slavery, Japanese internment camps, antisemitism, and the 1920 Ocoee Election Day Massacre? These are violent, ugly realities that have, along with beautiful moments, shaped the deeply nuanced society of the multicultural United States.
One of the teacher’s roles is to help students address these, and other, sensitive topics thoughtfully, respectfully, and knowledgeably. Teachers are adults with whom students are positioned to talk seriously about them. Further, students’ cognitive growth is enhanced when teachers present these difficult topics with practices that are grounded in care for students’ social and emotional well-being, which is simply their ability to feel and show empathy, and make positive decisions. A large body of research conducted over the last two decades has demonstrated a clear, consistent connection between cognitive growth and social emotional learning (SEL). Pairing cognitive and SEL growth goals is not a polemic or political idea, but good classroom practice.
Micromanagement of classroom materials by the state is perhaps surprising, but the larger context of the leaders’ decisions is far more worrying. On April 14, EdWeek Research Center/Merrimack College published results from a 2021-22 national teacher survey. The survey found that only 12% of today’s teachers are “very satisfied” with their jobs, and 44% of them are “very” or “fairly likely” to leave the profession in the next two years. This percentage has doubled in ten years. Fewer than a half would recommend teaching to their “younger selves.”
Teachers are demoralized and tired. They want autonomy but have little. They are walking away from their jobs, feeling that they are no longer appreciated by leaders or the public that, as recently as the start of the pandemic, honored their dedication. The profession itself is in real danger.
What can we do to help public education rebound? Let’s show our leaders how to publicly support public education and educators in our communities. Imagine how much more effective public school teachers could be if they worked in conditions in which their professional expertise and judgement were recognized, highly regarded, and rewarded.
Let’s urge our leaders to stand in support of the heroic work of teachers and teacher educators, and to join Floridians of all political parties in encouraging the cognitive, social, and emotional development of all public school students. It is time to work as a state to build upon the unlimited potential of every one of Florida’s students, and help them grow as critical thinkers and informed, engaged, compassionate citizens.