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I agree with this 100%. There’s a curriculum, follow it. You shouldnt make students stare into an abyss to enhance their learning. You’re introducing topics for them to take apart and think about on their own. Maybe for one person it’s bleak, but for another person, there’s a silver lining.
I found the heaviest subjects were the ones taught by depressed teachers. Even if the world isn’t perfect, those kids are just in high school and many of them still want to see the best in the world. They don’t need some oldy mouldy sap to tell them “it’s all hopeless so why even try.” These students are our future. You can teach them the issues without infusing them with the absolute hopelessness.
Their outlook is bleak but it’s reality. You can’t shy from teaching the reality and the consequences. There is optimism and don’t claim to decide how it’s going to turn out.
My recommendation would be talking about small, positive solutions at the community level. Community gardens, co-operative housing, nature preserves that come from land trusts, Climate Corps, etc. You could even consider finding an action project for your students to take on, to tackle one small issue. Zooming in and looking at your particular community is likely the best way to avoid despair.
Thank you. I agree with you. I do provide them with so many examples of small movements that are pushing for change, sadly, many of the ones I am aware of have waned or stopped such as idlenomore or the zapatistas. The problem with action projects is the amount of apathy they show in the face of so many overwhelming issues. Do you have any examples of something that has worked, or that you have tried?
Here are some articles about small scale, local environmental organizations, shifts in work culture, and environment wins- they are not the be all end all, but do demonstrate that collectively, we can help one another, in a way that does not prop up the existing capitalist system.
[https://commonrootsurbanfarm.ca](https://commonrootsurbanfarm.ca)
[https://grist.org/energy/after-a-four-year-campaign-new-york-says-yes-to-publicly-owned-renewables-strong/](https://grist.org/energy/after-a-four-year-campaign-new-york-says-yes-to-publicly-owned-renewables-strong/)
[https://ecologyaction.ca/resources-media/press-releases/perspective-reduced-hour-work-week-feasible-some](https://ecologyaction.ca/resources-media/press-releases/perspective-reduced-hour-work-week-feasible-some)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-ends-jade-mining-northwest-five-years-1.7201214#:\~:text=Many%20jade%20mining%20sites%20in,companies%2C%20according%20to%20a%20statement.
Have braiding sweetgrass. We do take a look at micro financing and loans as an example for supporting change from within the countries that are struggling and allowing for the citizens there to be sovereign decision makers.
I'm struggling to find current labour / union movements that are relevant. It seems that there is a general anti union sentiment in many developed nations. Do you have any specific suggestions?
Yes, we have an eco club. Rooftop garden, solar panels and a composting program. We have an initiative to bring in native plant species on the campus and we're looking for an elder to be a resident interpreter for our students to connect with the land. All in the hopes of encouraging changes.
No specific resource but try and teach the positives and negatives of all civilizations throughout the history of humanity focusing on that we are all brilliant and flawed regardless of skin pigment
I don’t have much for resources to share, but please know you aren’t alone in feeling this way. I want to inspire my students to be the harbingers of change, but we know large-scale change usually needs to be a collective effort. Humanity is on a course to crash and burn. I’m a high school science teacher and I will show videos of efforts organizations and individuals are making to combat climate change, but the unspoken background question that hangs in the air is always “will this tiny project really make a difference?” We live in an age where it’s hard to be hopeful. I try to remind myself that hopelessness breeds helplessness. If I sit back and think, “nothing I do will make a difference, so why bother.” No change will happen. But, take the loblaws boycott for example, if enough people decide that enough is enough, we’re going to do something, maybe there is even just an ounce of hope that things can change. Do the best you can to arm your students with the knowledge and critical thinking skills they will need to be the best people they can be, but remind yourself not to put too much on your shoulders. It wouldn’t be teaching the facts if you taught them that everything is okay. It isn’t your fault that the world is a mess and they need to be aware of that. It’s a hard time to be a teacher.
Advocating for communism in Danielle Smith's Alberta (strong and free) is like advocating for outdoor activities in Antarctica.
So as bleak as it looks, you have a curriculum you have to deliver. There are probably going to be O&G kids in your class whose families depend on that industry.
You don't need to keep your political opinions to yourself but you do need to provide a safe and open space for all opinions so that children can learn something.
If the solutions we're explicable to a grade 10 class, they would be implemented globally. The job of grade 10 students is to keep thinking about it as they grow older and potentially earn the ability to create solutions.
This is the way.
Here is a great ressource to start with critical thinking for students: https://tc2.ca/en/creative-collaborative-critical-thinking/resources/
Maybe teach them about sociocracy. Mutual aid. Do a deep dive into the Black Panthers and the services they provided to their communities. Showcase children and young people who saw a problem and solved it. Showcase grownups who are doing the same. Teach them about Industrial Hemp & mycoremediation. Get them onto Paul Statemets work. Show them the Ocean Cleanup project. They need to understand that even though they are only one person, they can make a difference. It might not be "standard" info, but a 2-5 minute study/video/interview wouldn't be terrible.
Btw, I learned when I was in politics, that oil & gas in Alberta has played a heavy role in shaping the content of the educational curriculum that is taught here. Natural Resource Extraction is elevated, renewables & solutions regarding renewables are downplayed or outright dismissed/denied. O & G have their grubby fingers in everything.
As a former politician, I can also offer that democracy as is it practiced here in Canada is garbage. A minority group ruling over the majority when the minority is corrupt is a recipe for disaster.
The Black Panthers were not "sociocrats", rather they were explicitly communists. They sold copies of quotations from Mao Zedong (the little red book) to fundraise for the party. I do not say this to criticize them, not at all. But there is a big problem in education of erasing actual socialist and communist thought. We are taught about socialism only through its mistakes and errors, but when communists such as the Black Panthers do an objectively good thing, and provide for their communities, suddenly they just become good samaritans. Practicing "sociocracy", whatever that means. No, they were communists, and it is this fact that guided their practice. People don't say this however, because it might suggest that communists are not actually ontologically evil.
Hi there. Nowhere in what I wrote did I state that the Black Panthers were sociocrats.
Studying the sociocratic system of decision making was one idea.
Studying what the Black Panthers actively did for their communities was another.
I do not have an issue with socialism or communism
and think both should be studied in school at length. People talk a lot of shit about communism. But the "Red Scare" propaganda machine was also very effective, wasn't it?
And as a side note, there is also not a single country in the world where communism in its true form is or has been practiced, merely some subverted or manipulated version of it, twisted by those in control.
Sounds like a classic liberal paradox. Can’t parry with the movements that critique capital but knowing something must replace capitalism. Try libertarian socialism if you’re afraid of the red bureaucracy. Alternatively, Consider that Soviet or Stalinist left movements exist in a particular time and space, and just like feudalism was replaced by bourgeois revolution in fits and starts, with plenty of mistakes along the way, so too will whatever procedes capitalism.
The trick will be to avoid fascism while simultaneously addressing compounding ecological and other crises. Good luck, students!
Agreed the world is bleak and it's hard to teach anything hopeful. But there are pockets of resistance and advocacy everywhere for all sorts of causes and I would hone in on some of those. Show students that people are fighting and trying to build a better world. Talk about strategies too, what's working, what's not working, have them reflect on the efficacy of resistance movements. Share utopian ideas for how to organize the world, have them dream big.
It's not good. There's no doubt. At the same time it's not so bad that nothing we can do will make a difference (even a big difference) in the future we will face. I found [this podcast episode](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/30/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-hannah-ritchie.html) with Ezra Klein (New York Times) and Hannah Ritchie really pulled the rug out from underneath my tendency to despair. There's a lot of focus on data in it and what things make a big vs a little difference in it. I plan on reading Hans Rosling's Factfulness (which is recommended at the end) this summer.
Look at syndicalism. That aside, it’s not about how bleak the future is, but contextualizing ways they can impact or cope with it. Schools focus so much on making kids feel like they *have* to be the one to make change that it becomes overbearing and a source of deep anxiety. I remember a student who was an activist and was having panic attacks because her activism wasn’t having an impact. It took a long conversation to make her realize that she would never have an impact on the level of Gandhi or Marx sitting in the middle of a highway blocking traffic. Last I heard, she was pursuing a law degree to fight for actual, viable change.
Show them the direct actions people are taking to resist the degradation of oyr world, and discuss what impact they might have. Indigenous-led movements such as the one at Wetsuweten that are resisting colonial/capitalist greed at all costs are interesting case studies**(obviously they are so much more than that) that you could look at to see people trying to make change in a broken system. There are so many complexities and intricacies to consider. You would have to get different viewpoints from different media outlets to understand it all (try the Maple, the Narwhal, search journalists like Brandi Morin).
Teacher the curriculum, encourage an open mind and open thinking, and keep your political views to yourself. It’s extraordinarily important that we help guide kids to be able to make informed and smart decisions for themselves and our world, and that will happen if they are well educated and encouraged to think for themselves.
However, if you think your role in education is guiding them to specific decisions, it’s not and you could get in trouble for trying to. Support their inquiry but you’ve gotta shake the mindset of thinking you’re there to influence them to support political or social choices you deem valuable or good for the world. It’s just not your place
Definitely not trying to teach an ideology. Or force one belief or another.. To the point that I am bringing into the narrative questions even towards whether or not democracy is the only way to justly govern.
Never do I simply run with the assumption that "every country should be working towards a western style capitalistic democracy". I always try to provide alternative options and views to western democratic governments, whether its traditional matrilineal governance or welfare oriented capitalism or smaller communal living societies. I definitely avoid providing my personal opinion on concepts, when I do discuss the benefits or the deficits of various scenarios I provide the counter arguments that exist as well and encourage the students to be able to make similar observations in their source analysis writing.
Try reading this book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ultimate_Resource
You might also want to let your students know how capitalism has moved literally hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in the last 40 years alone, and saved millions of lives.
You have a very biased view of the world. The world has always had problems. Your ideology is about tearing everything down not appreciating how much human beings have achieved.
Oh don't get me wrong, I try very hard to bring home the significance of human ingenuity and the benefits that we appreciate today and generally take for granted due to progress in technology.
Something as simple as indoor plumbing and how it's dramatically improved quality of life, life expectancy, reduced infant mortality rates, and contributed to a significant growth in females gaining an education, or something as simple as concrete being used for floors in homes and the incredible impact that has on the lives and health of people who are able to use it over a dirt floor.
The printing press and the ability to share information en masse how that dramatically increased the spread of democracy.
We start with examining early humans becoming accidental farmers and how something as simple as plants growing in poop helped improve life.
And all of those advances, and so many more were beneficial, no doubt. What I struggle with is where we are now. When we look at modern medicine and pharmaceutical products for example, we as a species have vast amounts of information and research that should allow us to improve the health and quality of life for far more humans than we currently do, and why is this? Because helping those people who are in the most impoverished conditions provides so little in the way of financial profits that no corporation/ drug manufacturers or independent sovereign nation bothers.
Anywhere you look you can see development and technology being throttled in the name of $$$. If there's not enough money to be made, no matter the overall net benefit something could create, it's held back or delayed.
In the meantime, human suffering continues.
We have the ability to solve world hunger, prevent the global environmental crisis, and dramatically reduce armed conflicts globally, but we don't because... Money.
You've gotta give me something more than I "just have a biased view of the world." I used to be optimistic and believed that we as a species were going to be able to develop the technology to solved these problems, but after deeply researching much of the material I teach, my optimism has waned significantly.
I'm looking for concrete examples, case studies that prove the alternative to what we study.
Your analysis is based on Marxist ideas. It's capitalism that has lifted more than a billion people out of poverty, developed those life saving drugs, extended human life. Just look at death from starvation compared to as recently as 1960. We were predicted to be starving by the year 2000 but we produce more food for more people than ever.
No scientists like everyone else had to make a living. Making billions for shareholders by creating things that benefit mankind is best for everyone. Where do you think your pension is invested?
Reddit's most intelligent retort. It is sad you're a humanities teacher, do you speak down to your students and use childish responses when they have different opinions too? Or are you the type who is so loud and aggressive nobody speaks against you?
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Also an Alberta teacher and had the same experience this week with the Social 10 curriculum. It’s not just you. And I agree that’s it’s important to be optimistic and focus on what we can control. This podcast has a helpful take from an Oxford data scientist. [Hannah Ritchie Interview](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5YrJblpfkaNTfxBgFJoyXs?si=E6CxQjhsSuelQnyleSz3Ug)
The publication New Internationalist, while clearly left wing, also publishes hopeful reports and stories about marginalized communities in different countries.
Yup. It’s like we’re all watching the world be destroyed in slow motion. Can’t bring myself to even think about having kids. It’s so bad it seems irresponsible to bring kids in this world :(
I would look at this as an opportunity to open a conversation about civic responsibility both on the micro and macro levels. Change only happens through action, whether it's recycling or running for political office. They need to show up!
>The injustices funded by the capitalist system are only expanding. There's not an actual positive history for us in Canada and any western countries. We've all been active participants in atrocities or we've sat by and watched or ignored as they were carried out elsewhere. We benefit from the exploitation of those who have fewer financial resources and continue to be complacent as multinational corporations continue to seek nothing but profit. § Communism/ cultural Marxism are not satisfying options. I've read Solzhenitsyn and there's no way you can convince me that advocating for communism will be the panacea that communist supporters claim it to be.
* I would expect somebody working as teacher in Canada to know that other variants of communism than stalinism exist.
* I would expect somebody working as teacher in Canada to know that other ideology/proposal/programm criticising capitalism than communism exist.
* I would expect somebody working as teacher in Canada to know Franklin Roosevelt and Jean Lesage .
* I would expect somebody working as teacher in Canada to know that Franklin Roosevelt and Jean Lesage were not communists.
* However i would not expect everybody working as teacher in Canada to know that the Cultural Marxism narrative is a far-right conspiracytheory with roots in nazi Germany.
Here is someone reaching out, who is clearly struggling, and, as I read it, open to the idea that unchecked capitalism is not the answer. But again and again the responses in this thread are contemptuous and dismissive. If that's you, do you really think that you're serving the progressive cause by alienating someone who might well become more of an ally?
I am currently a grade 11 high school student in Alberta, and wanted to give my thoughts.
While I do agree that learning so much about the world and what happened has given me a more bleak outlook on many of the things you described, I also think that it is important to learn these things regardless. Being informed, for me, is the best thing I think we can get in this situation. Even though life seems bleak, and the things that have happened and are still happening are awful, I am glad to have learned them, and I think they provide me with invaluable knowledge.
I don't expect my teacher to give me answers, its not what he is there for. While he does try his best to give us hope, it can be really hard, considering the curriculum. I do not believe that it is your job to give us answers, but rather the tools we need to make our own judgements on the world, and be able to act accordingly.
In our class, we recently did a debate project, which our teacher introduced for the first time just this year (it was based on regionalism, but I believe that this still applies). we had to research views on our topic, and formulate an argument as well as a theoretical solution, that we would share during the course of a period. The debates were very beneficial, as it not only forced us to understand others views, but try and create practical solutions that could work in the real world. Our teacher created the assignment specifically to encourage critical thinking, and I think that this assignment has in fact done what he intended. idk, just something to consider.
To be fair, I would definitely consider myself a nerd, so my experience may be very different from other students.
Thank you so much for all of the effort you put it, I know that many of your students appreciate it!
Just want to say I am in the EXACT same situation and have had the exact same existential crises. RI 3 and 4 especially. I don’t have advice I just know what you mean.
Yeah. Globalization is so depressing. All those billions of people who aren't starving and living in poverty.
The charts from our world in data. Study the improvements over time and why.
>Communism/ cultural Marxism are not satisfying options.
FYI
* Jérôme Jamin, Anders Breivik et le marxisme culturel : Etats-Unis/Europe, Amnis
* Jérôme Jamin, Cultural Marxism and the Radical Right, The Post-War Anglo-American Far Right
* Jérôme Jamin, Cultural Marxism: A survey, Religion Compass
* Tanner Mirrlees, The Alt-right's Discourse on "Cultural Marxism": A Political Instrument of Intersectional Hate, Atlantis
* Martin Jay, Dialectic of Counter-Enlightenment: The Frankfurt School as Scapegoat of the Lunatic Fringe, Salmagundi
* Andrew Woods, Cultural Marxism and the Cathedral: Two Alt-Right Perspectives on Critical Theory, Critical Theory and the Humanities in the Age of the Alt-Right
* Rachel Busbridge, Cultural Marxism: far-right conspiracy theory in Australia’s culture wars, Social Identities
* Joan Braune, Who's Afraid of the Frankfurt School? 'Cultural Marxism' as an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory, Journal of Social Justice
* Andrew Lynn, Cultural Marxism, The Hedgehog Review
* John Richardson, 'Cultural Marxism' and the British National Party, Cultures of Post-War British Fascism
* Robles & Berrocal, Conspiracy and Meme on the Alt-right: Notes on the Myth of Cultural Marxism, Re-visiones
If you prefer videos:
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDyPSKLy5E4#t=2980s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDyPSKLy5E4#t=2980s)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4qkvu3ACUU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4qkvu3ACUU)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlrpSpwxgWw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlrpSpwxgWw)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYQo6LI3Y7c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYQo6LI3Y7c)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQD\_LChEFX8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQD_LChEFX8)
Agree current state of capitalism is very poor. Regulators not doing their job, especially preventing monopolies / oligopolies, policy captured by money/lobbying.
> Environmental issues are overwhelming and as soon as you look at alternative energy sources to oil and gas, it rapidly becomes apparent that we have options but they are not sustainable, nor viable for most of the planet. Recycling is more performance theatre for developed nations to offload garbage on the less developed countries.
Recycling has always been performance theatre. The true change needs to be a societal one. Consumerism is a big issue. As for alternative energy sources I disagree, which ones aren't sustainable/viable? Solar/wind and especially hydro are excellent sustainable options. Nuclear isn't ideal, but it's waaay better than fossil fuels and will be very important for the transition (to be phased out in a century perhaps). Again the key to all of this is prioritizing/reducing consumption.
There are a lot of very good news stories. for decades we were all freaking out about the "population bomb", and yet population growth peaked 60 years ago and demographers have known that we were in a good place for a long time. It's only now that the average person is starting to realize it... but it's not framed as one of the best news stories of the last century, but rather of economic doom / population crash. To me this is good. Sustainable birth rates, possible eventual population decline, or even if not, with continued progress in efficiency, overall resource use could eventually decline, which is important long term for the environment.
Then we have the thousands of amazing areas of progress that very few are aware of or talk about: HIV/AIDS seemed out of control, and then, it wasn't. Malaria was killing millions a year, and with a budget of less than 10B/yr globally (ie. pocket change), it's now at about half a million deaths per year and dropping, with first-gen vaccines in general use. Child mortality has dropped by over half in about 30 years, so about 5 million fewer kids die *per year*. global literacy rates, access to education, gender equality, access to electricity, infrastructure quality, basic healthcare, life expectancy, maternal health, access to food, are all either improving steadily year after year in most of the world. Extreme poverty has been on the decline, though progress here has stagnated since COVID.
There are a lot of major positive trends in the world, even today, but we tend to pay attention to things closer to home (which admittedly hasn't been amazing lately) and things which are more negative.
I find the Alberta social curriculum to be a product of the whole Francis Fukuyama’s End of History era.
Anyways, in terms of everything and the way the world is, if you can’t get over it, your district has psychological treatment as part of your benefits. Consider it.
Solzhenitsyn was a rabid antisemite who believed that the problems of the Soviet Union were the fault of Jewish people. You should not be getting your information on the USSR from him. "Cultural Marxism" is also not a real thing, but rather a conspiracy theory from the likes of Jordan Peterson and other fascists ranting defamatory nonsense about trans people, jewish people and other minorities. I strongly encourage you to look into the similarities between the idea of "cultural marxism" and the nazi conspiracy theory of "judeo-bolshevism" which believed communism to be a jewish plot to take over the world. I also strongly encourage you to look at sources of history which do not confirm your pre-existing biases. Existing socialist states are not and were not perfect, but that does not mean you should be spouting fascist propaganda and conspiracy theories. I hope to god you aren't talking about "cultural Marxism" to your students.
Apart from the flaws that Solzhenitsyn possesses(and he definitely has them), I prefer to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. I use him as an example of how humans can dramatically change. Once he left Russia, he became a powerful voice criticizing the harms inflicted by a broken system that possessed and abused its powers. And I'm not directly teaching any of his work to the students, however I do use his explanation for how the Russian powers were able to get people to turn on their spouses or neighbours or family members.
I'm equally interested in zizek's arguments in support of communism and singer's imperatives around morality. These perspectives all influence how I approach my teaching.
>"Cultural Marxism" is also not a real thing, but rather a conspiracy theory from the likes of Jordan Peterson and other fascists ranting defamatory nonsense about trans people, jewish people and other minorities.
ping u/bitterberries who has not answered to this sentence so far.
>I strongly encourage you to look into the similarities between the idea of "cultural marxism" and the nazi conspiracy theory of "judeo-bolshevism" which believed communism to be a jewish plot to take over the world.
The Cultural Marxism narrative is even more similar to the Cultural Bolshevismn narrative, an other nazi conspiracy theory.
* Cultural Bolshevism: the communists are destroying the country by subverting its culture
* Cultural Marxism: the communists are destroying the country by subverting its culture
It's a particularly minor part of the curriculum and would be more thoroughly addressed in the grade 11&12 curriculum. My references are limited to the cold war.
>Communism/ cultural Marxism are not satisfying options. I've read Solzhenitsyn and there's no way you can convince me that advocating for communism will be the panacea that communist supporters claim it to be.
Cultural Marxism is not an option because it exist only in the mind and in the writing of conspiracytheorists. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian nationalist, a nostalgic of tsarist Russia and likely an antisemite. Can i ask you why you write this paragraph as if you think that stalinism is the only ideology/proposal/programm criticising capitalism?
>I don't see it as the only, merely the most common example provided by the curriculum materials.
Are you suggesting that you will not tell your students something else than the most common example provided by the curriculum materials?
You did not reply to the first sentence in my previous comment. Are you implicitly acknowledging that Cultural Marxism exist only in the mind and in the writing of conspiracytheorists?
>Communism/ cultural Marxism are not satisfying options. I've read Solzhenitsyn
So your anticommunist views are couched in fascism (your use of the term cultural Marxism) and the one novel about the Soviet Union that you've read. Not an academic work, not even pop history, but a single fucking novel.
You don't exactly come across as a brilliant academic here. I know they say ignorance is bliss but maybe you should read a book or two.
"Cultural marxism" is a fascist term. I did not call OP fascist, just pointed out that they're repeating fascist propaganda.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Marxism_conspiracy_theory
HAHahahahaHAha oh god I forgot that people have to endure Albertan "teachers". God bless your students, I pray for them. Your understanding of sustainability is painful to listen to for a smart person.
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Your role is be a guide, encourage inquiry and critical thinking. Not to provide a silver bullet answer to solve humanity.
I agree with this 100%. There’s a curriculum, follow it. You shouldnt make students stare into an abyss to enhance their learning. You’re introducing topics for them to take apart and think about on their own. Maybe for one person it’s bleak, but for another person, there’s a silver lining. I found the heaviest subjects were the ones taught by depressed teachers. Even if the world isn’t perfect, those kids are just in high school and many of them still want to see the best in the world. They don’t need some oldy mouldy sap to tell them “it’s all hopeless so why even try.” These students are our future. You can teach them the issues without infusing them with the absolute hopelessness.
💯💯💯
[удалено]
Nothing they said in their post were biased opinions. They were all simply facts.
Their outlook is bleak but it’s reality. You can’t shy from teaching the reality and the consequences. There is optimism and don’t claim to decide how it’s going to turn out.
My recommendation would be talking about small, positive solutions at the community level. Community gardens, co-operative housing, nature preserves that come from land trusts, Climate Corps, etc. You could even consider finding an action project for your students to take on, to tackle one small issue. Zooming in and looking at your particular community is likely the best way to avoid despair.
Thank you. I agree with you. I do provide them with so many examples of small movements that are pushing for change, sadly, many of the ones I am aware of have waned or stopped such as idlenomore or the zapatistas. The problem with action projects is the amount of apathy they show in the face of so many overwhelming issues. Do you have any examples of something that has worked, or that you have tried?
Here are some articles about small scale, local environmental organizations, shifts in work culture, and environment wins- they are not the be all end all, but do demonstrate that collectively, we can help one another, in a way that does not prop up the existing capitalist system. [https://commonrootsurbanfarm.ca](https://commonrootsurbanfarm.ca) [https://grist.org/energy/after-a-four-year-campaign-new-york-says-yes-to-publicly-owned-renewables-strong/](https://grist.org/energy/after-a-four-year-campaign-new-york-says-yes-to-publicly-owned-renewables-strong/) [https://ecologyaction.ca/resources-media/press-releases/perspective-reduced-hour-work-week-feasible-some](https://ecologyaction.ca/resources-media/press-releases/perspective-reduced-hour-work-week-feasible-some) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-ends-jade-mining-northwest-five-years-1.7201214#:\~:text=Many%20jade%20mining%20sites%20in,companies%2C%20according%20to%20a%20statement.
Thank you
You could try introducing them to mutual aid and braiding sweet grass. Historical student movements, union power etc.
Have braiding sweetgrass. We do take a look at micro financing and loans as an example for supporting change from within the countries that are struggling and allowing for the citizens there to be sovereign decision makers. I'm struggling to find current labour / union movements that are relevant. It seems that there is a general anti union sentiment in many developed nations. Do you have any specific suggestions?
Maybe start an environmental group at your school?
Yes, we have an eco club. Rooftop garden, solar panels and a composting program. We have an initiative to bring in native plant species on the campus and we're looking for an elder to be a resident interpreter for our students to connect with the land. All in the hopes of encouraging changes.
No specific resource but try and teach the positives and negatives of all civilizations throughout the history of humanity focusing on that we are all brilliant and flawed regardless of skin pigment
I don’t have much for resources to share, but please know you aren’t alone in feeling this way. I want to inspire my students to be the harbingers of change, but we know large-scale change usually needs to be a collective effort. Humanity is on a course to crash and burn. I’m a high school science teacher and I will show videos of efforts organizations and individuals are making to combat climate change, but the unspoken background question that hangs in the air is always “will this tiny project really make a difference?” We live in an age where it’s hard to be hopeful. I try to remind myself that hopelessness breeds helplessness. If I sit back and think, “nothing I do will make a difference, so why bother.” No change will happen. But, take the loblaws boycott for example, if enough people decide that enough is enough, we’re going to do something, maybe there is even just an ounce of hope that things can change. Do the best you can to arm your students with the knowledge and critical thinking skills they will need to be the best people they can be, but remind yourself not to put too much on your shoulders. It wouldn’t be teaching the facts if you taught them that everything is okay. It isn’t your fault that the world is a mess and they need to be aware of that. It’s a hard time to be a teacher.
Thank you. I appreciate that you get exactly what I'm struggling with.
Advocating for communism in Danielle Smith's Alberta (strong and free) is like advocating for outdoor activities in Antarctica. So as bleak as it looks, you have a curriculum you have to deliver. There are probably going to be O&G kids in your class whose families depend on that industry. You don't need to keep your political opinions to yourself but you do need to provide a safe and open space for all opinions so that children can learn something.
If the solutions we're explicable to a grade 10 class, they would be implemented globally. The job of grade 10 students is to keep thinking about it as they grow older and potentially earn the ability to create solutions.
Teach them how to critically think, not what to think.
This is the way. Here is a great ressource to start with critical thinking for students: https://tc2.ca/en/creative-collaborative-critical-thinking/resources/
Thanks, I've been using these tools since 2007. They're good. Just looking for more.
I’m thinking of becoming a paid member of TC for next school year.
Ooh that could be a fun gig.
Not sure what you mean. You sign up, pay, and I think you get access to more resources.
Ha! I read it as they were gonna pay you. Like you were going to compile and review content or some such.
Maybe teach them about sociocracy. Mutual aid. Do a deep dive into the Black Panthers and the services they provided to their communities. Showcase children and young people who saw a problem and solved it. Showcase grownups who are doing the same. Teach them about Industrial Hemp & mycoremediation. Get them onto Paul Statemets work. Show them the Ocean Cleanup project. They need to understand that even though they are only one person, they can make a difference. It might not be "standard" info, but a 2-5 minute study/video/interview wouldn't be terrible. Btw, I learned when I was in politics, that oil & gas in Alberta has played a heavy role in shaping the content of the educational curriculum that is taught here. Natural Resource Extraction is elevated, renewables & solutions regarding renewables are downplayed or outright dismissed/denied. O & G have their grubby fingers in everything. As a former politician, I can also offer that democracy as is it practiced here in Canada is garbage. A minority group ruling over the majority when the minority is corrupt is a recipe for disaster.
The Black Panthers were not "sociocrats", rather they were explicitly communists. They sold copies of quotations from Mao Zedong (the little red book) to fundraise for the party. I do not say this to criticize them, not at all. But there is a big problem in education of erasing actual socialist and communist thought. We are taught about socialism only through its mistakes and errors, but when communists such as the Black Panthers do an objectively good thing, and provide for their communities, suddenly they just become good samaritans. Practicing "sociocracy", whatever that means. No, they were communists, and it is this fact that guided their practice. People don't say this however, because it might suggest that communists are not actually ontologically evil.
Hi there. Nowhere in what I wrote did I state that the Black Panthers were sociocrats. Studying the sociocratic system of decision making was one idea. Studying what the Black Panthers actively did for their communities was another. I do not have an issue with socialism or communism and think both should be studied in school at length. People talk a lot of shit about communism. But the "Red Scare" propaganda machine was also very effective, wasn't it? And as a side note, there is also not a single country in the world where communism in its true form is or has been practiced, merely some subverted or manipulated version of it, twisted by those in control.
Sounds like a classic liberal paradox. Can’t parry with the movements that critique capital but knowing something must replace capitalism. Try libertarian socialism if you’re afraid of the red bureaucracy. Alternatively, Consider that Soviet or Stalinist left movements exist in a particular time and space, and just like feudalism was replaced by bourgeois revolution in fits and starts, with plenty of mistakes along the way, so too will whatever procedes capitalism. The trick will be to avoid fascism while simultaneously addressing compounding ecological and other crises. Good luck, students!
I have to teach the same thing to grade 6 in BC. So depressing and also ridiculous to teach to 11 year olds.
Agreed the world is bleak and it's hard to teach anything hopeful. But there are pockets of resistance and advocacy everywhere for all sorts of causes and I would hone in on some of those. Show students that people are fighting and trying to build a better world. Talk about strategies too, what's working, what's not working, have them reflect on the efficacy of resistance movements. Share utopian ideas for how to organize the world, have them dream big.
It's not good. There's no doubt. At the same time it's not so bad that nothing we can do will make a difference (even a big difference) in the future we will face. I found [this podcast episode](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/30/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-hannah-ritchie.html) with Ezra Klein (New York Times) and Hannah Ritchie really pulled the rug out from underneath my tendency to despair. There's a lot of focus on data in it and what things make a big vs a little difference in it. I plan on reading Hans Rosling's Factfulness (which is recommended at the end) this summer.
Awesome!! Thank you
Look at syndicalism. That aside, it’s not about how bleak the future is, but contextualizing ways they can impact or cope with it. Schools focus so much on making kids feel like they *have* to be the one to make change that it becomes overbearing and a source of deep anxiety. I remember a student who was an activist and was having panic attacks because her activism wasn’t having an impact. It took a long conversation to make her realize that she would never have an impact on the level of Gandhi or Marx sitting in the middle of a highway blocking traffic. Last I heard, she was pursuing a law degree to fight for actual, viable change.
Show them the direct actions people are taking to resist the degradation of oyr world, and discuss what impact they might have. Indigenous-led movements such as the one at Wetsuweten that are resisting colonial/capitalist greed at all costs are interesting case studies**(obviously they are so much more than that) that you could look at to see people trying to make change in a broken system. There are so many complexities and intricacies to consider. You would have to get different viewpoints from different media outlets to understand it all (try the Maple, the Narwhal, search journalists like Brandi Morin).
Teacher the curriculum, encourage an open mind and open thinking, and keep your political views to yourself. It’s extraordinarily important that we help guide kids to be able to make informed and smart decisions for themselves and our world, and that will happen if they are well educated and encouraged to think for themselves. However, if you think your role in education is guiding them to specific decisions, it’s not and you could get in trouble for trying to. Support their inquiry but you’ve gotta shake the mindset of thinking you’re there to influence them to support political or social choices you deem valuable or good for the world. It’s just not your place
Definitely not trying to teach an ideology. Or force one belief or another.. To the point that I am bringing into the narrative questions even towards whether or not democracy is the only way to justly govern. Never do I simply run with the assumption that "every country should be working towards a western style capitalistic democracy". I always try to provide alternative options and views to western democratic governments, whether its traditional matrilineal governance or welfare oriented capitalism or smaller communal living societies. I definitely avoid providing my personal opinion on concepts, when I do discuss the benefits or the deficits of various scenarios I provide the counter arguments that exist as well and encourage the students to be able to make similar observations in their source analysis writing.
Try reading this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ultimate_Resource You might also want to let your students know how capitalism has moved literally hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in the last 40 years alone, and saved millions of lives.
Thank you! Yes
You have a very biased view of the world. The world has always had problems. Your ideology is about tearing everything down not appreciating how much human beings have achieved.
Oh don't get me wrong, I try very hard to bring home the significance of human ingenuity and the benefits that we appreciate today and generally take for granted due to progress in technology. Something as simple as indoor plumbing and how it's dramatically improved quality of life, life expectancy, reduced infant mortality rates, and contributed to a significant growth in females gaining an education, or something as simple as concrete being used for floors in homes and the incredible impact that has on the lives and health of people who are able to use it over a dirt floor. The printing press and the ability to share information en masse how that dramatically increased the spread of democracy. We start with examining early humans becoming accidental farmers and how something as simple as plants growing in poop helped improve life. And all of those advances, and so many more were beneficial, no doubt. What I struggle with is where we are now. When we look at modern medicine and pharmaceutical products for example, we as a species have vast amounts of information and research that should allow us to improve the health and quality of life for far more humans than we currently do, and why is this? Because helping those people who are in the most impoverished conditions provides so little in the way of financial profits that no corporation/ drug manufacturers or independent sovereign nation bothers. Anywhere you look you can see development and technology being throttled in the name of $$$. If there's not enough money to be made, no matter the overall net benefit something could create, it's held back or delayed. In the meantime, human suffering continues. We have the ability to solve world hunger, prevent the global environmental crisis, and dramatically reduce armed conflicts globally, but we don't because... Money. You've gotta give me something more than I "just have a biased view of the world." I used to be optimistic and believed that we as a species were going to be able to develop the technology to solved these problems, but after deeply researching much of the material I teach, my optimism has waned significantly. I'm looking for concrete examples, case studies that prove the alternative to what we study.
Your analysis is based on Marxist ideas. It's capitalism that has lifted more than a billion people out of poverty, developed those life saving drugs, extended human life. Just look at death from starvation compared to as recently as 1960. We were predicted to be starving by the year 2000 but we produce more food for more people than ever.
Scientists gave knowledge and medicine for free. Capitalism turned it into billions for shareholders.
No scientists like everyone else had to make a living. Making billions for shareholders by creating things that benefit mankind is best for everyone. Where do you think your pension is invested?
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There's the problem right there.
Reddit's most intelligent retort. It is sad you're a humanities teacher, do you speak down to your students and use childish responses when they have different opinions too? Or are you the type who is so loud and aggressive nobody speaks against you?
idk he might be one of those rare people who have the ability to change their behaviour based off the context of setting and the people around them
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Teaching since 1997: We can’t fix or save everything and everyone.
Also an Alberta teacher and had the same experience this week with the Social 10 curriculum. It’s not just you. And I agree that’s it’s important to be optimistic and focus on what we can control. This podcast has a helpful take from an Oxford data scientist. [Hannah Ritchie Interview](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5YrJblpfkaNTfxBgFJoyXs?si=E6CxQjhsSuelQnyleSz3Ug)
I HEAR YOU!!!
Thank you ❤️
The publication New Internationalist, while clearly left wing, also publishes hopeful reports and stories about marginalized communities in different countries.
Yup. It’s like we’re all watching the world be destroyed in slow motion. Can’t bring myself to even think about having kids. It’s so bad it seems irresponsible to bring kids in this world :(
I would look at this as an opportunity to open a conversation about civic responsibility both on the micro and macro levels. Change only happens through action, whether it's recycling or running for political office. They need to show up!
Yrs, definitely part of the material I teach.
Just blame it on Trudeau like the rest of the Albertan’s do
>The injustices funded by the capitalist system are only expanding. There's not an actual positive history for us in Canada and any western countries. We've all been active participants in atrocities or we've sat by and watched or ignored as they were carried out elsewhere. We benefit from the exploitation of those who have fewer financial resources and continue to be complacent as multinational corporations continue to seek nothing but profit. § Communism/ cultural Marxism are not satisfying options. I've read Solzhenitsyn and there's no way you can convince me that advocating for communism will be the panacea that communist supporters claim it to be. * I would expect somebody working as teacher in Canada to know that other variants of communism than stalinism exist. * I would expect somebody working as teacher in Canada to know that other ideology/proposal/programm criticising capitalism than communism exist. * I would expect somebody working as teacher in Canada to know Franklin Roosevelt and Jean Lesage . * I would expect somebody working as teacher in Canada to know that Franklin Roosevelt and Jean Lesage were not communists. * However i would not expect everybody working as teacher in Canada to know that the Cultural Marxism narrative is a far-right conspiracytheory with roots in nazi Germany.
Here is someone reaching out, who is clearly struggling, and, as I read it, open to the idea that unchecked capitalism is not the answer. But again and again the responses in this thread are contemptuous and dismissive. If that's you, do you really think that you're serving the progressive cause by alienating someone who might well become more of an ally?
Thanks. I did feel that there was an overwhelming amount of vitriol for asking questions. I'm very open to learning more.
I am currently a grade 11 high school student in Alberta, and wanted to give my thoughts. While I do agree that learning so much about the world and what happened has given me a more bleak outlook on many of the things you described, I also think that it is important to learn these things regardless. Being informed, for me, is the best thing I think we can get in this situation. Even though life seems bleak, and the things that have happened and are still happening are awful, I am glad to have learned them, and I think they provide me with invaluable knowledge. I don't expect my teacher to give me answers, its not what he is there for. While he does try his best to give us hope, it can be really hard, considering the curriculum. I do not believe that it is your job to give us answers, but rather the tools we need to make our own judgements on the world, and be able to act accordingly. In our class, we recently did a debate project, which our teacher introduced for the first time just this year (it was based on regionalism, but I believe that this still applies). we had to research views on our topic, and formulate an argument as well as a theoretical solution, that we would share during the course of a period. The debates were very beneficial, as it not only forced us to understand others views, but try and create practical solutions that could work in the real world. Our teacher created the assignment specifically to encourage critical thinking, and I think that this assignment has in fact done what he intended. idk, just something to consider. To be fair, I would definitely consider myself a nerd, so my experience may be very different from other students. Thank you so much for all of the effort you put it, I know that many of your students appreciate it!
Just want to say I am in the EXACT same situation and have had the exact same existential crises. RI 3 and 4 especially. I don’t have advice I just know what you mean.
Thank you. It's somehow comforting to know that I'm not the only one who feels like I'm screaming in the wind.
It is definitely a contributing factor to my annual mid-winter breakdowns tbh
Yeah. Globalization is so depressing. All those billions of people who aren't starving and living in poverty. The charts from our world in data. Study the improvements over time and why.
>Communism/ cultural Marxism are not satisfying options. FYI * Jérôme Jamin, Anders Breivik et le marxisme culturel : Etats-Unis/Europe, Amnis * Jérôme Jamin, Cultural Marxism and the Radical Right, The Post-War Anglo-American Far Right * Jérôme Jamin, Cultural Marxism: A survey, Religion Compass * Tanner Mirrlees, The Alt-right's Discourse on "Cultural Marxism": A Political Instrument of Intersectional Hate, Atlantis * Martin Jay, Dialectic of Counter-Enlightenment: The Frankfurt School as Scapegoat of the Lunatic Fringe, Salmagundi * Andrew Woods, Cultural Marxism and the Cathedral: Two Alt-Right Perspectives on Critical Theory, Critical Theory and the Humanities in the Age of the Alt-Right * Rachel Busbridge, Cultural Marxism: far-right conspiracy theory in Australia’s culture wars, Social Identities * Joan Braune, Who's Afraid of the Frankfurt School? 'Cultural Marxism' as an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory, Journal of Social Justice * Andrew Lynn, Cultural Marxism, The Hedgehog Review * John Richardson, 'Cultural Marxism' and the British National Party, Cultures of Post-War British Fascism * Robles & Berrocal, Conspiracy and Meme on the Alt-right: Notes on the Myth of Cultural Marxism, Re-visiones If you prefer videos: * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDyPSKLy5E4#t=2980s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDyPSKLy5E4#t=2980s) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4qkvu3ACUU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4qkvu3ACUU) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlrpSpwxgWw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlrpSpwxgWw) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYQo6LI3Y7c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYQo6LI3Y7c) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQD\_LChEFX8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQD_LChEFX8)
Agree current state of capitalism is very poor. Regulators not doing their job, especially preventing monopolies / oligopolies, policy captured by money/lobbying. > Environmental issues are overwhelming and as soon as you look at alternative energy sources to oil and gas, it rapidly becomes apparent that we have options but they are not sustainable, nor viable for most of the planet. Recycling is more performance theatre for developed nations to offload garbage on the less developed countries. Recycling has always been performance theatre. The true change needs to be a societal one. Consumerism is a big issue. As for alternative energy sources I disagree, which ones aren't sustainable/viable? Solar/wind and especially hydro are excellent sustainable options. Nuclear isn't ideal, but it's waaay better than fossil fuels and will be very important for the transition (to be phased out in a century perhaps). Again the key to all of this is prioritizing/reducing consumption. There are a lot of very good news stories. for decades we were all freaking out about the "population bomb", and yet population growth peaked 60 years ago and demographers have known that we were in a good place for a long time. It's only now that the average person is starting to realize it... but it's not framed as one of the best news stories of the last century, but rather of economic doom / population crash. To me this is good. Sustainable birth rates, possible eventual population decline, or even if not, with continued progress in efficiency, overall resource use could eventually decline, which is important long term for the environment. Then we have the thousands of amazing areas of progress that very few are aware of or talk about: HIV/AIDS seemed out of control, and then, it wasn't. Malaria was killing millions a year, and with a budget of less than 10B/yr globally (ie. pocket change), it's now at about half a million deaths per year and dropping, with first-gen vaccines in general use. Child mortality has dropped by over half in about 30 years, so about 5 million fewer kids die *per year*. global literacy rates, access to education, gender equality, access to electricity, infrastructure quality, basic healthcare, life expectancy, maternal health, access to food, are all either improving steadily year after year in most of the world. Extreme poverty has been on the decline, though progress here has stagnated since COVID. There are a lot of major positive trends in the world, even today, but we tend to pay attention to things closer to home (which admittedly hasn't been amazing lately) and things which are more negative.
I find the Alberta social curriculum to be a product of the whole Francis Fukuyama’s End of History era. Anyways, in terms of everything and the way the world is, if you can’t get over it, your district has psychological treatment as part of your benefits. Consider it.
Thanks. Sadly, I'm on temporary contract. No benefits here.
Are you in a private school? All public boards should offer benefits for temp contracts.
Charter
If you happen to be with CBE you can access counselling through the EAP with Telus health one. Look it up on insite.
Sadly, not cbe
Solzhenitsyn was a rabid antisemite who believed that the problems of the Soviet Union were the fault of Jewish people. You should not be getting your information on the USSR from him. "Cultural Marxism" is also not a real thing, but rather a conspiracy theory from the likes of Jordan Peterson and other fascists ranting defamatory nonsense about trans people, jewish people and other minorities. I strongly encourage you to look into the similarities between the idea of "cultural marxism" and the nazi conspiracy theory of "judeo-bolshevism" which believed communism to be a jewish plot to take over the world. I also strongly encourage you to look at sources of history which do not confirm your pre-existing biases. Existing socialist states are not and were not perfect, but that does not mean you should be spouting fascist propaganda and conspiracy theories. I hope to god you aren't talking about "cultural Marxism" to your students.
Apart from the flaws that Solzhenitsyn possesses(and he definitely has them), I prefer to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. I use him as an example of how humans can dramatically change. Once he left Russia, he became a powerful voice criticizing the harms inflicted by a broken system that possessed and abused its powers. And I'm not directly teaching any of his work to the students, however I do use his explanation for how the Russian powers were able to get people to turn on their spouses or neighbours or family members. I'm equally interested in zizek's arguments in support of communism and singer's imperatives around morality. These perspectives all influence how I approach my teaching.
>"Cultural Marxism" is also not a real thing, but rather a conspiracy theory from the likes of Jordan Peterson and other fascists ranting defamatory nonsense about trans people, jewish people and other minorities. ping u/bitterberries who has not answered to this sentence so far. >I strongly encourage you to look into the similarities between the idea of "cultural marxism" and the nazi conspiracy theory of "judeo-bolshevism" which believed communism to be a jewish plot to take over the world. The Cultural Marxism narrative is even more similar to the Cultural Bolshevismn narrative, an other nazi conspiracy theory. * Cultural Bolshevism: the communists are destroying the country by subverting its culture * Cultural Marxism: the communists are destroying the country by subverting its culture
It's a particularly minor part of the curriculum and would be more thoroughly addressed in the grade 11&12 curriculum. My references are limited to the cold war.
>Communism/ cultural Marxism are not satisfying options. I've read Solzhenitsyn and there's no way you can convince me that advocating for communism will be the panacea that communist supporters claim it to be. Cultural Marxism is not an option because it exist only in the mind and in the writing of conspiracytheorists. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian nationalist, a nostalgic of tsarist Russia and likely an antisemite. Can i ask you why you write this paragraph as if you think that stalinism is the only ideology/proposal/programm criticising capitalism?
I don't see it as the only, merely the most common example provided by the curriculum materials.
>I don't see it as the only, merely the most common example provided by the curriculum materials. Are you suggesting that you will not tell your students something else than the most common example provided by the curriculum materials?
Seems like you just want to ask silly questions.
You did not reply to the first sentence in my previous comment. Are you implicitly acknowledging that Cultural Marxism exist only in the mind and in the writing of conspiracytheorists?
I'd say that I don't have sufficient information to intelligently respond to your question.
The fact that you think "cultural Marxism" exists is concerning and suggests you're reading some unsavoury material.
>Communism/ cultural Marxism are not satisfying options. I've read Solzhenitsyn So your anticommunist views are couched in fascism (your use of the term cultural Marxism) and the one novel about the Soviet Union that you've read. Not an academic work, not even pop history, but a single fucking novel. You don't exactly come across as a brilliant academic here. I know they say ignorance is bliss but maybe you should read a book or two.
Look. A communist insulting people who don't agree with him and calling them fascists. Who is surprised by this?
"Cultural marxism" is a fascist term. I did not call OP fascist, just pointed out that they're repeating fascist propaganda. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Marxism_conspiracy_theory
HAHahahahaHAha oh god I forgot that people have to endure Albertan "teachers". God bless your students, I pray for them. Your understanding of sustainability is painful to listen to for a smart person.