A White teacher taught White students about White privilege. It cost him his job.

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

More info here:

He Taught About White Privilege and Got Fired. Now He's Fighting to Get His Job Back

Matthew Hawn is an early casualty in this year's fight over how teachers can discuss with students America's struggle with racism.

www.edweek.org

 

[ZiprHead]

From Don2's link:

Hawn has taught Contemporary Issues since 2010. Students spend about 85 minutes per class discussing the day’s news events. Over the past decade, he talked to high school students about LGBTQ rights, the Second Amendment, climate change, the legalization of marijuana, the opioid epidemic, every presidential election and, most recently, COVID-19. He has even talked with students about racism and white privilege with previous classes, but said administrators never took issue with his teaching style until this year’s national debate over critical race theory.

The class was usually free-flowing, with very little structure and the ability for students to suggest topics of discussion. Hawn said he occasionally assigned articles, showed video clips, and encouraged debate on any and all topics, no matter how controversial.

Sounds like a class I would very much enjoy. I never had anything like that in my school years.

 

[laughing dog]

High school students are mature enough to be able to dialogue with other about socially controversial issues, and have debates in the class. Rather than be preached at and indoctrinated by the teacher.

Any teacher who doesn't understand this and thinks it's his/her role to impose his/her theories and prejudices onto the students, rather than encourage debate and questioning, deserves to be terminated.

One of the functions of any teacher is to teach theories. It is ignorant to claim otherwise.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

High school students are mature enough to be able to dialogue with other about socially controversial issues, and have debates in the class. Rather than be preached at and indoctrinated by the teacher.

How did this teacher indoctrinate the students?

 

[Keith&Co.]

High school students are mature enough to be able to dialogue with other about socially controversial issues, and have debates in the class. Rather than be preached at and indoctrinated by the teacher.

Any teacher who doesn't understand this and thinks it's his/her role to impose his/her theories and prejudices onto the students, rather than encourage debate and questioning, deserves to be terminated.

One of the functions of any teacher is to teach theories. It is ignorant to claim otherwise.

Well, not in Current Events. Obviously, the courseware in Current Events should reflect an 1950's view of America. We're all nuclear families, happy, straight, Christain and equal. And the TV's are black and white.

 

[Politesse]

High school students are mature enough to be able to dialogue with other about socially controversial issues, and have debates in the class. Rather than be preached at and indoctrinated by the teacher.

Any teacher who doesn't understand this and thinks it's his/her role to impose his/her theories and prejudices onto the students, rather than encourage debate and questioning, deserves to be terminated.

Then why did they fire a man whose class was apparently based almost entirely on rational debate of the issues of the day?

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

 

[TomC]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

 

[Politesse]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

Is this a joke? Of course, Hawn is probably the better teacher than whoever is likely to replace him. It takes guts to care about education enough to sacrifice your own career for it.

 

[TomC]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

Is this a joke? Of course, Hawn is probably the better teacher than whoever is likely to replace him. It takes guts to care about education enough to sacrifice your own career for it.

Nevertheless, Hawn isn't their teacher any more.

Sorry to inflict reality on you, but Hawn will be replaced. And probably by someone who won't teach the kids what Hawn was teaching.

Do you think Hawn did the kids a favor?
Tom

 

[Politesse]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

Is this a joke? Of course, Hawn is probably the better teacher than whoever is likely to replace him. It takes guts to care about education enough to sacrifice your own career for it.

Nevertheless, Hawn isn't their teacher any more.

Sorry to inflict reality on you, but Hawn will be replaced. And probably by someone who won't teach the kids what Hawn was teaching.

Do you think Hawn did the kids a favor?
Tom

Oh yeah. They're going to remember this incident for much longer than their replacement instructor could possibly teach them. There's hearing about censorship/ white privilege as an abstract theory, and then there's actually witnessing with your own eyes a teacher getting fired for watching a video of a poem that dares to acknowledge that the US has freaking race issues.

 

[ZiprHead]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

How does one go about discussing current affairs without controversy?

Why should a few snowflake parents ruin the class for the rest of the students? Withdraw your kids from the damn class and STFU.

 

[TomC]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

Is this a joke? Of course, Hawn is probably the better teacher than whoever is likely to replace him. It takes guts to care about education enough to sacrifice your own career for it.

Nevertheless, Hawn isn't their teacher any more.

Sorry to inflict reality on you, but Hawn will be replaced. And probably by someone who won't teach the kids what Hawn was teaching.

Do you think Hawn did the kids a favor?
Tom

Oh yeah. They're going to remember this incident for much longer than their replacement instructor could possibly teach them. There's hearing about censorship/ white privilege as an abstract theory, and then there's actually witnessing with your own eyes a teacher getting fired for watching a video of a poem that dares to acknowledge that the US has freaking race issues.

You have a lot more Faith than I do.

I'm confident that in a couple of months, much less a new semester, the kids won't care. From their parents to the administration to their new teacher, they'll be too busy learning what they're being taught now. And will be taught, for years, now that the administration knows better than to hire a teacher like Hawn.

Some kids might remember, but mostly not. Kids are like that.
Tom

 

[TomC]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

How does one go about discussing current affairs without controversy?

Why should a few snowflake parents ruin the class for the rest of the students? Withdraw your kids from the damn class and STFU.

I'm not saying that the parents should. Only that they did.

Lemme ask you a question. If a teacher were teaching your kids something you really didn't like or agree with, like vaccinations are more dangerous than infection, would you complain to the administration? Would you demand that the teacher either stop or be terminated? I'm guessing you would.
Tom

 

[southernhybrid]

I don't think parents should be able to dictate to teachers what they teach, especially in a class about current events. It never used to be that way when I was growing up. Parents usually respected high school teachers even if they didn't always agree with them. A teacher should help students think and challenge them. White privilege is a fact, so why not allow white kids to discuss this. Why not help them understand racism instead of pretending it doesn't exist? But, this was in rural Tennessee, so I guess one can't expect to be allowed to be enlightened by a high school teacher.

This guy reminds me of the best college liberal arts teacher I had back in the 1960s. He encouraged us to protest the war and to stand up for our rights, as well as teaching us Western Civ. He encouraged active debate in class and always told the more conservative students that he cared about them and encouraged them to express themselves too. Guess what? He was fired too.

 

[ZiprHead]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

How does one go about discussing current affairs without controversy?

Why should a few snowflake parents ruin the class for the rest of the students? Withdraw your kids from the damn class and STFU.

I'm not saying that the parents should. Only that they did.

Lemme ask you a question. If a teacher were teaching your kids something you really didn't like or agree with, like vaccinations are more dangerous than infection, would you complain to the administration? Would you demand that the teacher either stop or be terminated? I'm guessing you would.
Tom

For that obvious bullshit, yes, of course I would. But no one has accused Hawn of lying about anything discussed.

Care to take a stab at the first question I asked?

 

[Gospel]

America is once again plotting the course towards "those damned Yankees!". Many are so uptight about their political (and at times even nonpolitical) views it's almost as if those damn Yankee's are at it again. Don't talk to them damn Yankees!

 

[laughing dog]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

How does one go about discussing current affairs without controversy?

Why should a few snowflake parents ruin the class for the rest of the students? Withdraw your kids from the damn class and STFU.

I'm not saying that the parents should. Only that they did.

Lemme ask you a question. If a teacher were teaching your kids something you really didn't like or agree with, like vaccinations are more dangerous than infection, would you complain to the administration? Would you demand that the teacher either stop or be terminated? I'm guessing you would.
Tom

Your example involves a teacher teaching something that is factually wrong. That ought to bother any parent. My children all had instances with teachers teaching something that was factually incorrect. In each instance, one of their parents taught them the correct facts or information, and then suggested to the child to ask their teacher about it. If that did not work, one of us went to the inevitable teacher-student conference to chat about it. Sometimes, the child simply misinterpreted the teacher's remarks.

Any parent who takes a child's view of what happened in the classroom as gospel is naive.

 

[TomC]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

How does one go about discussing current affairs without controversy?

Why should a few snowflake parents ruin the class for the rest of the students? Withdraw your kids from the damn class and STFU.

I'm not saying that the parents should. Only that they did.

Lemme ask you a question. If a teacher were teaching your kids something you really didn't like or agree with, like vaccinations are more dangerous than infection, would you complain to the administration? Would you demand that the teacher either stop or be terminated? I'm guessing you would.
Tom

For that obvious bullshit, yes, of course I would. But no one has accused Hawn of lying about anything discussed.

Care to take a stab at the first question I asked?

And here's where the problem, for the school administrators, comes in.

Discussing current events is fraught with deeply held opinions. Teachers need to understand that they aren't in charge of students education, the parents are. The administration tried to get that across to Hawn.
Hawn chose to make a statement instead of keep his job.

Now, somebody else will be teaching in his place. I have no idea who, but I'm confident that it will be somebody very different from Hawn.
Tom

 

[Toni]

“The record establishes that Mr. Hawn failed to follow the Teacher Code of Ethics and in doing so acted unprofessionally,” Conder wrote. “Furthermore, Mr. Hawn was insubordinate in that he failed to follow the reprimand that prohibited him from using materials with inappropriate language. And failing to present varying viewpoints, despite knowing he was to do so, was insubordinate conduct.”

Hawn appeal going before Sullivan school board

Parents don’t want activist teachers. What a shock.

Imagine what would happen if Mr Hawn were telling his students that vaccines were dangerous. And after being reprimanded, showed them a "scathing and profane" YouTube on the subject.

Yeah, right.
Tom

I don't merely imagine, I actually know that vaccines are safe and that critical race theory accurately describes part of US history. Anyone who has graduated from high school should be aware of the same facts and so should anyone who has earned a bachelor's degree...in anything. I have never had a problem with teachers teaching facts and actual information to students (assuming it is age appropriate). I have had some trouble with teachers teaching not factual 'facts' to students.

I dislike the term white because I believe that it is needlessly inflammatory and obscures the fact that having a white skin in the US means that you are treated differently in many respects than if you had brown or black skin. But to people who grew up poor and white, the word 'privilege' seems not only laughable but incendiary. A lot of white people grow up with inadequate food, unstable housing, low income and knowing that some people were treated better than other people because of reasons. I write this as someone who grew up with parents who were poor during the Great Depression, and I myself spent some of my childhood living in a 3 room house (not bedrooms--3 rooms) with an outhouse and remember well when both sets of grandparents got indoor plumbing. But I was a good student and relatively quiet and well behaved so basically, my word was taken over the word of other kids who maybe struggled more with school work than I did or who were more wiggly than I was. And I also was given a benefit of doubt because my older sibling was also a well behaved and stellar student and because, despite my grandparents' poverty, my family name was considered 'good'--we were known for being honest and hard working. I knew as a 10 year old that this was patently unfair. I saw kids treated poorly for no good reason other than the teacher's dislike, including one kid I used to be 'forced' to help with math but who was actually extremely good at math. The teacher just hated him and blamed any thing she could on him. I never understood why and incurred her wrath for pointing out the inaccuracy of some of her accusations. To no avail. The principal backed the teacher up. In classrooms, I had 'privilege' although I never thought it was privilege at the time and still don't. I thought then and still do that it is just the way that all kids should be treated: as if they were smart, as if they were trying their best, and if they made a mistake, it was an honest one and not deserving of undue ridicule or punishment.

That is just one little white girl--a tiny tiny insignificant cog in a huge machine that reached far beyond what I knew even existed. I chafe at the words white privilege because most of my childhood did not seem particularly privileged. But I know that I got benefits of doubt that some other equally white kids did not get--'privileges, if you will, although I believed with all my heart that every child deserved to be treated as well as I was--and during the year and a half, I attended a school with black children, I was aware that they black children were treated differently by the teachers. Not nearly as aware as they were but there were only a handful and one always notices injustices one experiences more than what is merely witnessed.

 

[ZiprHead]

Making a single comment during a debate, then backing it up with a source, is "indoctrination" much in the same way that chopping up some firewood in my backyard is "deforestation".

It wasn't a single comment. It says so right in the OP.
He'd been warned at least a couple of times previously about parental complaints. This was just the final straw, one he described as "will probably get me fired", according to the story.

I don't think he wanted the job any more.

Being so far out from the parents made it uncomfortable. But the parents are ultimately in charge of their children, for better or worse. It doesn't matter if he closely aligns with your world views, you aren't in charge. Neither is the school administration, they had to choose between keeping their jobs and Hawn keeping his, probably.

Let me ask, who do you think will teach that class better? Hawn, who "can't help himself"(according to the report), or his replacement? A replacement who will probably be chosen for their ability to avoid any controversy that might further annoy parents who are already angry.

Did Hawn do those kids a favor by showing them the YouTube he chose? I don't think so.
Tom

How does one go about discussing current affairs without controversy?

Why should a few snowflake parents ruin the class for the rest of the students? Withdraw your kids from the damn class and STFU.

I'm not saying that the parents should. Only that they did.

Lemme ask you a question. If a teacher were teaching your kids something you really didn't like or agree with, like vaccinations are more dangerous than infection, would you complain to the administration? Would you demand that the teacher either stop or be terminated? I'm guessing you would.
Tom

For that obvious bullshit, yes, of course I would. But no one has accused Hawn of lying about anything discussed.

Care to take a stab at the first question I asked?

And here's where the problem, for the school administrators, comes in.

Discussing current events is fraught with deeply held opinions. Teachers need to understand that they aren't in charge of students education, the parents are. The administration tried to get that across to Hawn.
Hawn chose to make a statement instead of keep his job.

Now, somebody else will be teaching in his place. I have no idea who, but I'm confident that it will be somebody very different from Hawn.
Tom

Hawn had been teaching that course without issue for ten years. Now the snowflake right has gotten their panties in a bunch over teaching CRT and he got unjustly burned by it. The snowflakes should have been to to FO by the administration.