Hence, discrimination based on these categories is a barrier to the freedom of individuals to individuate. — Count Timothy von Icarus

Yes, and this unwittingly puts the identity category, the ideology, first and foremost, before the individual. For example, one sees discrimination based on skin color, and then, without need to ask the individual who is discriminated against, one can judge the individual must identify with that skin based category so that individual must be being oppressed - you sort of know a person’s victim status and how oppressed they have been from individuating themselves, without need to consult with the actual individual, because of the identity category.

So white people get to feel good fighting with BLM whether black people agree with BLM or not.

Ethnicity, regionalism, and even religion might be thought to be more tied to place, and the ideal liberal citizen has transcended place, — Count Timothy von Icarus

And now we get all of the calls to break up the union into smaller states based on locale.

while each place itself also becomes every other place. — Count Timothy von Icarus

So in the name of the “freedom to individuate” and to distinguish something individual, each place becomes the same as the last place. More unwitting contradiction and self-defeating policy.

It's the right now that seems to more often appeal to "elitism." — Count Timothy von Icarus

But isn’t that just the right’s lame attempt to fight fire with fire, as in if you can’t beat identity politics, make up your own version? It’s still weak and sourced to leftist tactics. Or maybe I should say tyrannical tactics enjoyed on both right extremes and left center and extremes.

It largely doesn't even make sense as a coherent concept
— Mijin
Quite so. — Banno

Not seeing what “woke” is, is very woke.

I don't know that jargon, but a quick google tells me it includes teaching phonics, which means it is not the whole language approach.

The whole language approach is using contextual cues, guessing, etc to learn vocab without the sound-it-out basics of phonics. And it works fine for privileged kids - books around the house, parents that read to them, etc. I was taught this way, and you were too most likely. It's only the past few years where the failure of the approach has been addressed, and only in certain sectors of ed.

Turns out poor kids generally need direct instruction. This is ancient history man. I'm surprised you don't know what I'm talking about with a partner who teaches. — Jeremy Murray

You wrote clearly but I got mixed up somehow and thought you were saying that phonics was woke. I guess because the phonics approach is a relatively recent development. Anyway, I still don't understand how either approach to teaching reading is woke. Can you explain?

Hey man,

I am stretching this term here, perhaps too much, but the philosophical approach is certainly the same, a downplaying of the role of teacher as expert / instructor, the idea that the student just needs to find themselves, to construct their own knowledge. I think it lead towards, say, the book club, and away from the 'whole class novel'. This makes direct instruction much harder. It's the naivety of it all that seems the best point of comparison.

Perhaps that's too much of a stretch? I remember, early in my career, opining to a senior colleague that we can use our 'moral authority' as teachers to help classroom discipline. He replied 'what authority'?

That stance - who are we to be experts, we represent 'the man' - was not uncommon in his generation, and in many ways remains the dominant belief system.

I think we see the impact of this in declining standards all over the place - discipline, academic honesty, falling over backwards to accommodate litigious students and parents, etc.

Of course, all sorts of great teachers, or just average ones, are doing a lot of good work. But this 'race to the bottom' in standards makes it harder for good teachers to stand out.

The child is placed on equal footing with the adults, even in matters in which the child is clearly acting out.

Too much? What do you think?

What does your wife think about the state of schools? She's worked in different environments - there might be more variance between states, say, that between provinces here in Canada.

Not seeing what “woke” is, is very woke. — Fire Ologist

If you had meant this as a joke, I'd salute you as thread winner.
But, sadly, it seems more likely that you're being serious.

Not seeing what “woke” is, is very woke.
— Fire Ologist

If you had meant this as a joke, I'd salute you as thread winner.
But, sadly, it seems more likely that you're being serious. — Mijin

Dead serious.

What is funny is that the same people who can’t see what wokeness is, somehow see with absolute clarity that Kirk was racist. Or Trump is a fascist dictator. Nothing vague to puzzle over about those things.

But wokeness… can’t imagine what all the fuss is about.