I would love to work with these guys. They are political and that is something unique. They are honest and they are really brave.

I saw Andrew Campbell’s tweet earlier today and I knew I was going to write about it. This is something that bothers me. We are in a unique and dangerous time in our world. We have a totally dangerous demagogue in Donald Trump and now in Ontario, we have a  ‘mini-me’ in Doug Ford.

Peter Cameron speaks out. He is bold in his criticism of standardized testing and he promotes a new form of education that supports the values and ideas of indigenous peoples in Canada. He is an activist.

Andrew Campbell was writing every day about the absurd changes that are happening in Ontario. He chronicled the growing dissent of school boards against changes to the physical and health education curriculum in this province. He was a lone, strong voice.

Yes, these are dangerous times and most educators are doing very little. Am I missing something? Are there more voices?

This summer while trekking in Peru, I had a chance to have a good long conversation with a wonderful educator I worked with at my last school. She was from the Balkans when she was younger and saw the destruction that took place in Bosnia in the 1990’s.

What really struck me was what she said about how people reacted to the growing strident language coming from politicians. They didn’t get involved. They didn’t vote, they let things go. Nothing bad could ever happen, right?

Are we in a similar situation here? Do we just not react? Do we see any political comment as beyond the pale? Are we a little too meek?

It might be easy to criticize me for writing this now – I am retired and am beyond reach. But I did make comments while I was a part of the system. I usually got in trouble, but I did say something. It didn’t seem like I had a choice. I was more than a little surprised that I did get in trouble. When I made public comments about student drug use in the schools or the Catholic bishops of Canada I wasn’t making things up.

Truth hurts I guess.

So, like Andrew Campbell, I don’t get it. Teachers on social media you are doing all of us a disservice. I hate to say this, but there is a problem with your silence.

My background is history. We have all heard the tired old statement, if you don’t learn from history you are doomed to repeat.

Well, it’s true and educators need to step up.

Choose your issue – it’s not like there is a vacuum out there. But choose your issue and speak up. You have the best platform ever and you shouldn’t leave it up to Peter and Andrew. 

You really can leave your branding alone for a while and speak from the heart. We will all be encouraged when you finally do. And we are waiting for you.