"Stick to reading, writing, and arithmetic. Stop pushing your agenda on our kids."

If you've been teaching for more than a minute, you already know something doesn't add up about that request.

Because there's no such thing as a values-neutral classroom. There never has been.

Every time we decide which history gets a full unit and which gets a mini-lesson...

Every time we choose whose stories show up in our classroom libraries while others gather dust on shelves...

Every time we select which families get represented in our read-alouds and which kids go all year without seeing their home life reflected anywhere...

We're teaching an agenda. All of us. Always.

Researchers refer to this as the hidden curriculum. And it's been operating in classrooms since the first schools were founded.

In today's episode of the Truth for Teachers podcast, I'm giving you the vocabulary, the research, and the framework to defend your approach when someone calls your care for all students "political."

Here's what I want you to be able to say with confidence ...

Teaching has never been neutral. Schools have always taught values. The only question is whether we're conscious of what we're teaching and honest about it.

Teaching kids empathy, curiosity, and the ability to work with people who are different from them isn't a radical left-wing agenda.

It's a viewpoint supported by the vast majority of Americans (and has been for decades.)

It used to be a baseline criteria of good teaching, not a controversial position teachers are supposed to downplay.

And, it's a crucial life skill for young people.

It's what employers are looking for, what communities depend on, and what our diverse country requires in order to function.

If we want kids to be able to get a job, navigate the world, and be decent humans to one another, then empathy and open-mindedness aren't optional values. They're foundational ones.

This episode is also a call for institutions to stop playing defense so individual teachers aren't having to stand alone in their truth.

Our schools need to speak plainly about what we know to be true:

That every child who walks into our classrooms deserves to see themselves reflected there, to have their existence treated as welcome, and to leave knowing their life has inherent value.

That is not controversial. It's just good teaching.

Angela Watson Stay connected on social media: ​​​​​​

P.O. Box 175, Bushkill, PA 18324
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