To understand this article, please start by watching this 3-minute video.
That video was shown to Grand Haven High School students as a Social and Emotional Learning lesson during Academy Class. Most people will watch that video and think that, while it may be a little cringy, it is not that bad. Some may point to the sexual innuendo pervasive throughout the video and say it is age-inappropriate, but even that is not that bad. The overall message, that we should make accommodations for others, is positive. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Don’t most people believe in the golden rule?
We can feel that there is a problem with the video, but it is difficult to identify what that problem is.
The problem is, the message is presented in a way that is meant to make the viewer focus on differences instead of just dealing with life’s trivial issues. Each of us is unique, so we can always find differences. The video emphasizes viewing situations from another person’s perspective which is obviously necessary at times, but focusing on differences and acting in the interest of others at all times without question is dangerous. It teaches us to ignore our instincts and obey.
This lesson is what is known as a generative theme. A generative theme is an emotional topic that has political undertones, which an activist teacher can use to engage a class. Activists understand it is against policy to introduce political and controversial topics for class discussion. So instead, they introduce topics in a subtle way, hoping someone will engage and it will develop into a full classroom discussion.
In James Lindsay’s book, The Marxification of Education chapter 6, Lindsay states,
“In truth, “generative themes” are concepts Marxists can use to evoke powerful emotional reactions from their students in order to groom them through a process of thought reform into a Marxist consciousness.”
Lindsay further states,
“What counts are those themes in their lives that evoke the kinds of discontented and aggrieved emotional responses useful to Marxist conscientization. In short, they’re meant to evoke feelings of injustice, unfairness, suffering and misery, or hope in utopian possibility.”
Then Lindsay explains how generative themes are used in modern classrooms.
“In the modern context, this process is conducted through a conduit of emotional manipulation known as “Social-Emotional Learning (SEL),” in which educators as some combination of teacher, unlicensed social worker, unqualified psychologist, and facilitator teach their students how to navigate the social realities and emotional responses they have to them after discovering and being carefully fed these generative themes. Those generative themes are discovered in an SEL setting by means of surveying (that is, data mining) students, introducing provocative material and gauging student reactions, and through dialogue on political or sensitive social and emotional subjects under the pretext of understanding the underlying social and emotional context in which the students might encounter impediments to learning, especially with regard to social and emotional subjects (including outright Leftist identity politics.)”
In Grand Haven, the video lesson was accompanied by this slide where students were requested to focus on aspects of their identity that make them different.
Perhaps they have sixteen feet. Perhaps they have dark skin.
Then they were asked to connect their identity to their thoughts and behaviors.
Perhaps they have privilege because they do not have a shell. Perhaps they have privilege because they live in a heated house.
Finally, they were told to recognize how those identity traits result in discrimination against them.
Perhaps the gate was constructed too low for them to fit under. Perhaps they were last in line.
In the case of this Social Emotional Learning lesson, the generative theme is introduced at the 2:19 mark with the following,
“Maybe you're gay, or trans, have a disability or different religion. Or of course, the obvious one, you're a member of a different race. I don't know what it's like to be you, and you don't know what it's like to be me.”
Basically, this video has been produced with the goal that a student will ask a question that will lead to an emotional discussion of one or many of the topics just listed. In case students do not take this bait, the scene of the bugs mashing at the end tries to nudge things along. Aside from the generative theme, they learn that they should respect and listen to others that are different from themselves, because they could not possibly understand what it is like to be them, and at the same time, they are asked to empathize with those who are different, imagining what they are going through. In life, of course, situations arise in which this mindset is a necessary skill to resolve conflict or somehow address a particular problem. However, that message in this video is expanded from a situational case to one of constant attention, encouraging students to focus inordinate amounts of time on thinking about immutable differences, privilege, and creating an intense sense of belonging to a collective. This lesson is not simply teaching children to be empathetic. It is reforming their thought process.
Social Emotional Learning lessons are given at least once per month at Grand Haven High School. Parents can send an email to their child’s Academy teacher or Mrs. Wilson and opt their child out of these lessons.
I will leave you with some comments from the video showing that most people instinctively understand this video is problematic, but have difficulty articulating why.
