There has not been a definitive count offered concerning the number of teachers who called out “sick” or used a personal day this past Friday and Monday as part of the recent “NC Teacher Walkout.” Driven mostly by social media, it is hard to even gauge overall interest in participating, much less ascertain who actually … Continue reading Teachers Anonymous?
There has not been a definitive count offered concerning the number of teachers who called out “sick” or used a personal day this past Friday and Monday as part of the recent “NC Teacher Walkout.”
Driven mostly by social media, it is hard to even gauge overall interest in participating, much less ascertain who actually participated.
As of today, no schools were shut down for the day(s) and no “official statement” of next actions given.
Online discussions in Facebook groups can sometimes attract hundreds of comments and many more clicks on a computer screen.
Especially in groups dedicated to public education.
Even more so in states like North Carolina where a lack of a new budget, a gerrymandered General Assembly, and an untold number of baseless education reforms put the state of teaching profession in such a spotlight.
And that has brought in a number of those who identify themselves online as “Anonymous Member XXX.”
That impersonal moniker opens up so many possibilities in engaging with others on Facebook posts.
It provides cover on saying whatever you might want to throw into the discussion without others knowing who said it.
It allows someone who is not in the education field to stoke rumors or incite emotional reactions with those who believe that the “anonymous member” is one of their ranks.
It allows someone with political motivations to pose as an educator to spread information or disinformation among a profession that is already driven to the edge of their nerves.
In this “Right to Work” / “At Will” state, posting anonymously might allow me to get people who actually identify themselves to put their names on lists that can be used against them at a later time.
You could even practice multiple personalities by using many “Anonymous Member XXX” profiles to push multiple narratives that benefit many anonymous sources. Maybe every “Anonymous Member” in North Carolina Teachers United could be the very same person. That’s fodder for a made-for-TV movie.
But it is funny that a profession like teaching in PUBLIC schools where actual people with actual identities stand in front of many at a time would have those same people become anonymous when talking with other educators.
As a teacher, I have never commented at a school board meeting anonymously. I have never gone to an IEP meeting anonymously. I have not had a parent/teacher conference anonymously. I do not attend faculty meetings anonymously.
And I tend not to take anything said by “Anonymous Member XXX” as gospel, especially in a profession that foundationally relies on the building of relationships between people.
The fact that many (or a few) in public education forums feel like they must identify as “anonymous” or feel they have to rely on the words of “anonymous” members for their well-being as an educator is a major indicator of how attacked this profession is in North Carolina.
If I am a Senator Phil Berger or someone else of his ilk in Raleigh who wants to weaken public education as much as possible for privatization efforts, then I am celebrating the rise of those “Anonymous Members.”
Hell, I might even be posting anonymously about it.
