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Today we offer a special Labor Day show honoring all working people. We begin with Solidarity Forever, a tribute to workers’ achievements in improving our lives and our country, and to the labor movement which organized workers in order to secure a living wage, safe working conditions, and an ability to retire with dignity.
Part One:
We talk to Jonathan Rosenblum, a longtime labor activist and educator, about his book “Beyond $15: Immigrant Workers, Faith Activists, and the Revival of the Labor Movement.” Our guest was active in the struggle by SeaTac airport workers for a livable minimum wage and also for an end to discrimination based on their religion (particularly Muslims).
Rosenblum recognized that the moral values underlying many communities of faith made those communities natural allies for working people who were being treated unfairly, taken for granted, and disrespected as second-class humans. The joining together of movements of morality and of economic justice became a force to be reckoned with in the ongoing struggle between corporate elites and the workers who keep their businesses profitable.
Part Two:
After an interlude featuring the song “Union Maid,” we look at issues relating to our children’s return to the classroom. We speak with Joe Feldman, an educational consultant, about his book, “Grading for Equity.” Instead of letting teachers be teachers, our schools now push teachers to “teach to the test.” This is not an effective way actually to educate students.
Instead, it tends to suppress young people’s critical thinking skills. It also suppresses their motivation and ability to explore ideas — and ways of looking at issues — that are not “going to be on the test.” Students are discouraged from considering facts/subjects that are not part of the orthodox analysis of what concepts are important, what outcomes/effects are “worth thinking about.”
We agree that our educational system would be improved by encouraging students to explore ideas through their own lenses, to be open to hearing and considering other people’s points of view. The world won’t come to an end if students are permitted to make their own “mistakes,” without being judged or punished, without feeling as if there is something wrong with them if they don’t happen to share the majority’s views.
In fact, people usually learn a great deal from their own mistakes. Students should be encouraged to reflect on their mistakes and to ponder what alternative choices they might make in future situations that are similar (and to consider what situations might not be similar).
