NEA trains teachers in activism, self-care and 'the future of trans'

Teachers can brush up on progressive fads via the National Education Association's “micro-credential library” of online courses, write Daniel Buck and Anna Low on The Hill. "It’s a functional checklist of some of the worst ideas in education."

Photo: Mikhail Nilov/Pexels

The union offers modules on "diversity, equity, and culture competence," “Privilege 101,” “The Future of Trans" and “how to advocate for LGBTQ policies for students and co-workers.” There's “Adult Social Emotional Learning” and “Climate Change and Environmental Justice.”

But "practical advice for teachers is scarce," write Buck and Low. There seems to be nothing on the "science of reading," a subject many teachers were not taught in teacher-prep programs.

Classroom management micro-credentials advocate “Restorative Practices," they write. "Never mind the paucity of evidence for restorative justice, let alone the substantial evidence that soft-on-consequences approaches to discipline leave schools more chaotic and send academic scores into a nosedive," they write.

The “Trauma-Informed Pedagogy” series tells teachers that racism can traumatize children of color while causing "white students to have an over-inflated sense of self, a skewed view of all people in our society, and a lack of empathy,” write Buck and Low.

"More than half of states now allow teachers to leverage micro-credentials — digital certifications earned through short online courses on specific topics — to both earn and maintain licensure," they write. Some teachers can earn more for completing microcredentials.