Hello Friends! As longtime viewers know, our education system is the issue I concern myself with the MOST. Which is why I was saddened to see Warren Smith punished for his viral success, since that success was in praise of his truly heroic work in teaching his students how to think critically and examine their own assumptions. The video that started it all can be seen here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zIPPpsJY39c.htmlsi=o9GlCfsvHhCIcITW Also check out Warren's RU-vid channel @SecretScholars for more of his thoughtful content.
If I still had school-age kids, you are exactly the type of teacher I would hope they had. I imagine that you are an excellent role model for many things in addition to the curriculum taught.
Not only America, lads. What you are doing helps towards saving the West, in a positive sense of the term. On a side note, "Pronouns are Rohypnol" - by Barra Kerr. Well worth a read.
Thanks for going beyond the curriculum with these kids. You're a great teacher,the way you're talking now without stepping on your nda is still effective, and the honesty in the gaps you don't want to speak is transparent and builds trust. And do look on the bright side, your public dismissal let's it be obvious that you weren't in the worst kind of school scandal. We need more guys teaching, you're almost convincing me to go get licensed. You might not put much weight on that, but I was expelled by my media broadcast teacher in my senior year. In my four years, I had six years of math, six of English, fi years of chem through physics, and in my senior year I was teacher's aide for two classes and the only elective I took was broadcast. This class was the opposite of yours. Videos with worksheets were 80% of the work, there were a couple booths with equipment from the eighties, half of the time in class was literally socializing with the other kids in there while the teacher was detached. I had talked to him about the lack of direction one on one and he gave me the impression he would help bridge the gap. That just meant I was assigned to make programs in the one of the booths and help as much as I could with questions the other kids had. I didn't mind, I spent my lunches aiding my former favorite teachers and had taught a lot of the freshmen in my senior year so it wasn't the responsibility I had a problem with. What I really didn't like was his near total absence from class. I wrote a letter to him in the next essay test we had about... I don't even know, I can't remember a single thing from that class beyond 'office politics" because this was the only teacher that I had a problem with or had a problem with me. Either way, he gave me a zero on that test, maybe deservedly. However, the work I turned in after that had very low grades for the same level of work as I had put in before. Having been relegated to staying in the booth, I had a couple guys come in who were just skating on an easy a class who were happy to let me take over their video presentation to make a hit piece on the teacher, and I did. I gave them full technical credit and took only the script and on camera role for myself and making it look like they didn't know what was going on until we were at the deadline to record. I recorded a news story on "Coach Bennett, the man who can't teach and can't get a victory for the girls volleyball team." He was displeased to say the least, once he started paying attention to what was playing. Over the next couple days he had put together enough to get me expelled, he still had a copy of the letter I wrote him, which was no longer asking to teach but just a criticism about him not teaching and how he would get especially angry with some of the girls in class, and I had said they were the hottest girls in class which didn't work in my favor. The video was truly scathing, and I understand how I got expelled with whatever backstory he gave. I was very resentful, did a bunch of drugs (the irresponsible kind, not the ruin your life ones), became irreverent at work and went from the top salesman to not being noticed and on to having terrible numbers and going above my bosses head and asking for control of the outlet I was in and quit when they refused, I sold my El Dorado and got a souped up early nineties sports car and moved in with my girlfriend, and then was irresponsible for a decade. Basically I knew I wasn't going to a decent school after expulsion and just let go. Two years after I left school, I did get the satisfaction of finding out that he was caught with two female students, with a bunch of former allegations. To be fair, I had been part of a well organized drug ring at school. I was involved from plant and fungus to end user, we had an informant in the principal's office who was just as clean and well preforming as I was, she would let us know when dogs were going to come and who was going to be shaken down and have their lockers searched. We only sold to kids who asked, if you didn't know, you would have no idea who we were, aside from being popular with every clique. The highlight is how I found out about the scandal, I had a roommate who also sold and one of his customers came to out house one day and it was my senior math teacher who I would cut up with in class. We played a bunch of madden and tiger woods and he was there pretty often before I moved in to a new place with my girlfriend. So hold your head up high. You did the right thing and you helped more kids than you think. A good teacher can change someone's whole life, and I can tell you were changing how a lot of people would go into the world. Sorry about the novel, hopefully it gives a bit of perspective. BTW I'm a tradesman doing well and living comfortably with plenty of spare time and a good clean income, plus a couple retail stores that I sold off. I have friends who are _still_ paying off college loans. I've basically retired before many of my friends have committed to a career.
This is the challenge. Many private school are great, but some are even more woke and twisted than the zip-code government school. Why? They're hiring from these poisonous universities and the marxism factory that is a degree in "education". It took 50+ years to destroy our entire education system. We won't fix it overnight.
The video went viral because people are thirsting for honest discussion, feedback and critical thinking and this is one of the few videos that taught the skill.
It was Socratic - therefore, the school reacted the same as the Athenian authorities. In their eyes questioning "the narrative" is corrupting the youth.
"Corrupting the Youth" was code for Socrates basically dismantling every core assumption in Athenian society - including their precious ways of democracy.
@@wheel-man5319 Exactly! I'm saddened by the miniscule proportion of people in these comments aware of that narrative being pushed with great gobs of Money. Tell them WHICH narrative: The tr@nsg3nder agenda has been pushed with a wealth of propaganda, for the last decade, by the med/tech/pharma industry. In the last three years or so, they've destroyed Title IX, allowed men in women's public toilets and locker rooms and prisons, in the US. They've been invading women's sports for much longer. JKRowling has become a sort of spokesperson for honesty in language and other things they call "-phobic". Actually, the g3nderist agenda is very homophobic and misogynistic.
Mr. Smith's colleagues reacted in the same way that a group of Muslim Imams would react to video footage of one of their own being converted to Christianity or Buddhism. The student was brought to a conclusion that did not align with the ideology of the powers that be. The unspoken rule is that regardless of your stated job role, you are forbidden from challenging the dominant ideology of the superiors in any way. That was the real crime. Everything else is semantics and rationalization.
I'd love to see Jordan Peterson get Warren on his podcast in the near future. Warren is a very clear, sober speaker, and shows that he is a thorough thinker, through the way that he speaks. I think it could be one of the best conversations that Peterson could have on his channel. Can't imagine that it would be anything other than exceptionally meaty substance.
With men allowed to cheat at women's sports nothing should be shocking. Still shocked & dismayed this man got fired for doing his job (too well, apparently). When asking commonsense questions results in new realizations how can that possibly be a problem? He doesnt politicize or interject personal opinion. He simply directs the critical thinking process, i.e., questioning presuppositions. Something Socrates [forced to unalive himself at the hands of ideologues] was/is famous for.
I found it compelling because he was helping the student think critically instead of parroting someone's talking points. He was teaching argumentation instead of opinion.
I'm reading "John Adams" by David McCullough. A quote of John Adams in the book was something he had written to a classmate: "Upon Common theaters, indeed, the applause of the audience is of more importance to the actors than their own approbation. But upon the stage of life, while conscience claps, let the world hiss! On the contrary if conscience disapproves, the loudest applauses of the world are of little value".
Such an amazing book. I read it on my bus trips into NYC from Jersey in 2008 early in my political awakening. The HBO series was pretty good too. Check it out after you’re done with read it.
I'm still confused about the whole firing, and I've heard him talk about this elsewhere. The parts of the video I saw, I mean, that could have been me when I was a teacher (not in content creation but equally involving criticial thinking and analysis, mostly of international affairs/politics). I also used to be a head instructor and had to observe teachers and write reviews, and I would have given that section of the class a positive write-up.
@@redneckcoder That's crazy. I taught in the US for a few years decades ago, and then I was a teacher for over a decade in South Korea (but not clapping ABCs to kids, haha... very much akin to what he was doing), and I was very good and feel confident in assessing the bit of his teaching I saw, and I thought it was very good. It's a sad state of affairs.
@@brek5You may not realize how badly U.S. schools have been ‘captured’ by leftist ideology. One being the idea of the gender construct. This teacher debunked Leftist thought concerning J.K. Rowling and her ideas on that and the school could just not let that stand!
Greetings from Brazil! First video seen about this super teacher (I'm a teacher myself!). I'll be joining his RU-vid channel. Praying you both keep the good work!
Wow! I just can't wait to see where Warren Smith goes from here. Both of you are awesome, remarkable, outstanding and curious. It's all added up to a really interesting and intellectually stimulating conversation and I'm very grateful to have been able to listen in. Thank you!
I can tell you exactly why people were engaged...critical thinking, especially concerning anything in the current socio-political zeitgeist, is a lost art, and one that people miss, even if they don't necessarily know what they're missing. That video was a breath of fresh air, a drink of fresh water for a culture that increasingly feels difficult to breathe in, and where fresh running water seems few and far between.
Sounds to me like maybe you would benefit from Warren walking through the exact same Socratic discourse with you about whether J K Rowling is “bigoted”. Go watch the the video. It’s linked in the pinned comment.
Agree..if anyone's deserves their dayin court, this man does. I saw the original ( I believe) Video. It was thought provoking and inspiring and the student himself came to a very different conclusion than the one he originally started with..all because he was shown HOW to think..not react, not parrot, THINK!
When the school you’re teaching in is CRT-based, but you’re a cis white conservative, don’t think you’ll be safe following the rules and by listening to the campus leaders. As an example, writing up a child for violence in the classroom against another student (drawing blood, creating a wound requiring medical attention) is almost guaranteed to draw the ire of the single mother. Watch out because it gets real very quickly after that. In this particular case mentioned with the violent child, within two days there was a claim of “inappropriate physical touching” made by the mother against the cis white conservative teacher that could have ended in being led by LEOs from the classroom in handcuffs. Thankfully the cis white conservative teacher understood what was happening, kept their cool, and implored the administrators do their due diligence before leaping to any conclusions based on the sketchy report from a parent whose child demonstrated emotional and behavior issues far beyond the child’s age. Even after having been fully cleared of any wrongdoing, the teacher did not finish out the academic year at that school due to the terror brought by the parent who somehow decided that her child was being singled out and fast tracked to juvi by a racist cis white conservative. Moral of the story is that when the patients are running the asylum it’s time to move on with life. Finding a more productive way to invest limited time and energy, with less risk of being reputationally destroyed by persons suffering from NPD and CRT-brain, is the best thing one can possibly do.
@@MultipleGrievance Exactly. The teacher was labeled and constantly referred to using derogatory terms, which generated the same response in readers here as it did with the teacher. It was a grinding and constant irritation, but the teacher focused on the students first. Until it was no longer safe to continue in that environment. So all the feelings felt when reading this true account is merely a minuscule fraction of what it was like on a daily basis for the teacher for nearly a year. Taking offense at reading only one of the numerous terms assigned by the administrators to this teacher demonstrates how little the general population knows about the reality in our school systems across the country.
@@jimmoses6617 Agree with the way you’ve described these terms, to the point that I’ve shared them here as a way of letting others get a sense for just how low the CRT teams will go to expunge anyone who does not have the same skin tone. It’s really quite shocking to many, but it is considered normal and imperative by those who believe in / advocate vigorously for things like ‘reparations’.
I often pose the question to my fellow trans people on my Facebook Page or whatever it's called I tell them that I think it's great that JK Rawlings has inspired them to read that said I don't care what she thinks about trans issues the truth of the matter is I support her and so of course I think it's ridiculous that they did anything to this teacher critical thinking I cannot think of one thing those kids need more than learning about critical thinking
Patient presents with injury from tripping over unseen objects. Diagnosis, Near Sightedness. Treatment, amputation so the floor is closer to the patient’s eyes.
If you get a bunch of the teachers who've been fired for not being of the faith, you could set up a Punt-Bottom school. Let it run then publish the grades etc, you'd be on a franchising deal inside five years.
Already a thing it's called the Michaela School of London and has the highest test scores of all non privet schools in all of the UK(it's similar to an American charter school). Staffed with Christian and conservative values first teachers and the students who profess their great fullness for a structured and safe school that teaches ethics and values in an age where single mothers don't even realize having kid is more than feeding a small humans 3 times a day.
@@CoperliteConsumerHowever, at Michaela school, teachers “teach.” They give students knowledge about the world they need to succeed. Think E.D. Hirsch’s philosophy of education. Teachers are not the ‘guide on the side’ type teachers we have nowadays who let students “discover” knowledge for themselves.
Don't you guys remember that movie stand&deliver, or standing deliverance, about the Hispanic teacher who helps these low-income university first generation American students! You would think such a successful teacher would have his teaching style proliferated across the country, but the most public teacher who teaches in a similar way, is actually the principle of the strictest school in uk as the media says.. And she's painted as a big it's, and even though that hispanic teacher did such a great job with his students, they don't want him to continue having any sort of power So that's why I'm not surprised at all that they would fire this guy the first chance they could get
I'm really enjoying this video. I have many thoughts here...one of the things I find interesting is that, and I've said this for years, everyone that I admire, when asked how did this all happen for you? They say, I have no idea. Things just fell into place.-- Although this isn't exactly what you are discussing here it is tangentially related. We are talking about creativity here. But anyway, I find Warren Smith to be very grounded and real. Authenticity is what everyone wants in the modern world. Thank you for this wonderful discussion. Btw, I have such respect for youtube-ers man it has to be grueling. Not something I'd want to do. --- you know, I've re-thought this entire thing and I now think that parents now a-days should go back to the old school way of life. Yeah, some of us get effed (I'm in this camp but I can tell you that I'm firmly planted in realism) and others get by unscathed (good for them). Welcome to life/reality, but this old school way somehow keeps things basically in check. The political correctness (in all aspects of life) has effed all of us to some degree. But the reality is, not being politically correct is the only way forward if we want to live in some semblance of a balanced life/society. PC is based on the idea that 'everything can be good'....WRONG, everything can not be good...get over it. We will all be better people if we can get over this false narrative.
This is what I used to explain the error of Rousseau to my students years ago when I was a teacher. TOTALITARIAN STATE Two kinds of Socialism Far Right Socialism = FASCISM Far Left Socialism = COMMUNISM Two Kinds of Implementation REVOLUTIONARY Socialism PROGRESSIVE Socialism Revolutionary = Overthrow the State through VIOLENCE Progressive= overthrow the State through the LEGISLATIVE PROCESS & INFILTRATE and UNDERMINE PILLARS OF SOCIETY. (I was fired for defending a student that was raped by a staff member)
He exposed the shallowness of the woke mind virus and got cancelled. Luckily it’s losing its grip on the culture but it’ll take some time and education was it’s strong hold.
Looks like he was fired for putting up the video on social media. Social media is routinely forbidden for teachers. Also, the classroom video is not his to share, he did not have ownership rights, it’s a property issue.
@@DadSavesAmerica. Obviously, he did not have admin permission. His work and the students product is not owned by him, it’s all owned by the school district. Teachers cannot publish on social media as a rule and even being on social media is usually discouraged bc the teacher represents their school and reflects on the admin.
I found humor to be the best ice breaker when teaching any group. After instoductions were complete, I would often say,"Those of you who think you know it all (fingers pointing out), aggravate, those of us who do (thumb pointing back)." I would then challenge our concept of knowledge, or in Latin, sciencia. A lot of what is taught as knowledge or science in any age is simply a system of established beliefs. There are hard truths in life. Our belief or disbelief does not affect those truths. Enjoyed the discussion.
I think he's doing his best to respect the school here. Also, Richard, I don't think the school was in an easy situation in that the viral internet world is a scary mess and having someone who attracts lots of attention to the students is a difficult challenge to manage. I'm not defending the school administration, but I do understand the challenge they face in this case. I'd say the same if it were a government school. I enjoyed having Warren on because I think the more important part is highlighting what a great teacher can do for students.
Right. This thing is not cut and dried but still you used highly provocative lede "Warren Smith Went Viral for Teaching Critical Thinking, So His School Fired Him".
@@DadSavesAmerica And yet you use this phrase "Warren Smith Went Viral for Teaching Critical Thinking, So His School Fired Him". Except, as even Smith himself acknowledges, kinda sorta ("I didn't check a box"), he WASN'T fired for the viral episode.
I got eased out after 25 years. 25 years ago, there were mostly male professors, all 40 to 60 something. As women and diversity gradually replaced the old guard, the politics became more and more toxic, leadership more and more inept. I'm able to grab a pension so there's that. I sure would like to know which school fired Warren, so that I may steer my own family clear of that institution. A place riven by politics like that is probably not going to be a good place for my children.
In a just world we would have our education system rely on the same process that delivers our miraculous technology so effective: competitive enterprise. Instead 80%+ of K-12 is operated using the model of 1960s Ukrainian prisons. And too many of the private alternatives are only marginally better (because they’re staffed largely by people trained in the same 60s Soviet mindset).
It is a sad state of affairs, but thanks to those who speak out like yourself the tide is turning. Some states like Texas and Florida will hold the line, and financial institutions are moving there. Many thanks for what you do! Have seen most of your interviews and commentaries and love them all. Great reference material for teaching the next generation.
I am subscribed to both of you so any criticism is meant to be constructive, and in no way hateful or hurtful. You spend a lot of time discussing your teaching experiences, particularly in video/film production and where that can lead to in the future. IMO, there is a glaring hole in your lessons: managing the money. I see this as one of the main causes of our world's problems that people do not understand a balanced budget, Income vs expenses . You can teach someone how to edit and promote a video, but that does nothing to help them understand the managing the money necessary to make anything happen and where the money comes from that they want to spend. It was brought up that so many young people aspire to be an influencer/content creator. I think it is negligence, on the part of educators, to not teach real world personal finances. The lack of this knowledge bears out in "tax the rich' mantra, support for the $20/hr min wage for fast food workers, personal indebtedness, student loans and the sentiment that the debt should be "forgiven". If we applied critical thinking to finances America would be in a better place. I think Warren is a little too philosophical and cerebral to find huge success as a pod caster/vloger.
Thanks for subscribing and the VERY wise criticism. I couldn’t agree with you more!!! I actually have been spending a few months building and testing a budgeting tool that I’m going to walk through in a video along with thoughts on financial management. The tool will be available for all of my viewers for free via our Substack.
I was told that I was talented and should attend an inner city magnet school, so I did. That same school employed me as an educator, and then lowered my pay every year until I finally lost my home in the city I taught in. The magnet school never told me that in the future they were going to be the reason I loose it all, I would never have attended in the first place. I should have studied the economy around arts education, but they conveniently left that part out. The org and state also made it impossible to become certified. Education is beyond broken, it’s downright harmful.
Warren's video went viral because he encouraged civil debate. Our new generation of adults doesn't know how to think critically and/or engage in civil debate.
To seak God is to acknowledge that you are not capable of moving through this world in the way that serves both you and society in the best way without a spiritual practice that reminds us we are imperfect (in. "Sinners" in the original sense). We are in the same old human struggle. Reason vs. Irrational. Seeking Grace is to practice mindfulness to operate from a place of emotional calmness. Life turns out better this way. Thanks to all Adults who know this and teach this.
I knew this guy was going to get fired. Speaking out against the narrative is very dangerous even if you are polite, courteous, and civil about it. It breaks my heart how predictable these patterns have become. Hopefully this is just the beginning of his new and better life.
Wisdom is the triumph of reason over emotion. We cannot be reasonable and emotional at the same time and have known this for thousands of years (as the Greek philosophical tradition teaches us). Woke culture is the most emotional narrative possible, and therefore the least reasonable. May cooler heads prevail.
The people that were bitter that he wasn’t immediately fired are just evil. Just as bad as the KKK... It’s just pure hatred for people who are different than you or think differently than you. Those people should not be around our kids at all. He helped a student think critically about whether what he accepted as truth was reasonable or not. There is no reason anyone should have a problem with that. Unless you’re just a hateful spiteful person yourself…
It seems critical thinking escaped Mr. Smith when he created all his personal writing projects on his employer's computer...without making a file on his personal computer for that work.
Loved this session And your guest , i resonate with him clearly very much , loved him so much . We're on a similar journey so I'd love to keep up with his ideas and experience.
On this side of the pond, the UK, I'm amazed that you were so accepting of your sacking. Surely there are employment laws in the US? No contract of employment? If this was here a teacher would be taking their employer to an employment tribunal. Or even before it gets to that point there should be a fair disciplinary process. Must be different in the US.
At a public school he’d just go to the rubber room to not teach with pay… at the community’s taxpayer expense. Or get hacked for lack of seniority as he already experienced. Hardly a better deal.
"Do not cast your pearls to swine, for they will grind them up, and then attack you". I paraphrase of course, by why in th F are we obsessing over how emotionally stunted people are responding?
It seems like such a Captian Obvious moment, but after many years of lecturing and hectoring (i.e., indocrination) students are starving for that type of (Socratic) interaction as it fully engages their brain through the critical thinking process. The last thing captured academic institutions want is the ability for people to think for independently, which could lead to challanging those very institutions.
Interesting that RU-vid search is number two after Google, because RU-vid has a truly terrible search engine!! :D I search for RU-vid videos using Google Advanced Search, because I can force it to give me what I searched for, instead of monetized content that RU-vid wants me to watch.... How many examples of your search does RU-vid even show you before switching to 'suggested for you' or 'people also searched for' type listings instead?? Five-six?? RU-vid search is not geared to the site user....
I don't agree with you politically on many points. Essentially I don't think I would like you being king for a day. But I enjoy your content and respect your earnest interest in exploring ideas.
Mike, I really appreciate this comment. It means I’m doing something right if you can appreciate what I’m doing even while disagreeing. Thank you! And for what it’s worth, if I were king for a day, you’d be left along… because everyone would. I’d spend the day tearing down barriers to opportunity for people to exercise their freedom peacefully and honestly.
@@DadSavesAmerica thanks for the response, wasn't expecting that. I appreciate you not being a MAGA guy and criticizing obvious logical fallacies across political lines. I personally believe you have too much faith in the free market without restrictions. I think history has proven how bad corporations can get without any restrictions. Many of these labor laws are "Socialist" and are good. I could go on and on about where we differ but I agree that socially especially in many schools there are so many leftist sacred cows. I also think focusing too much on politics is pointless unless you're going to run.
I imagine that as centered and thoughtful a fellow this is might be flooded with marriage proposals, but, then again... How is it that no observer/muckraker has outed the school? You would think somebody with an axe to grind would have done so.
The states require certification for public schools, not unions. You confused these two things. Private schools do not necessarily require certification but they seek qualified candidates for teaching. There isn’t much difference.
You're wasting a lot of everybody's time beating around the bush about WHAT EXACT issue in the politically correct narrative that got him fired for NOT caving to. What ONE issue of the politically correct narratives got him fired? Anybody know? Hint: it's very homophobic and misogynistic but very successfully promotes itself as pro-gay and pro-woman. Can anybody guess? The answer is in the clickbait, the topic that I didn't have time to slog through all of this, to hear addressed.
What a terrible Interviewer!! --This guy is a millstone around the neck of the guest. Is this the interviewer's first time? SMH... Can someone summarize specifically what caused the guy's wrongful firing?
Warren is clearly trying to respect his former colleagues and students. Frankly, the firing is less important than the powerful lesson of what real teaching should look like.
@@DadSavesAmerica though I don't necessarily always agree with his point of view I think he's an excellent teacher, and an expert practitioner of the Socratic method but much has been made of his "firing" as another example of "woke" gone crazy where I think that more likely schools are wary of having teachers/students on social media and it had nothing to do with his point of view
@@lorblauh I get it. It was a skit made to express his position, which I don’t disagree with. I’m not clear on why he was fired. I’m a high school teacher. I’m not permitted to teach outside of school as a condition of my employment. Was his dismissal related to his point of view or that he took up teaching online as a side gig. What exactly was the reason for his dismissal? That I don’t get.
Wait, you’re not permitted to teach outside of school? That’s pretty strange to me. It wasn’t a “skit” the view is a genuine exchange with one of his students. As to the reasons for his dismissal, as he said, the school didn’t give a clear reason, other than to point to a minor procedural approval hoop he failed to jump through. It’s private at-will employment, so there’s no reason needed, and in many cases employers will avoid giving much information. Lawyers instruct employers to avoid given more details than necessary because it just creates surface area for wrongful termination claims.
