An ESL Teacher's Thoughts on Education in the U.S

In a just society, education is not a privilege; it is the simplest of expectations.

Parents in these rational nations demand that their children study an expansive range of subjects. No topic is coveted over others. Philosophy and Religious texts are read alongside scientific studies. History is returned to with deep, critical reflection. Cultural studies are embraced with respect, and complex Math problems are patiently explained.

In a just society, every topic of study is valued, and the more diverse the range of study, the better.

In turn, the children from these places look up to their parents and demand they continue their own education. Parents feel pressure to continue reading, writing, and asking questions. This positive influence passes down to their ever-watching offspring.

And in these education-forward countries, teachers are leaned on for their expertise and valued as crucial members of a rich society. Well-supported teachers are able to create supportive environments for young minds to thrive in. And thus, a beautiful cycle of education flourishes.

Like this, through the respect of educators and the ever-burning curiosity of parents, we can develop a child’s value for their academic studies, whether it be in or out of the classroom. When children grow up with a love for learning, our entire world benefits from the discoveries they have yet to make.

Education provides hope.

It causes avalanches of change that benefit us and our planet. Whether we are immigrants, natives, or naturalized residents, when every person is granted equal opportunity to enrich their lives with a strong education, we all succeed. So long as education is freely provided and encouraged by our elders and our government, there would be no limits to what we could achieve in the future.

It isn’t enough for the individual to care. The collective culture must be on the same page.

Any government that disadvantages its people by defunding education is corrupt.

Any government that says, ‘If you want an education, you must go into unfathomable debt to us,’ is corrupt.

Any government that says only one gender or race may receive superior education is corrupt.

Any government that pushes propaganda, calling reading ‘performative,’ is corrupt.

Any government that tells women they are better off at home with a baby on her hip than in a classroom is corrupt.

These crooked governments villainize the well-educated because they are harder to control. These governments want their people gullible, persuadable, and submissively daft, because they know the well-educated are anything but.

All this being said, it is evident that America is corrupt. And it has been since Harvard University first opened its doors exclusively to white, upper-class men in 1636.

Through segregation, religion-based misogyny, and the weaponization of so-called traditional values, a large majority of our country was long barred from receiving high-quality education.

It wasn’t until 1836 that white women could attend Wesleyan College. However, the list of classes they could enroll in was restricted, and female students were met with violent backlash from their male peers that pushed many women out of the classroom.

It took another year, in 1837, for Black Americans to be able to attend the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. These students, however, continued to be hounded and harassed by White Supremacist groups, including the KKK, who marched on their campuses to instill fear in the young academics.   

A two-hundred-year difference in education is nothing to scoff at. When we are denied education, we are pushed further into oppression because our language to resist and our understanding of political systems of power are directly and purposefully limited.

White women, who look a lot like me, are currently taking center stage in American conservative politics. They are parading themselves on stage and telling other white women to get back in the kitchen where they belong. They use propaganda phrasing like ‘divine femininity’ to trick their followers into accepting subjugation. These wealthy, hypocritical white women want others to be trapped in a home with no income or safety nets, while they get paid millions of dollars a year for their showboating talk shows and MLMs.  

As an educator, I am devastated to see their willing regression. As an ESL teacher, I am enraged by their open bigotry toward immigrants and minorities. As a white woman, I am embarrassed to share a gene pool with these corrupt talking heads. They spread harmful misinformation about feminism because they lack the knowledge to understand a world outside of the one their white-supremacist fathers and husbands handed them.

Education provides freedom.

If any person is stuck at home, unable to attend school because of their gender or race, we will fall backwards in time to those early years of Harvard.

The most uneducated people believe they are the smartest ones in the room. True intelligence, however, lives in naivete.

Keeping curiosity as a personal companion and looking out boldly into the unknown will unlock the secrets of the world.

There is so much to learn from those we consider ‘the other’. As an ESL teacher, I can attest to this. My students are global citizens who bring a world of new understanding to my classroom. I am rich in cultural insights and empathy, thanks to their very existence and their ability to receive an education in my classroom.

Living abroad, as I have been for the past eight years, has taught me just how behind the American education system is. No educational system, just like no government, is perfect. But the Korean government and Korean parents have a very high standard of education. Every year, mass protests attempt to better the system so that students can have a healthy and enriching learning environment. Though many parents value education to the extreme, to the detriment of the mental health of their children, the broader efforts of the adults in this country are a huge inspiration to me as an immigrant who emigrated specifically to teach their children.

Korea has put its money where its mouth is. In the past ten years, millions of dollars have been allocated to building better quality academies and providing proper training for educators. Teachers receive pension benefits as well as severance payouts when they leave their schools. There is even a dedicated holiday, 스승의 날 (Susungi Nal), Teacher’s Day, to help teachers feel appreciated.

It is not just in schools where our education can flourish. Reading, in particular, is exactly as RuPaul declares, fundamental.

Without literature, we cannot develop our empathy to its highest potential. We also cannot expand or shift our opinions. It is healthy, by the way, for our opinions to develop and change over time. Only the arrogant believe their thoughts are always correct.

The person who looks upon another human being, a member of their very species, and says, ‘No, you must be less of a human than me!’ is diabolically foolish. And this foolishness has dire consequences — life-threatening ones.

Take a look at the terrorist, the racist, the xenophobe, the Nazi, or the ICE agent. These individuals are the poster children of those who failed to receive a meaningful education. They believed blindly in hateful propaganda and never expanded their views outside of their parents’ home.

It is a pity, and the danger they bring upon our society is profound.

Each morning, I wake and anxiously check my phone to see if any of my previous students or their parents have been attacked by one of these uneducated beings. Outside of the classroom, I hold only as much power as I can bear to risk. I cannot put my other students in harm's way, so I find myself cowering behind my desk, rather than taking direct action. I am also plain scared. Resistance requires sacrifice.

My education has saved me from becoming one of those white, hateful fools. But so many of my peers have not been so lucky. I believe that if they had an opportunity to expand their worldviews through solidly funded educational programs and libraries, we wouldn’t have so many armed, uneducated men marching in our streets harming our people.

I hope to remain in the middle of knowledge, never declaring myself a genius or hopeless fool. I hope to keep reading and expanding my ever-changing world. I hope my empathy and eagerness to learn can inspire others.

As Albert Camus once stated in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, “A man is always prey to his truths.” Our truths are so often not rooted in fact but rather fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of change.

But change is exciting. There is beauty and knowledge in the unknown. Trust me, I see it when I look upon the twinkling eyes of my students or the hopeful gaze of an immigrant, speaking English for the first time.

So, let us always be expanding what truth is.

Let us never settle for less or fold to propaganda of those wishing to suppress our knowledge.

Let’s demand our government do more to fund our studies.

Let us outstretch our hands to embrace our neighbors and demand they and their children receive a well-rounded education. So that none of us grow up to hate one another.

And let us fight this corrupt government to take back the education we so justly deserve. 

The future of our country is at stake, but with education and the compassion that is sure to follow, we can ensure it.