Education Sets Us Free: On Education and Indoctrination

Education Sets Us Free: On Education and Indoctrination

By Colette de Jacobin

           The Third Reich did not begin with Auschwitz-it ended there.  It began with propaganda that created division, an “us versus them” story that gave a disgruntled populace a place to lay the blame for the loss of WWI, a failing economy, and allowed the fascist government to take control of all public institutions.  As a history teacher in a U.S. public school, I watch in abject horror as the news presents to us actions we have seen play out in history before.  Today, our current government sows the seeds of fascism by blaming people of color, migrants, the LGBTQIA+ community, and public school teachers for societal problems.  By tricking the populace into believing that members of these groups, through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), are destroying the country, Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Elon Musk are solidifying their positions of power while Republican legislators seem willing to cede their Congressional power to an out-of-control Executive Branch.  On January 29, 2025, Trump signed an executive order, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” to put into action his plan to falsely blame educators and hold them responsible for the DEI efforts he and his followers are using to divide the nation.

           The title of the executive order clearly implies that K-12 schools have already indoctrinated students in such a negative fashion that it must be stopped immediately, not through the individual states and local districts that usually control their own curricula, but through a federal intervention.  This begs the question: What exactly is the difference between indoctrination and teaching?  Elementary teachers impress upon our youngest learners the lessons of sharing, kindness, and acceptance of differences.  We accept those as important lessons for teaching students to behave in a way that creates a safe space that facilitates learning.  We do not generally treat these particular lessons as any sort of indoctrination, more as necessary skills to be successful in school.  At what grade level do the expectations of these behaviors drastically change from essential skills to indoctrination? Is it when teachers risk their careers for teaching students that sharing, kindness, and acceptance applies to the global community, and not just their desk mates?  Or in the case of this particular order, do these lessons become indoctrination only when they apply to minorities or members of any group the Executive Branch labels as undesirables? 

           This executive action claims teachers are guilty of “Imprinting anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our Nation’s children.”  By this, the order accuses teachers of impressing upon students a 250-year history that includes racism, sexism, and homophobia.  It is clear that we are now ordered to ignore a national history for which there is immutable evidence for.  Instead of teaching students to learn from the uninformed ways of our predecessors, we are ordered to give those forefathers seats upon unquestionable daises. I would argue that it is completely possible to teach that former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was admirable for his efforts to create jobs during The Great Depression, but deplorable for signing Executive Order 9066 which sent Japanese Americans to racist camps that caused irreparable harm to generations of Americans of Japanese descent.  Trump’s executive order, however, insists that educators must teach U.S. history that is, “unifying, inspiring, and ennobling.”  Our forebearers were not perfect; they were fallible human beings.  It is completely possible, and arguably a good thing, for schools to educate students to learn from the poor decisions of these historical figures, while also recognizing their contributions to society.  Further, we are supposed to teach, “the concept that celebration of America’s greatness and history is proper.”  What exactly is great and proper about incarcerating an entire population based on their ethnicity?  We are also supposed to teach, “how the United States has admirably grown closer to its noble principles throughout its history.”  I’m curious in what way the United States has become more admirable since Trump entered the Oval Office.  Is it in travel bans for persons from predominately Muslim countries, placing tariffs on our allies, turning our back on Ukraine, separating migrant children from their parents, or persecuting LGBTQIA+ students?  If it is a crime to teach students honestly that we are a nation that has committed atrocities, and that we are a nation that can, and should, become better…mea culpa.

           Again, this order by Trump’s Executive Branch harkens back to a fascist connection.  Under the Nazi regime, the government controlled the curricula and forced upon children an ideology of nationalism and racism.  Teaching students to value national pride and decry anyone that was an “other” was a means to train the next generation to maintain the status quo set by those in power.  In Trump’s order, it is a requirement to teach “patriotic education.”  Failure to comply with Trump’s order will result in a loss of federal funds for the schools that fail to submit.  In a nation that already suffers from inequitable school funding primarily based on local taxes, the threat to remove necessary funds is a threat to our most marginalized students. Historically, one of the easiest ways tyrannical governments have controlled a populations’ ability to rebel was through limiting the access to knowledge.  Requiring students only receive an education based on patriotism, as opposed to facts, hinders students’ abilities to grow as informed citizens more able to participate in the democracy we are supposed to be.  The U.S. government has already ordered that Department of Defense schools evaluate their current books and curriculum for any DEI influences, and now they seek to threaten public state schools that dare to defy nationalistic lies. I suggest the American people consider if it is teachers that are indoctrinating students or if it is the current federal government trying to use educators as their pawns to raise a new generation of fascist supporters.

           The “Executive Order Ending Radical Indoctrination” also spends an inordinate amount of space concentrated on oppressing LGBTQIA+ students, transgender students in particular, and any educator that supports their personhood.  How the U.S. government managed to compile a person’s gender identity into the same document as to what curriculum is taught defies any logic, and yet, here we are.  In this executive order, educators must not promote “gender ideology,” support students’ names and pronouns, nor provide access to bathrooms, locker rooms, or activities that align with their gender.  The order implies that teachers and other school officials are actively working against families to confuse students and pit them against each other.  Without evidence, the government is utilizing this opportunity to use a minority group to create an “us versus them” mentality, instead of allowing all persons to be their selves.  The best and most effective teachers build relationships with their students that are based on trust and mutual respect.  Students cannot learn in an environment in which they do not feel safe, and acknowledging the individuality and humanity in each student, is step one in creating a place in which learning happens.  Respecting students’ names and pronouns hurts no one except the agenda of the political party currently in power.

            This executive order on indoctrination is also a feminist issue.  The Trump regime continuously presents their orders as in defense of women.  Whether it be to protect our sports, our restrooms, etc., our defense is their argument, however, it is our careers they come after.  According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, women make up 77% of teachers.  By accusing teachers of being the cause of the problems in education, and impressing their fascist ideology upon our careers, they propose that not only do women need protection, but women need to be told how to do our jobs.  

                  And who is to tell the women how to do their jobs…the military it seems.  According to the executive order, the Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with the Department of Education (currently being dismantled), and the Secretary of Health and Human Services are in charge of figuring out how to enforce this Executive Order.  Ok…so a dismantled department and a department led by a man with a public history of denying health related science….and the Department of Defense….the military.  On what planet is the U.S. military in any way related to enforcing what is done in schools?!  With full respect to the military, we have very different areas of expertise.  I would not dream of telling a general the tactics that should be used for battle, and I would expect she would not tell me how to teach my courses.  Giving the Secretary of Defense any power at all in the determination as to how indoctrination of students should be enforced is militarizing our public school system.

                  Recently, congresspersons have tried to enter public buildings to hold meetings and investigate what employees of the current regime are doing there.  One such building was the federal Department of Education.  On the 7th of February, congresspeople attempted to enter the Department of Education and were blocked by building security who called on federal officers.  They wanted to investigate what DOGE was doing there, however, they were prevented from entering a building owned by the people….representatives of the people were prohibited from entering building that exist supposedly to serve the people.  A department that owes its allegiance to the Constitution and to the people barred its doors to the people’s representatives!  How can teachers trust the Department of Education for guidance, if the department itself is blocking our own system of checks and balances?  In this instance, people should perhaps look further back than the Nazis and consider the history of the French.  When the government prevents meetings in public spaces, it’s not time to bring their complaints to the slow moving courts, it is time to pick up one’s racquets and bring the complaints to the tennis courts.

                  In the event that public school teachers were not threatened enough, the Trump regime has implemented a new method for the public to report teachers and schools that are not complying with this executive order.  One can now access a public internet portal to report teachers and school districts that are not obeying this tyrannical order.  By simply typing in an email address and description of the problem, teachers can be reported for noncompliance.  Encouraging students’ families to become informants and turning the populace into collaborators, the Trump administration solidifies their place in fascist history.  Within three months of Hitler becoming Chancellor, undesirable teachers were sought out and dismissed.  The public was recruited to report on citizens defying government orders later in history as well.  In post World War II Germany, clear until 1990, the Stasi of the GDR used citizen informants to seek out and punish any government opposition practicing civil disobedience and resistance.  How many times shall we let this history play out?  It is our teachers that educate us to not make these mistakes again.  It is vital that the citizens of the United States do their utmost to protect our most vulnerable minorities and protect our teachers.  On the gates of Auschwitz, Nazi lies declared work was the path to freedom, but it is truthful education, not forced labor, that sets humanity free.