#11 | Project 2025, Donald Trump’s next term, and how it will affect your life as an educator - w/ Jason Biehl

Will the Department of Education really be dissolved with Donald Trump set to take office? It’s been a whirlwind of emotions and struggle for educators these past few years, between distance learning, deteriorating attention spans, Chat GPT, inflation, the politicization of every piece of curriculum… - am I missing anything? This episode is a reflection on the past election and upcoming presidency, with Jason Biehl - history teacher and antiracist educator. What is it all going to mean for your school? Your classroom? Your standing as a teacher/educator in America? We cover: Why embracing discomfort is vital to the education of our students and the effectiveness of our teachers How is Project 2025 going to affect your life as a teacher? And how education is the practice of freedom. Acts of kindness, belonging, and activism we’re seeing from students that can provide teachers with hope in these difficult times (0:00) Class in session (2:00) Some unfiltered grappling with the upcoming Trump presidency - in particular the censoring of education (11:00) Jason introduces himself (17:00) Reflecting on our “teaching personas” or “teacher masks” (21:00) “Being present” with students is more difficult and more complicated than it sounds (25:00) The financial challenges of being a teacher (29:30) Project 2025, the Department of Education, and the censorship of curriculum (34:00) Anything to keep you optimistic about public schools? And helping students feel seen - through a sense of belonging or a sense of purpose via social justice organizing (43:00) Building a bigger coalition across differences to fight the elite and put the interests of educators and students first --- Connect with Jason Biehl: changethenarrative.me www.educatorsforracialjustice.com Look out for his upcoming book, “Unicorns: A Graphic Memoir for Young White Men” Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345  Email us questions and comments at [email protected]  Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/  --- Connect with Ashanti Branch: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks Twitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/ Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/ --- Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support  --- Connect with Ever Forward Club: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everforwardclub Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everforwardclub Twitter: https://twitter.com/everforwardclub LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ever-forward-club/