MA Teacher Who Went Viral for Being Unwoke and Encouraging Rational Student Debate is Fired From His Job
“Warren Smith, who burst on the scene in February when a video of him discussing J.K. Rowling with students went viral, has been fired from his job.”
Warren Smith is a teacher in Massachusetts. In February, he appeared in a video that went viral. It showed him debating a student over whether or not ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling is truly transphobic.
Smith was hailed for his ability to calmly reason with the student and change his mind rationally. You can watch it below:
This is utterly brilliant. A student accuses @jk_rowling of being transphobic. This teacher skilfully dissects the claim and challenges it by asking questions.
He teaches not what to think, but how to think critically.
Watch until the end.
You see the epiphany in real-time. pic.twitter.com/x00gWdOugc— Lee Harris (@addicted2newz) February 3, 2024
Smith then appeared on the Piers Morgan show.
"This is about more than JK Rowling, it’s the realisation of prior assumptions."
Warren Smith tells Piers Morgan about the viral moment he taught a student about critical thinking that has now been viewed over 40 million times.@piersmorgan | @WTSmith17 | @elonmusk | #PMU pic.twitter.com/fRGnTNggxd
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) February 6, 2024
In March, he was interviewed by Dr. Drew.
When I get the chance to speak with @drdrew pic.twitter.com/qzxHYS15In
— Warren Smith (@WTSmith17) March 28, 2024
The video was even retweeted by Elon Musk.
Critical thinking should be the first thing taught to kids https://t.co/8dhvilUKRc
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2024
Smith created a YouTube channel and kept making videos.
He just announced that he has been fired from his teaching job.
David Strom reports at Hot Air:
Teacher Who Focused on Reason Over Ideology Fired
Warren Smith, who burst on the scene in February when a video of him discussing J.K. Rowling with students went viral, has been fired from his job.
You probably recall the video. If not, Elon Musk amplified it, driving its message across the world.
What made the video interesting was not that Smith defended Rowling–he actually didn’t, at least not directly. Instead, he taught students how to examine their beliefs using the Socratic method. He forced them to articulate what they believed, discuss why they believed it, and consider whether the evidence actually supported those beliefs.
The school at which Smith taught waited to fire him, assuming that as his fame faded they could do so quietly. For months they kept Smith around, seemingly OK with his commitment to the Socratic method.
Then, boom. They fired him for his social media posts. They didn’t actually specify which posts in particular, and Smith asserts that he followed their policies to the letter. The school refused to elaborate. Rather, they seized his computer (on which he was writing a book) and showed him the door, without letting him recover any of his work.
Watch Smith talk about his firing below:
7 days ago I was fired from my school after 4 years of teaching.
I recorded this the following day in order to share my perspective – honestly & in good faith – in order to move forward and put this experience behind me. I have no desire to cause complications or bring unwanted… pic.twitter.com/Bf61VC2dD1— Warren Smith (@WTSmith17) May 13, 2024
Warren Smith, the superb teacher that went viral for his critical thinking video (with the help of @elonmusk) has been fired!
I've just spoken to him and he's devastated, but says he has no regrets. Good for him!
He's a great teacher with a heart of gold.
This is shameful! https://t.co/aEtlBceroI— Lee Harris (@addicted2newz) May 13, 2024
Naturally, there could be more to this story, but at first glance it fits a pattern we have seen over and over again. The left owns education and they purge people who challenge their world view.
I wish Mr. Smith the best of luck. After watching some of his videos, I believe he has a very bright future. Hopefully, he will land someplace soon that appreciates his keen intellect and teaching abilities.
Featured image via YouTube.
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Comments
“Naturally, there could be more to this story”, it’s hard to know but if this continues to make news, I wouldn’t put it past the school board to conjure up allegations of some kind just for cover. As it appears now when it comes to the Left, they have long ago passed bad and wrong, but are knocking on the door of sinful.
Nothing is more dangerous than jeopardizing the fragile self esteem of the harridans and cucks who inhabit the school system.
“Nothing is more dangerous…”
Deep thoughts as always, genius.
IF you had an argument, you would not need to resort to personal insults. But we all knew that.
The use of ad hominems to make your argument is tacit admission that you lost said argument/debate or didn’t have an argument/facts to begin with.
And thank you, Thad, for your useless contribution to the discussion.
“Deep thoughts as always, genius.”
You’re too stupid to see the irony in your post, aren’t you.
Perhaps you should learn the Socratic Method. Go back and watch his video to get a grasp of how critical thinking is done.
” Rather, they seized his computer (on which he was writing a book) and showed him the door, without letting him recover any of his work.”
Never, never, never trust anyone to maintain your work/backups. If it is personal you must keep your own copy. Also buy your own computer.
Although I had absolutely nothing to hide, I NEVER EVER used my work laptop for anything personal. Our company was pretty open-minded about reasonable use, but our operations manager was a bit of a t***, so why take the risk?
Whoever is cool, whatever they’re cool about — it can change in an instant with no warning.
These days, a computer for common use is a commodity, with a glut of used and decommissioned product lying around.
In case I wasn’t clear: that’s the only right policy. Even still, so many folks resolutely do not get it.
Well done, furry one.
I used their computer, but every email, note, syllabus, teaching plan and personal information was on a thumb drive. They won’t let you access their wifi with a non approved computer. I only kept grades on mine, although I did keep my own copies, of course.
Never, never, never trust the cloud, a business or anything but multiple storage devices to keep your important materials.
Always do their work on their hardware; keep your own stuff on yours. The twain meet through an integration they define, demand, and control.
If they want you integrated into their systems, they can issue you a system they administer, that you use *only for their work.*
Not much information if the employing school was public or private. It feels like it was probably private. Legally, it would be easier (in most states) to fire a privately employed teacher for their social media posts than it would be to fire an employee of the state for the same posts.
True, but there is likely an explicit process by which such determinations are supposed to be made, that I’d bet wasn’t followed. His dismissal was almost certainly legally flawed within the school’s own rules. It’s just how these people roll. If this is the situation, he’d still have a case, just one based on his contractual rights, not his constitutional rights.
From linkedin profile
WEBSITE: http://www.WsmithMedia.com
In 2019 Warren completed his MFA thesis film at Emerson College (HARVARD ZERO), where he now teaches. Warren also teaches filmmaking to teens with special needs and continues to film courses for Harvard College..
Based on Emerson list of majors and minor programs, I would suspect the faculty and student body to be very left wing
Thank you.
I was computing the minuscule probability that this very article — and all the articles and tweets it quotes — could be written so as to entirely fail to identify “The school at which Smith taught” without deliberate intent.
(Maybe it was in the video clips, but really, not having it ANYWHERE in the text is bad practice.)
Until this comment, I was assuming this man taught in a high school, since that is a more appropriate age to both teach someone how to think critically, and to discuss Harry Potter.
I was also assuming high school but not for the Potter as anything can be used to teach something. I don’t think Potter was the point. Rowling could have written Apocalypse Now, it was her personnel views and the fact that she is famous but refuses to be bullied into what the left wants everyone to think that is the teaching moment. The most brilliant part is when the student says “everyone says…” and the teacher forces him to stop and analyze what he thinks instead of the crowd. Critical thinking is sorely lacking and firing this guy is a real loss for the school.
Maybe he can get hired by private religious affiliated school that doesn’t believe in grooming children to be twinks.
Maybe someday you can write a coherent sentence in standard written English that doesn’t sound like it was written by a mental patient on a bad acid trip.
Thad… Here’s two quarters; the Ladies is just down the hall. Freshen up and lay down for a little bit. You’ll feel better.
We’d prefer not to have him in our bathroom.
Thad’s really having a case of the vapors today.
Surprisingly common with a vaporware bot.
I’ll chip in another quarter so you can get a fresh tampon… you’re acting like toxic shock may have set in.
“you” being Thad
everyone knows that bears don’t use tampons
Fifty cents won’t buy a tampon these days?
He needs the ‘extra large’ variety
You wrote your comment all by yourself, Thad??? Sounds so AI …
Thud farts weakly in an elevator yet again.
Stay triggered.
Anyone who actually read the Harry Potter books knows they do not advocate blindly accepting authority. There is an entire book devoted to deconstructing school administration and the news media. That’s the theme of a 500 page book read by children.
Hmm. I got the feeling that HP and his friends continually defied authority, from the school to the Ministry of Magic.
Now the evil Death Eaters (Democrats) used authority to manipulate children’s thinking.
I should rewrite that first sentence, but I agreed with you. The goal was the second sentence!
Speaking as a professional swindler of the young and their families–oops, high school social studies teacher who wishes to keep his job–schools are all about authority and following rules. They talk a good talk about inculcating critical thinking, but what happened to Mr Warren is the true face of things.
He’s exaca The type of teacher everyone needs
That’s why he’s so dangerous to “them/they”
Maybe they’ll replace them with one of those rare “civilized” black people you think so highly of.
Recycling old comments now, are we, Thad? Well, at least maybe it’s good for the environment. A green star for your efforts (as slim as they may be).
Ending a sentence with a preposition is something one should be careful about, asshole.
There are some things up with which we simply should not put.
One of those is Thad.
They are rare, be on the lookout Thad
“Civilized blacks?”
Mighty racist of you there, Thad. I guess that proves your Democrat bona fides.
Weak sauce, congrats!
You’re now the most useless troll here. Even Bartie does better than you do.
Do better.
I’ll settle for a clean and articulate one like your man Biden.
Critical thinkers are the first to be crushed during a Great Leap Forward.
and people like greg gutfeld keep pushing the LIE
that dei etc is over b/c the leftists LIE and say
we are closing down dei etc
stop lefty!!
You should really consider having your psychiatrist raise your dosage.
🙂
LOL
lol. One thread with essentially the same comment. I smell a bot.
They seized his computer, upon which he was writing a book….
This makes me think of the recent firing of Catherine Herridge by CBS… I recall reading that all of her notes were also seized at that time.
So there is a lesson here… if you are using an employer-provided computer (and arguably even if you’re not) you should really consider setting up your system so that all of your data is automatically replicated to a secure, encrypted cloud platform to which only you have access.
All you need is a 10$ USB pen
That works too. The main point being back up your data! Personally, I prefer a cloud service to a USB drive which can get lost or fail.
With a cloud service, you’re still depending on someone else to keep your information private.
Not if you encrypt it yourself first, using keys that you control
Multiple cheap thumb drives, backed up on your home computer, is practically infallible.
My dissertation, and other original manuscripts are on one of those M-disk indestructible optical drives.
Consider NextCloud — data management SW, and various of the service providers who host that. All the right things are playing out with these guys for a cloud service on which you control your own data.
I’ll have a hands’ on take in six months-ish per current plans. We took a schedule hit on that trial from some non-tech stuff.
fwiw – in my industry (accounting and tax), the use of a USB to transfer info and store info makes it very difficult and/or expensive to obtain insurance coverage for cyber security. Apparently, the usb drives are considered very high security risks due to embedded viruses and due to risk of loss of USB drive. That being said, I am quite squimish about security with a 3rd party having physical possession of my data or my clients data in the cloud.
Truthfully, one should never use a work computer for ANY private reason, not just because it is ridiculously insecure but because it is unethical.
No porn, no games, no unfinished novels.
“It was a dark and stormy Knight…”
Shouldn’t that be “It was a dark and Stormy night”?
Really?
“The night was dark and here comes Stormy”?
Some employers permit reasonable use. But there’s no expectation of privacy.
Still a poor idea, even if permitted.
One should have at least two backup systems, at least one of which is automated.
A file that isn’t in 3 separate physical locations doesn’t exist. I had a coworker years ago who kept her floppie backups on top of the CPU case. I asked what she would do in case of a fire and the sprinklers went off. She then made a separate backup that she took home and the office copy then went to live in a lab in a different building.
hey elon hire him and let him run (into the ground) the dei department
Is anyone aware of George Conway commenting on this site?
Thad?
Sorry, he couldn’t make weight.
According to the site scnr.com, Smith gives the reasoning for his dismissal:
source: https://scnr.com/article/teacher-from-viral-jk-rowling-critical-thinking-video-fired-from-college_a91f8d69117011ef9c930242ac1c0002
While not trying to defend the firing, many states ban filming in classrooms. I could not find any Massachusetts law on the matter (especially in a multimedia lab) but the federal FERPA law (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) may offer some insight:
FERPA makes recording of individual students part of the “student record.” Parents may inspect and review the video upon request, but control of the video rests with the school / institution and not with the teacher and or the parent.
source: https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/faq/faqs-photos-and-videos-under-ferpa
This means that Smith may have violated school policy based upon his own admission and federal policy with the release of the other video.
It also means that the school may have simply been looking for a reason to terminate Smith, but there is some indication that his act was not inline with school policy and the law.
(Frankly, when I watched the first video months ago, both he and the student were so well spoken and the conversation so good that I thought it was at a college. To me, this could have been handled with a “don’t do that again,” but there may be even more behind the scenes. )
“This means that Smith may have violated school policy…
It also means that the school may have simply been looking for a reason to terminate Smith…”
Embrace the healing power of “and.”
But if the students learned to think critically, they’d realize they’re spending tens of thousands of dollars on drivel and the whole enterprise would collapse.
They’d get a better education reading Harry Potter.
Read Harry Potter, listen and/or read Rowlings actual statements then seek out this teacher to critically discuss what is said outside of the mob telling you what to think.
The old ” if everyone jumped off a bridge would you” line comes to mind. Unfortunately with a majority of people today they will follow the crowd over the railing without a second thought.
Apply the above to everything you hear in the “news” and social media.
Glaringly absent is any pushback by parents to his firing.
You’d think this is the kind of teacher you’d want for your kids. The absence of their voices speaks volumes.
Lesson #1 for Millenials and Gen Z: NEVER EVER KEEP ANYTHING ON YOUR WORK LAPTOP THAT’S YOUR PERSONAL WORK! Jeez Louise…why is such an elementary principle so elusive to so many people?
Comment replying to gitacarver, May 15, 12:24
“This means that Smith may have violated school policy based upon his own admission and federal policy with the release of the other video.”
You can’t rule innocent people. So step 0 is make everyone guilty of something. I do so try not to refer to that yuuuuge book about trains and tunnels, but here’s a quote:
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. … There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them.”
Like the cancel rituals, the point isn’t the actual transgression they get you for, it’s “stay in line on this, here, or we’ll clobber you for that other thing over here.” It’s pervasive systematized extortion. And the point isn’t getting the people who transgressed, it’s that everyone else sees them got. Pour encourager les autres.