Schools of Reeducation?

The Washington Post ^ | 2/5/2006 | Frederick M. Hess

[SteveH]

Schools of Reeducation?

By Frederick M. Hess

Washington Post

02/05/06

For those who have been troubled by the tendency of universities to adopt campus speech codes, a worrisome new fad is rearing its head in the nation's schools of education. Stirred by professional opinion and accreditation pressures, teachers colleges have begun to regulate the dispositions and beliefs of those who would teach in our nation's classrooms.

At the University of Alabama, the College of Education explains that it is "committed to preparing individuals to promote social justice, to be change agents, and to recognize individual and institutionalized racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism." To promote its agenda, part of the program's self-proclaimed mission is to train teachers to "develop anti-racist, anti-homophobic, anti-sexist . . . alliances."

The University of Alaska at Fairbanks School of Education declares on its Web site: "Teachers often profess 'colorblindness' . . . which is at worst patronizing and at best naïve, because race and culture profoundly affect what is known and how it is known."

Consequently, the program emphasizes "the interrelatedness of race, identity, and the curriculum, especially the role of white privilege."

[Minuteman23]

Unbelievable. We are doomed. And we're letting them steal our children's minds.

[Tzimisce]

"Consequently, the program emphasizes "the interrelatedness of race, identity, and the curriculum, especially the role of white privilege."

Lefties never PRE JUDGE anybody do they? But they can tell (based solely on my light skin shade) that I have "privilege". Gotta love that.

[Carry_Okie]

Stirred by professional opinion and accreditation pressures, teachers colleges have begun to regulate the dispositions and beliefs of those who would teach in our nation's classrooms.

Begun? This has been going on for forty years!

[Wolfhound777]

Were only doomed if we sit back and take it.

[Paleo Conservative]

I think I can smell some lawsuits being filed really soon.

[CheyennePress]

Anytime you hear words like social justice, multicultural, alliance, sensitive, progressive, or what have you, it's time to decide whether it's a good idea to run or to raise a stink. Academics have this nasty habit of getting together, nodding their heads, and repeating them like the Nicean creed for "educated folk," what is said isn't really what is meant.

I found it rather enjoyable to refer to tax cuts as progressive. Same thing with social conservativism. Not often, of course. Just let one slip in every now and then and move on as if nothing happened. Lefties didn't like it. ;)

[highlander_UW]

The liberals realize they can't compete in the marketplace of ideas...so they're seeking to reshape and control the marketplace to exclude any ideas that they can't deal with. Education is doomed in our intuitions of "education".

[redgolum]

It is more than that. They have made a concentrated effort to subvert the education process. Most conservatives don't want to teach, they want to work and make their own way.

Short sightedness on our side. The future belongs to those who teach and raise the next generation.

[Galveston Grl]

Knowing this, school committees should disqualify all teachers coming from "teachers colleges" who are into brainwashing for the creation of radicals who disrespect the nature of US education (as opposed to Chinese, Cuban or North Korean education.) This flags the wackos for our communities so we know who NOT TO HIRE. Conservatives should track and harass these radicals as they lauch out from their indoctrination centers looking for teaching jobs.

[SteveH]

It is more than that... Most conservatives don't want to teach, they want to work and make their own way.

When the conservative teacher credential candidate observes that most credentialed teachers appear to be liberal, because liberal credential candidates easily get higher grades in ed school classes than their conservative credential candidate colleagues, the ed school prof will first deny it.

If the conservative credential candidate responds that their own sons or daughters attend public school and they therefore have had many chances to observe a overbearing preponderance of liberal inclination of teachers in the field, indicating institutional discrimination, the ed school prof will respond that it is by occupational choice, not by discrimination, since most conservatives don't want to teach because they want to work in business.

(Libertarian credential candidates are affected by this even though they are not conservatives, because as far as ed school profs are concerned, there is no difference between liberarians and conservatives.)

Conservative and libertarian credential candidates whose grades suffer on accord of their stated beliefs in ed school classes are gently counseled (in private, behind closed doors) by the profs that they might be more suited for occupations other than teaching.

Ed schools use the common perception that conservatives don't want to teach against conservative and libertarian credential candidates who choose to try to obtain a credential, in spite of stereotyping...

[Minuteman23]

I and lots of people I've known over the years have tried to do what we can by electing local school board candidates who want to return to basics and who don't want anything to do with the new "progressive" curricula, but local school boards are steamrolled by higher ups in the state and federal government. It's too far gone now. Abolishing the Dept. of Ed. would be a good housecleaning start, but it ain't gonna happen.