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To: wintertime
I didn't say that the environment could be kept values-free. Nor do I think it SHOULD be; the cure would be worse than the illness.

I simply meant that the educational process should be values-neutral, and it can be so if it sticks with facts, not conjecture.

Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency in 1860. That is a fact (and let's not quibble over the fact that the election actually took place in 1859). As to whether Abraham Lincoln was a good president or not, there is considerable disagreement on that even here on FR. And that could make for an interesting debate in the academic setting. But the unalterable FACT is that Lincoln was elected.

Waves of immigrants came to this country over the years: the Irish, the Italians, Germans, Chinese, Hmong, Vietnamese, Hispanics, etc.. The numbers of immigrants can be reported without drawing any conclusions about their impact on our economy or our cultural values.

As to reading, I don't know that Alice in Wonderland or Treasure Island or Anne Frank's diary are overtly political. Yes, they can be taken that way if you want to allegorize them, but they can also teach reading without introducing a lot of values-laden baggage into the mix.

I think it's too easy to just forsake value-neutral education as an impossible task. Certainly, withdrawing your children from the public schools is an excellent idea. But at least in theory, I think tighter regulation could trim back some of the weeds in our kinder gartens.

31 posted on 07/23/2006 3:59:32 PM PDT by IronJack
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To: IronJack
Certainly, withdrawing your children from the public schools is an excellent idea. But at least in theory, I think tighter regulation could trim back some of the weeds in our kinder gartens.

True enough, but if public school teachers were NFL players, we'd be crying for their heads. ;)
36 posted on 07/23/2006 4:57:23 PM PDT by Das Outsider (The Kim Perspective, 7/28: Beavis and Butthead, Kofi Annan, and amazing animal tricks)
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