The Dream Palace of Educational Theorists

New English Review ^ | December, 2006 | John Derbyshire

[Leisler]

Education is a subject I find hard to contemplate without losing my temper. In the present-day U.S.A., education is basically a series of rent-seeking rackets.

There is the public school racket, in which homeowners and taxpayers fork out stupendous sums of money to feed a socialistic extravaganza in which, when its employees can spare time from administration, “professional development” sabbaticals, and fund-raising for the Democratic Party, boys are pressed to act like girls, and dosed with calming drugs if they refuse so to act; girls are encouraged to act like boys by taking up advanced science, math, and strenuous sports, which few of them have any liking or aptitude for; and boys and girls alike are indoctrinated in the dubious dogmas of “diversity” and political correctness.

There is the teacher-unions racket , in which people who only work half the days of the year are awarded lifetime tenure and lush pensions on the public fisc, subject to dismissal for no offense less grave than serial arson or piracy on the high seas.

There is the federal Department of Education racket, aptly summed up by the teacher-union boss who declared, when the Department was established by Jimmy Carter, that he now belonged to the only labor union to have its very own cabinet officer. The DoE is also much beloved by politicians, who can posture as kiddie- and family-friendly by periodically voting to tip boxcar-loads of taxpayers’ money into this bureaucratic black hole.

There is the homework racket, exposed in Alfie Kohn’s book The Homework Myth —basically, a device for getting parents to do teachers’ work for them.

There is the teacher-training racket, in which the “professional” training of our nation’s educators has been placed in the hands of the clinically insane. You think I exaggerate? I offer you Dr. Kamau Kambon, a product of our teacher-training colleges—an atypical product only in that he has so many “professional” degrees. According to his Wikipedia entry: “Dr. Kambon holds a B.A. degree in education/history, a master's degree in physical education, both a M.A. and a M. Ed. degree in education/administration, and an Ed. D. in urban education/curriculum and instruction.” Phew! This is one very thoroughly teacher-trained dude! Listen to what Dr. Kambon has to say about the proper priorities for American educators here. There is a wellnigh infinite supply of news stories about teacher-college lunacy at websites like that of the estimable F.I.R.E., and Rita Kramer wrote a fine, if horribly depressing, book on the topic.

...article continues here...

[Jeff Chandler]

There is the teacher-training racket, in which the “professional” training of our nation’s educators has been placed in the hands of the clinically insane.

How very, very true.

[rellimpank]

--somewhat related to the situation of forty-some years ago when I was in college--it was accepted that if one flunked out of engineering or the sciences, one could into "Education" and become a teacher---

[VOA]

bump

[pieceofthepuzzle]

I think every individual has a unique perspective to give to the world, and that one vital purpose of education is to teach children to think for themselves and come up with their own ideas about the world around them. Unfortunately, despite how frequently the word diversity gets thrown around, our educational system has become very non-diverse in what it teaches and allows as 'acceptable' thought. This is true, in my opinion, from grade school through the university.

[Slings and Arrows]

It hasn't changed.

[Leisler]

Where do flunked out edjamkation majors go? Journalism?

[cornelis]

FYI

[Texas_Jarhead]

"Listen to what Dr. Kambon has to say about the proper priorities for American educators here."

No longer available on YouTube... What a surprise. NOT! They gotta protect the moonbats from public scrutiny.

[snowrip]

ping

[Leisler]

Dr. Kambon claims to hold a B.A. degree in education/history, a master's degree in physical education, both a M.A. and a M. Ed. degree in education/administration, and an Ed. D. in urban education/curriculum and instruction, all from unknown or uncredited universities. Over the course of eighteen years, Dr. Kambon served as an assistant professor at a historically black college in the south. Over the past seven years, Dr. Kambon has taught Introduction to Black Studies and Introduction to African Civilization at the university level.

..more..

[Texas_Jarhead]

"a racist wanker who deserves to be shot"... LOL I'm surprised that the Wiki editors have allowed that comment to remain...

[Texas_Jarhead]

Thanks for the link. I didn't recognize the name but I have certainly heard of his antics, and some of his quotes, before.

[cornelis]

(Professionals have their own credentialing systems: You may have graduated law school, but you’ll still have to pass the bar exam, and so on. Then why make aspiring lawyers go to law school? Presumably for the same reason we insist on cube jockeys having bachelor’s degrees from accredited four-year colleges. Why not let them study up at home from Teaching Company DVDs, then sit for a state-refereed common exam when they feel they’re ready? Why not let lawyers learn on the job from books and as articled clerks, the way they used to? I don’t know. College-going is just an irrational thing we do, the way upper-class German men used to acquire dueling scars, the way women in imperial China had their feet bound. Griggs vs. Duke Power probably has something to do with it. Since, following that decision, employers are not permitted to test job applicants to see how intelligent they are, the employers seek a college degree as a proxy for intelligence.)

[Maceman]

It is available. I just watched it. You just have to register so that you can access "offensive" videos.

[Tribune7]

ditto that

[Tribune7]

ping

[Texas_Jarhead]

Ah I see. So if some content has been tagged as offensive then only registered users can access it?

[Leisler]

YouTube, 'We need to kill White People', here.

[albee]

bump for later read