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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| At U, future teachers may be reeducated |
| 2009-11-23 |
| They must denounce exclusionary biases and embrace the vision. (Or else.) Do you believe in the American dream -- the idea that in this country, hardworking people of every race, color and creed can get ahead on their own merits? If so, that belief may soon bar you from getting a license to teach in Minnesota public schools -- at least if you plan to get your teaching degree at the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus. In a report compiled last summer, the Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group at the U's College of Education and Human Development recommended that aspiring teachers there must repudiate the notion of "the American Dream" in order to obtain the recommendation for licensure required by the Minnesota Board of Teaching. Instead, teacher candidates must embrace -- and be prepared to teach our state's kids -- the task force's own vision of America as an oppressive hellhole: racist, sexist and homophobic. The task group is part of the Teacher Education Redesign Initiative, a multiyear project to change the way future teachers are trained at the U's flagship campus. The initiative is premised, in part, on the conviction that Minnesota teachers' lack of "cultural competence" contributes to the poor academic performance of the state's minority students. Last spring, it charged the task group with coming up with recommendations to change this. In January, planners will review the recommendations and decide how to proceed. The report advocates making race, class and gender politics the "overarching framework" for all teaching courses at the U. It calls for evaluating future teachers in both coursework and practice teaching based on their willingness to fall into ideological lockstep. Clearly the curriculum is the Bill Ayers-recommended one ... The first step toward "cultural competence," says the task group, is for future teachers to recognize -- and confess -- their own bigotry. Anyone familiar with the reeducation camps of China's Cultural Revolution will recognize the modus operandi. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #8 Publicly-funded education has turned malignant. Yeah, a half-century ago. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2009-11-23 22:47 |
| #7 There are not many parents that will be willing to pay for this drivel. Don't worry, the government will make it another 'option' plan. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-11-23 22:44 |
| #6 Not to worry. America is a free market with everything, to include higher education. These schools will go the way of news print and liberal radio. There are not many parents that will be willing to pay for this drivel. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-11-23 22:06 |
| #5 Tenure was established to protect controversial subjects and teachings. Since the faculty basically has done away with alternate views and killed academic freedom in the name of 'social justice', the state can do away with tenure. Just in time for cost cutting. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-11-23 21:47 |
| #4 Yup. Confess the heinous sin of heresy and attempting to hijack the people's revolution onto the capitalist road, or else. Repeated denial of your guilt is a symptom of mental illness and you need to be hauled off to the nuthouse. The initiative is premised, in part, on the conviction that Minnesota teachers' lack of "cultural competence" contributes to the poor academic performance of the state's minority students. Have to admire them taking a problem and turning into something that they can use for their own ends. This is why we're getting our asses kicked, people. |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-11-23 13:27 |
| #3 I've been thinking about this story. I recall another story from about a year ago where some school of social work in Missouri was mandating a similar requirement for its graduates -- in essence, one couldn't be a certified social worker unless you believed the usual progressive, tranzi nonsense. There must be some legal reason why these folks think they can get past the First Amendment rights of students (as it is incorporated by the 14th Amendment to states). You cannot tell me how and what to think as a condition of having a state license. That seems clearly in violation of the 1st. Someone know of the legal issues here? |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-11-23 12:49 |
| #2 Publicly-funded education has turned malignant. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2009-11-23 12:41 |
| #1 We are so close to the point of no return when people get so sick of this crap that they resort to violence. Hopefully, these idiots get thrown out quickly because of public outrage. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-11-23 11:21 |