To liberals, education isn’t simply about making sure kids can add, subtract, multiply, read, write and understand the world around them. No, to liberals, education is a means to an end: indoctrinate the youth with an ideological disposition that will compel them to labor in a collective effort to further the cause as adults. This is a process that goes on and on until the U.S. is homogenized into like-minded automatons, all moving about for one common purpose. Kinda like Communism.
What am I ranting about? An effort by the University of Minnesota, specifically the “Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group” of the “Teacher Education Redesign Initiative,” to “redesign” the education of teachers.
If that doesn’t sound nefarious enough as it is, follow along. . .
“The Teacher Education Redesign Initiative [Is] A Multiyear Project To Change The Way Future Teachers Are Trained At The U's Flagship Campus.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
“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.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
“Last Spring, It Charged The [Race, Culture, Class And Gender] Task Group With Coming Up With Recommendations To Change This.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
Repudiation Of The “American Dream.” “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.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
“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.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
“The Report Advocates Making Race, Class And Gender Politics The "Overarching Framework" For All Teaching Courses At The U.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
“It Calls For Evaluating Future Teachers In Both Coursework And Practice Teaching Based On Their Willingness To Fall Into Ideological Lockstep.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
“The First Step Toward ‘Cultural Competence,’ Says The Task Group, Is For Future Teachers To Recognize -- And Confess -- Their Own Bigotry.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
• “The task group recommends, for example, that prospective teachers be required to prepare an ‘autoethnography’ report.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
• “They must describe their own prejudices and stereotypes, question their ‘cultural’ motives for wishing to become teachers, and take a ‘cultural intelligence’ assessment designed to ferret out their latent racism, classism and other ‘isms.’ They ‘earn points’ for ‘demonstrating the ability to be self-critical.’” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
“Future Teachers Must Also Recognize And Denounce The Fundamental Injustices At The Heart Of American Society, Says The Task Group.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
• “From a historical perspective, they must ‘understand that ... many groups are typically not included’ within America's ‘celebrated cultural identity,’ and that ‘such exclusion is frequently a result of dissimilarities in power and influence.’ In particular, aspiring teachers must be able ‘to explain how institutional racism works in schools.’” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
“The Task Force Recommends Requiring ‘Our Future Teachers’ To ‘Articulate A Sophisticated And Nuanced Critical Analysis’ Of This View Of The American Promise.” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
“Incorporate The ‘Myth Of Meritocracy.’” “In the process, they must incorporate the ‘myth of meritocracy in the United States,’ the ‘history of demands for assimilation to white, middle-class, Christian meanings and values, [and] history of white racism, with special focus on current colorblind ideology.’” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
And if students at the University fail to subscribe to this indoctrination?
The University “Must ‘Develop Clear Steps And Procedures For Working With Non-Performing Students, Including A Remediation Plan.’” (Katherine Kersten, “At U, Future Teachers May Be Reeducated,” Star Tribune [Minnesota], 11/22/09)
Huh, and here I thought teachers were supposed to “teach” children about reading, writing and arithmetic.
h/t Hot Air.
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