03 July 2012

Schools shouldn't challenge students' "fixed beliefs"

From the 2012 platform of the Texas Republican Party:
Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.
And: "Education Spending – Since data is clear that additional money does not translate into educational achievement, and higher education costs are out of control, we support reducing taxpayer funding to all levels of education institutions."

And: "We pledge our influence toward a return to the original intent of the First Amendment and toward dispelling the myth of separation of church and state."

And: "We support the withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations and the removal of U.N. headquarters from U.S. soil."

And: "We oppose any sex education other than abstinence until marriage."

Via The Twilight Zone BoingBoing.

Addendum (July 2012): The Republican Party of Texas now says that including the "critical thinking skills" phrase was "a mistake."

24 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 3, 2012 at 10:02 AM

    Further precis'd as "we oppose any form of education and we don't like to acknowledge foreigners even exist"

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  2. Sue DunhamJuly 3, 2012 at 10:06 AM

    English is my native language, but I cannot understand that first paragraph. Or as Samuel L. Jackson said: ENGLISH, MOTHER----, DO YOU SPEAK IT?

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  3. BJ NichollsJuly 3, 2012 at 10:39 AM

    We're the Texas Republicans. We want you ignorant, superstitious, dogmatic, xenophobic, and pregnant – but don't concern yourself over these big words. Check your brains at the door and God bless America!

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  4. AMJuly 3, 2012 at 11:08 AM

    Where did those "fixed beliefs" come from? Are they inborn and part of the student's true nature? More often than not they are the beliefs of their parents and a hand me down of a hand me down. Anyone should be free to challenge anyone else's beliefs. It is really up to the individuals to draw the line to what beliefs they want to keep or change at any point in time during their lives.

    In short a very narrow minded point of view. Looks like one could make a fortune by selling tar and feather kits to the locals in the near future.

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  5. Big BoppaJuly 3, 2012 at 12:59 PM

    They could have saved a lot of paper by just coming out and saying what they really mean:

    We don’t need no education
    We don’t need no thought control

    In a related story. Texas 10th graders can now declare majors in courses titled "Do You Want Fries With That?" and "Welcome to Walmart"

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  6. JoeJuly 3, 2012 at 1:34 PM

    Personally, I'm good with the idea of focusing education on the subjects to be learned instead of programming students with a liberal worldview. If you want your nanny state dictating what your children believe and teaching them to reject your culture and moral standards, that's your prerogative. There are many other options, and they should be available to those who live in a free country.

    The undue influence of teachers unions, the UN, and groups that push the feminist (& homosexual) agendas are a major reason that this country has lost its influence over the past 50 - 60 years. The typical bashing of "flyover America" by the liberals along the coasts usually fails to acknowledge that the concerns of conservatives (and Christians) are frequently valid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paulo UgoliniJuly 4, 2012 at 8:21 AM

      "The undue influence of teachers unions, the UN, and groups that push the feminist (& homosexual) agendas are a major reason that this country has lost its influence over the past 50 - 60 years." [Citation needed]

      Delete
  7. AnonymousJuly 3, 2012 at 5:37 PM

    Don't mess with Texas!
    To a liberal Canadian this is scarey stuff indeed.

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  8. Jerry SmithJuly 3, 2012 at 6:32 PM

    "We want to restore America...to the 12th century."

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJuly 3, 2012 at 6:38 PM

    These guys should have lived in Afghanistan pre-war on terror. They'd have loved it!

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  10. BarbwireJuly 3, 2012 at 6:56 PM

    As a former teacher, I am disgusted. It's hard work to teach kids how to think critically, and worth every bit of it. I guess they want a bunch of head nodders who will vote to rubber stamp all their stupidity, until the state is left with people too ignorant to take care of their most basic personal needs. The uneducated and undereducated already vote contrary to their own best interests. And to Anonymous in Canada, aren't you glad that Texas is really far away from you?

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  11. Timothy BenefieldJuly 3, 2012 at 10:23 PM

    This is actually just returning to the common sense principles that made America great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AlexJuly 3, 2012 at 10:46 PM

      So: not trying to stoke inquisitiveness and curiosity in children, removing support for education, tying religion to national affairs, and attempting to avoid contact with the rest of the world are not only common sense, but are also reminiscent of the principles that made America great? What.

      Delete
    2. taraJuly 5, 2012 at 1:53 PM

      I see from your blog that you are a Baptist and your father is a minister in the church. Blessed be.

      Delete
  12. blogrollerJuly 3, 2012 at 11:16 PM

    This sounds like direct dissemination from the annual "Bohemian camporee" thru the Bush family compound. To "dumnify" the next peasant generation. The easier to control the masses of the future. Just another way saying they want to start burning books and censoring thought. there is much to fear from these ______ .!!

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  13. Evil Gym MomJuly 4, 2012 at 1:32 AM

    Aren't these the conditions that caused the Pilgrims to leave UK/Europe and establish independent thinking colonies in the "New World" in the first place?

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  14. Alexov54July 4, 2012 at 2:40 AM

    If Texas doesn't actually contribute vast amounts of taxes for the Feds to use as they wish in other states, perhaps it could be encouraged to secede and be its own nation, next to Mexico. It might be easier to fence it out of the union, and reduce illegal immigration. Those Republicans down there might go for the idea. They sound silly enough to be persuadeable.

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  15. AnonymousJuly 4, 2012 at 5:54 AM

    I just can't believe that an educational charter would contain the words "We oppose the teaching of higher-order thinking skills..." As Stephen Fry so aptly put it: "THEN WHAT ARE YOU FOR?"

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  16. Stan B.July 4, 2012 at 9:42 PM

    Michio Kaku's Secret Weapon:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK0Y9j_CGgM

    ReplyDelete
  17. taraJuly 5, 2012 at 1:51 PM

    I try really hard not to label all Republicans as mysogynistic, homophobic, and racist; however, this official platform makes it clear that at least some of the people in power would like that to be the Republican party stance.

    The Christian right is scaring me.

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  18. UnknownJuly 6, 2012 at 12:33 AM

    Here is a compromise I offer to the right....

    Let's teach our children to think logically and independently. If, after achieving these skills, they decide that the Republicans/Christian right/faith over logic/ believers are correct, so be it. If they must cling to power by keeping people from using their god-given brains, (god-given used semi-sarcastically here), then they should have no control over education, which is by definition supposed to teach people how to think critically.

    If they can only succeed by keeping people from using their thinking processes, what does that say about them?

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousJuly 12, 2012 at 9:51 AM

    It was an accident:
    http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/texas_gops_2012_platform_accidentally_opposes_teaching_of_critical_thinking_skills.php

    ReplyDelete
  20. bulletholesJune 11, 2014 at 9:47 AM

    And this is what they are focused on for 2014...
    http://www.newsweek.com/texas-republican-party-adopts-discredited-reparative-therapy-gays-254168

    ReplyDelete