Matthew on 22/5/2010 at 14:41
It seems that the Texas Education Board has now (
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10141121.stm) approved a syllabus that will, amongst other things:
* Advise schoolchildren of the threat that the UN might prove to sovereignty
* Not include a reference to Thomas Jefferson (allegedly to remove emphasis from the doctrine of separation of church and state)
* Teach them how government taxation can harm economic growth
* Remove references to a landmark court case prohibiting schools to segregate Mexican American students
*
There seems to be a trend, so the BBC claims, of other school boards following the TEB's lead. Is this going to be something that has wider implications for American schooling, or will it be confined to that state and perhaps a few of the more reactionary ones?
Could any Americans comment on how they feel that this reflects on the eduction system in the USA in general?
fett on 22/5/2010 at 15:15
With the exception of a few New England states, the U.S. education system is in an abysmal state anyway, at least compared to other developed nations. Honestly, most of this hub-ub about textbook content and what the teachers are "allowed" to teach has very little immediate impact on the thoughts and opinions of students. How many of us really paid attention in history or science class anyway, much less incorporated it into our personal belief system, political view, or code of ethics? Obviously the larger thing is the effect over time, the principal of teaching truth in the classroom, etc. IIRC there was a lot of fuss a few years back over Japan's exclusion of sinister things in thier history from the textbooks. Overall, I really don't think the texbook content ALONE is gonig to produce little redneck, Bible-toting, xenophobes. I suspect the parents are (as always) the issue here, and the fact that don't care/aren't doing anything to change it, probably speaks for itself.
Enchantermon on 22/5/2010 at 17:35
Quote Posted by fett
With the exception of a few New England states, the U.S. education system is in an abysmal state anyway, at least compared to other developed nations.
Indeed. To be honest, the schools should be more concerned about teaching students to think for themselves and form rational opinions and arguments, rather than supporting one view or another.
Pardoner on 22/5/2010 at 18:20
Most American colleges can't do that yet. As for fett's notion that pedagogy doesn't matter because kids make up their own minds anyways, and the school system is fucked so why bother? It's horseshit, obviously.
This is dismal news.
Enchantermon on 22/5/2010 at 19:28
Quote Posted by Pardoner
Most American
colleges can't do that yet.
Even those that do only have an impact if the students care. One of my friends at college once commented to me that he didn't understand why Critical Thinking was a required course because he doesn't "need that in life." :erg:
Turtle on 22/5/2010 at 20:11
Unfortunately, if these changes are approved it will affect other states as well.
Texas is a large state with a decent portion of the educational pie. Textbook publishers tend to go with the biggest common denominator when deciding what goes into their textbooks.
Therefore, because Texans are stupid and ignorant the rest of the country will be pushed even more in that direction, too.
The rest of us need to band together and incorporate the fact that Texans are the problem, not niggers and spics, into our curriculums.
Aerothorn on 22/5/2010 at 20:47
Not necessarily. This used to be true, but with advances in computer layouts, small printing runs, etc, the publishers can very easy tailor the books to each state without having a single uniform run. The Texas information could be added in sidebars that other states don't see, for instance.
demagogue on 22/5/2010 at 20:54
The rumblings that this was going to happen occurred a few months ago. Since it's my home state, I have a particular pang of embarrassment. The thing is, growing up I was really proud to go to public school and felt my education was better than any private school. And there are places and aspects of Texas that have always had a reputation for attracting well-educated people and being innovative ... Dallas, the arts in Ft. Worth, the computer industry around Austin, Houston... So I don't get why they're so anxious to push our education backwards. I know a lot of my teachers are joining Facebook groups like "Let teacher's decide how to educate our kids, not politicians". Whatever. It's stupid and hopefully temporary.
CCCToad on 22/5/2010 at 23:08
Saw about this on NBC, and it was quite a hoot. It was pretty obvious that neither side's representative cared much about teaching accurate history: Both were concerned only with what effect it could have on the kid's ideological leanings.
