Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Teachers of What?
I have been doing some teaching lately at the high school where I coach, and I find it interesting that even in the most conservative state in the U.S. many of the teachers are quite liberal. I know of one lady that is showing a movie that is calling Barney Frank the 'smartest man in the Senate' and the talk show 'Oprah' to her students as a method of teaching financial literacy. I take great exception to both of those characters being introduced to my offspring as prime examples of competent financial gurus. Barney Frank is one of the primary reasons the US is in the mess it is currently experiencing, and Oprah as a financial wizard? Come on, she might be a good talk show host who makes millions of dollars, but to have her explain what the common man can do in ordinary financial circumstances? That is a little far-fetched. It is not just the teachers that are bent to the left, the textbooks are as well. I was reading to the class out of a history book today and had to stop and explain to them that every written word has a bias to it, and that we had to think about where the author is coming from in order to ascertain whether information is biased in any manner. I am sure happy that I have actually taught my sons to think for themselves, and that I allow them the freedom to argue politics, religion, conservative vs liberal and any other thing they wish to argue. With liberal teachers cramming crap down their throats they will have to learn to stand against such dissemination. Hopefully, they will be up to the task.
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7 comments:
Liberalism defined is "favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible" and "favorable to progress or reform", whereas conservatism is "disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change". Therefore, is a liberal based education really that bad? After all, aren't we in school to learn the mistakes of generations past in order to progress humanity to the best of our abilities? While I agree that bias should be avoided as much as possible, it is hardly to the best interest of the country to stifle the want to change within our youth.
The concept of liberalism has changed over time from "Favorable to individual freedom." to the modern concept of bullshit liberalism. That is: embracing independent interests (Gay/lesbian, environmentalism, etc) and pushing those beliefs on others. DTs is opposed to that kind of liberalism. The liberalism you espoused is classical liberalism, which is now modern conservatism.
The majority of liberals today do live up to the "maximum individual freedom possible" clause by embracing all walks of life, including the LGBT movement. Granted, the neo-liberals are taking this leaps and bounds farther than it should be. But the fact remains. Education is based on classical liberalism, which, as you say, is now modern conservatism. Therefore, I don't understand why DT does not endorse this kind of education. It clearly fits within bounds of his political spectrum.
What then, about the environmental movement, which seeks to clearly increase the power the government has over the individual life? Does that indeed follow the doctrine of "maximum individual freedom possible"? Or how about the left's obsession with increasing the welfare state? Giving up our power to control our lives does not equate to maximizing individual freedom.
What DT has issues with is the indoctrination (I prefer the word to brainwashing) our children with the seeds of liberalism so that when they grow up into naive college students they bloom into full blown morons.
I've seen it time and time again in high schools across the country, it is the teachers 'teaching' our students to sacrifice economic prosperity for the protection of some mystic force of "mother nature" that irks use conservatives.
Whoa. WHOA. First, the environmental movement (which we weren't arguing in the first place) was not some crazy attempt from the government to reign in our rights. In fact, endorsing alternative fuel programs was probably the only good thing Jimmy Carter did for our nation. Whether or not it was because he believed in global warming, it was a step to getting us off our foreign oil dependency which, to me, means more freedom. In addition, I agree with you that the welfare state is in shambles, but we need it. Restructure it so that it provides opportunities, not free lunches, and we'll be good to go.
Now on to the actual subject. Can we agree that any bias whatsoever results in brainwashing? Can we agree that both arguments should be offered to let the students decide what they believe in? Or none at all- just have the simple facts? I'll agree that our school systems have gone the wayward path from classical liberalism and should return to that wholeheartedly. But, yet again, this requires progressive restructuring.
As for teachers- they will be who they are. Take DT vs. Lundstrom for example. Whether they are conservative or liberal, that will shine through in their teaching style and no one can change that. That's being human. It's not because the school systems are liberal.
I also should have prefaced with that I agree Oprah is not a financial guru, but what teacher doesn't love a day off by showing a somewhat relevant film to their class? And for that matter, what student doesn't love an hour and a half nap in the middle of the day? And if said students are sleeping, do they really care about Oprah's favourite stocks? Or favourite things to do with your 401K? Or top ten things you should do with your new African orphan you "invested" in with your life savings? I think not. Besides, who wants an African orphan these days. Chinese babies are all the rage.
By the way I was not speaking of Lundstrom, and when I teach, I believe that I am getting paid to do a job, and to do it well, not to show a movie so that the students can have a nap in the middle of the day.
Oh- I know you were talking about Thompson; no one likes her. Plus, since I don't know her politics and I know that he actually teaches his students and does it well, Lundstrom I thought was a good comparison as your possible liberal counterpart. :-)
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