Currently educators on a national level are seeking to organize the curriculum of the nation so that every state and local district has the same standards and expectations. Once this is done it will be “easy” to know how we are doing. Have we covered the material expected? What do the test scores show? Easy right? Not if you are serious about an informed and involved electorate.
Who is it that decides what to include? What do you leave out. When I started teaching United States History I included a unit on the pre-Columbian cultures of North America. I even had the students write term papers on the tribes that lived here. No more. Someone in the State Office of Education decided that when they wrote the content standards there would be no mention of this time in American history. I regret the loss but I still have more to cover than I have time for.
What happens when someone decides to leave out the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights. Don’t think it won’t happen. They are already trying to blow through the Revolution and only allow a few weeks for the Constitution.
I am currently trying to do some review for the state tests coming up. I had the students define monotheism and polytheism and then asked them to identify the three monotheistic religions in the world today. In most of the classes I got blank stares. Only one student out of six classes came up with Islam without prompts. When I asked who Israel was fighting I invariably got the answer “Hitler.”
When we take the easy way and let others do our thinking we give up a knowledge of what freedom is all about. Simple solutions that require no thought or discernment must limit liberty.
If we are intellectually lazy we are surrendering our liberty, not just our security.
homo unius libri
It's all part of the plan.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't mean I have to like it.
DeleteGrace and peace