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> I do see it as important in K-12 education Academic freedom of teachers teaching a 2nd or 3rd grader how to read? Or of teachers of 6th graders learning geog

by mfer 4y ago

> I do see it as important in K-12 education Academic freedom of teachers teaching a 2nd or 3rd grader how to read? Or of teachers of 6th graders learning geography. This is where we get into politics and agendas. What happens when teachers want to introduce political ideas / ideologies to impressionable minds without them realizing it (they are kids)? What happens when parents disagree with those ideologies? If everyone involved is free thinking and capable of evaluating things it's one thing. That's something that's possible at the college level. Dealing with young children is entirely different.

freedomtogripe 4y ago
>> I do see it as important in K-12 education > Academic freedom of teachers teaching a 2nd or 3rd grader how to read? Or of teachers of 6th graders learning geography. I share your concerns, but I'll take the difficult position here. Before CRT bogeyman there was the Common Core bogeyman. Tucker Carlson has Strong Opinions on how to teach math. I shit you not. Every time I flew through MCI I had someone in the terminal or on the lane strike up conversation (midwest is like that) and learn that I'm in a math-heavy field. They would then say some inane shit about math education. I would ask the last math course they took. The highest answer I ever got was Calc or Linear Algebra, and 90% of the answers were "I don't remember" or "algebra in high school". So, yeah. Third grade teachers need cover. Because even http://www.corestandards.org/Math http://www.corestandards.org/Math was politicized by cable news talking heads. Go read it, not knowing what it is, and explain to me why someone who hasn't thought about math in 20 years would reasonably have any sort of opinion that's not motivated by a cable news talking head telling you that the reason you don't understand fifth grade probability theory is not that you were woefully failed by the American education system and your kid is already outstripping you, but because Obama Socialist Math makes no sense.
frognumber 4y ago
My experience with young children and college student is different than yours. We stereotype young children as being dumb and naive, but starting around 3rd or 4th grade, they're pretty smart. They just know less. It's around teenage years that they become arrogant and impressionable. Woke started as a college student phenomenon. The way you continue to develop critical thinking skills is by having those difficult discussions. But that's beside the point. If you want smart, competent, thoughtful teachers, we need to start giving room for people who are smart, competent, and thoughtful in the profession. Most of the teachers in my local school district are idiots, and that's in part because of how the district treats them. I'd love to teach, but not there. What happens when teachers indoctrinate students? That's already happening. School districts are grounded in municipal politics, and my local curriculum is grounded in ideology and doctrine. Teachers don't want to diverge from that, but if they wanted to, they couldn't. It's not clear top-down indoctrination is any better than bottom-up. In other words, I'm not sure your proposed solution addresses the problem.

by mfer 4y ago

freedomtogripe 4y ago

>> I do see it as important in K-12 education > Academic freedom of teachers teaching a 2nd or 3rd grader how to read? Or of teachers of 6th graders learning geography. I share your concerns, but I'll take the difficult position here. Before CRT bogeyman there was the Common Core bogeyman. Tucker Carlson has Strong Opinions on how to teach math. I shit you not. Every time I flew through MCI I had someone in the terminal or on the lane strike up conversation (midwest is like that) and learn that I'm in a math-heavy field. They would then say some inane shit about math education. I would ask the last math course they took. The highest answer I ever got was Calc or Linear Algebra, and 90% of the answers were "I don't remember" or "algebra in high school". So, yeah. Third grade teachers need cover. Because even http://www.corestandards.org/Math http://www.corestandards.org/Math was politicized by cable news talking heads. Go read it, not knowing what it is, and explain to me why someone who hasn't thought about math in 20 years would reasonably have any sort of opinion that's not motivated by a cable news talking head telling you that the reason you don't understand fifth grade probability theory is not that you were woefully failed by the American education system and your kid is already outstripping you, but because Obama Socialist Math makes no sense.

frognumber 4y ago

My experience with young children and college student is different than yours. We stereotype young children as being dumb and naive, but starting around 3rd or 4th grade, they're pretty smart. They just know less. It's around teenage years that they become arrogant and impressionable. Woke started as a college student phenomenon. The way you continue to develop critical thinking skills is by having those difficult discussions. But that's beside the point. If you want smart, competent, thoughtful teachers, we need to start giving room for people who are smart, competent, and thoughtful in the profession. Most of the teachers in my local school district are idiots, and that's in part because of how the district treats them. I'd love to teach, but not there. What happens when teachers indoctrinate students? That's already happening. School districts are grounded in municipal politics, and my local curriculum is grounded in ideology and doctrine. Teachers don't want to diverge from that, but if they wanted to, they couldn't. It's not clear top-down indoctrination is any better than bottom-up. In other words, I'm not sure your proposed solution addresses the problem.