4 ms·
Because "We're going to make a spec that is intentionally vague on the one section that some people will bend over backwards to willfully misapply" is bad polit
by vec 14y ago
Because "We're going to make a spec that is intentionally vague on the one section that some people will bend over backwards to willfully misapply" is bad politics and "We're going to tighten standards across the board, but remain silent on two fundamental and well understood cornerstone concepts because they're likely to make people mad" is terrible policy.
Besides, the people who are opposed to teaching evolution and/or climate science are going to take a microscope to any new science teaching standard, so we may as well be up front about the goals and get the fight over with at the frontend.
- dkhenry 14y agoSo is our goal to push more teaching of evolution and global warming or is it to make science standards better ? By specifically calling out hot button buzz words your priming the pump for a political fight.
- ktizo 14y agoEvolution is not scientifically controversial and you can't teach biology without it. The political fight on this is not some recent invention of educators, but is just the current battle in a religious propaganda war for the right to dictate reality that has been going on since before the time of Galileo. Not mentioning key subjects to keep the religious happy is not a responsible approach for people who want sciences to be taught properly in school.
- ef4 14y agoBut education (at least the way we do it now) is a political phenomenon. Science has little to do with it. Too many scientifically-minded people ignore this reality and cling to the idealistic notion that schools will teach the best ideas, so we simply need to show our ideas are best. No. Schools are politically controlled and will teach what political power dictates. So long as scientifically literate people think we're above politics, we'll keep losing. (Personally, I'd rather continue to see a growing number of people empowered to opt out of politically controlled education entirely.)
- ktizo 14y agoI'm not ignoring the politics, but science does have an obviously large part to play when it comes to teaching science, irrespective of the politics. Also, to insist on evolution and climate science to be taught in a way that practitioners in those disciplines would at least recognise, is not pretending to be above politics, it is trying to meet the politics head on.
- sigzero 14y agoYou are never going to "get the fight over" on those subjects.