Teaching What They Know (?)

Pop Science, Race Baiting Revisionism and Moral Decay

From the blog iNoPasaran! ... an article by Benny Huong examined:

It’s because our schools fail to teach civics, just the same way that they fail to teach history, foreign language, and nearly every other subject. The only subjects they seem to be good at teaching are environmentalism, critical race theory, and queer studies. If kids today graduate school knowing anything it’s that humans are poisoning the earth, white people are evil racists, and homosexuality is an unqualified good.

When I juxtapose the multi-state cheating scandal next to the Long family’s legal battle to homeschool their children, I can come to only one conclusion: there’s something fundamentally backwards here. Parents have to prove, to the satisfaction of the state, that they can educate their children, when it should really be the other way around. Year after year public schools award diplomas to twelfth graders who can’t perform at a twelfth grade level and yet no one removes the captive children from their custody.

 … Maybe it’s time for the government-run school systems to start proving to parents that they are up to the task of educating children. The way we do it now is backwards—parents groveling for permission from the state to educate their children at home. 

I agree!

OMMAG

Hysterical Parents and Out of Control School Officials

 School Officials

In Mesa AZ ... a local police officer went to pick his daughter from school. He was in uniform and wearing his gear and gun. How is this a problem?

Well if your neighbours are hysterical liberal freaks it becomes a problem. And if the school principal is a spineless kneejerk bureaucrat with an overblown sense of  self importance, it might just become a defining moment of moonbattery being allowed to exceed common sense. The principal decided to phone the officer at home and instruct him NOT to come to the school in uniform or with his weapon.

The officer involved took exception to the overreach of the school and let it be known publicly.

Not surprisingly ... once the matter became public the school tried to backtrack, claiming that they had no idea the phone call would be taken with offense.

And that my friends ... in a nutshell ... is the heart of the problem.

They never do have any idea or clue. And yet every day millions of people send their children, sheep like into the arms of fools just like this.

OMMAG

Why Education Costs Are Inflated

It should be no surprise to anyone that education costs are going up.

In the USA ...


Mr. Vedder sees similarities between the government's higher education and housing policies, which created a bubble and precipitated the last financial crisis. "In housing, we had artificially low interest rates. The government encouraged people with low qualifications to buy a house. Today, we have low interest rates on student loans. The government is encouraging kids to go to school who are unqualified just as it encouraged people to buy a home who are unqualified."

Just in case any smug Canadians think they are on some higher moral plane in this matter....

The only difference here is that  Canadian universities and colleges were socialized under government control before anyone in the USA even considered it. And, the real costs hidden under taxpayer subsidies for all that time.

On the home owner front, the CMHC has been using taxpayer money to subsidize banks mortgage risk since 1948.  What began as an effort to help Canadians recover from WWII and kick start the housing industry has been turned into a scam to force taxpayers to prop up banks that make bad mortgage loans to people who cannot and therefore should not be qualified for home loans.

It is the primary reason that a house built in 1953 for $4000 might now sell for as much as $500,000 in some markets.

Should taxpayers be used to create inflated house costs or inflated education costs?

Not in my view.

OMMAG

The Problem With ....

Academics ...   Is that too many people take what they have to say as something other than a pathetic attempt at self justification ... and bad comedy.

To wit:
“This emphasis on grammar and spelling, I find it a bit unnecessary because they are skills that were very essential maybe a hundred years ago but they are not right now,” the academic, who is based at Newcastle University in England, told TES.
“Firstly, my phone corrects my spelling so I don’t really need to think about it and, secondly, because I often skip grammar and write in a cryptic way.”
Professor Mitra said this suggests that the importance of good grammar is declining. “My entire background tells me, ‘No, no, it is really bad what you are saying’, but I think there is a change and we have to learn to live with it,” he said.
The academic, who is now using the $1 million (£670,000) TED prize he won this year to set up seven internet-controlled “cloud schools”, suggested that technology may have changed what good grammar means.
“Should (students) learn how to write good sentences? Yes, of course they should,” he said. “They should learn how to convey emotion and meaning through writing.
“But we have perhaps a mistaken notion that the way in which we write is the right way and that the way in which young people write through their SMS texting language is not the right way.

In other words ... because sloppy thinking and poor communication are what this useless clown aspires to ... then we should all just go along.

Picked up at SDA 

OMMAG
 

Education Fail

I have two children who went through the public school system. Both seem to realize what a farce most of that exercise was, but one seems to be able to get over it and make the best of it all in a positive way. It's not that there was any difference in how each was raised or taught but rather a matter of how they were affected by the experience.

In my own experience we had a fair share of not very smart or good teachers, but that was balanced by some really bright and competent teachers. It seems that my kids got about the same balance in terms of who was doing the teaching. I guess that among the people I grew up with and went to school with, there were about the same proportion of us that really got something out of the experience versus those who did not. However the big difference today seems to be the size of the gap between those who graduated with real learning skills and confidence versus those with virtually none. And it looks like it boils down to the fundamentals of learning versus the touchy feely progressive view of education.

Since the public education system abandoned the old methods of teaching basic skills with fundamental of competence being required of all students in math, language, history, geography what has been the benefit of the redirection towards behavioural modification and self realization?

I always believed that we ignore the past at our peril. In fact this was something that we were taught well before advancing to secondary or post secondary education.The use of wrote learning methods may have caused some distress for delicate personalities but it damned well worked for just about everyone. In addition this system clearly identified where problems existed and provided for quick remedial action where it was needed. Yes, there was stigma associated with the failing, but at least they got a chance to do something about it if the desire was there. It also gave some incentive for slackards, lagards and underachievers to do better and prove themselves. The best part was that those who did excel were honoured and respected. That in itself was a pretty good lesson for the rest of the students. Sure, there were a few who felt intimidated by the success of others and made their displeasure known by their antics directed toward the "smart" kids. But that was usually handled well enough by the inherent fairness of the system and the even handed exercise of official intervention from teachers and the admin office. Even the most dysfunctional kids from the worst homes had a chance to excel at something. And, everyone learned to have a sense of proportion.

This seems to have all gone away thanks to the intrusion of political correctness and the efforts to build false self esteem that modern educators seem to love so well.

Now, when a student is failing ... it is not failing anymore... just an opportunity for a feel good exercise by the teachers to repair the and bolster the ego of a damaged child. Does the child get any incentive to actually do better?
Nope. Rather the whole cycle gets repeated tirelessly until the system manages to "promote" a dysfunctional child (successfully by their terms) or manages to undermine the will and confidence of the average student to the point where they give up trying to do better.

Of course the results run the gamut of possible outcomes, but the overall redirection of focus in our schools is responsible for a proportionate decline in the quality and competence of students being graduated. This is the exact opposite of the objectives claimed by progressive educators. In fact, you would be hard pressed to have achieved a worse result for our society by deliberate plan.

I could go on .... but that is about where things are for me and my efforts to undo the harm this ugly joke of public education has done to my kids.

OMMAG

Your Happy Socialist Paradise

Hearts and Minds ....

The Northwestern Marxist Conference held on Chicago (naturally) was attended by a significant number of public school teachers from near and far.

NBC News was there too.

It seems though that when confronted by a non MSM reporter on the scene ... the NBC hack was offended to have it pointed out to him that the real story was WHO was attending the conference rather than the sideshow protest outside.

For a glimpse into how serious the Marxists are about coopting the education system go to the link provided to LI and check out the comments on the matter.

It is no coincidence that in Canada most Teachers are NDP (communist) supporters.
The first reason is that they see the sinecure of benefits and pensions through collective strong arming of the tax paying public. The second and more insidious is the creeping groupthink and uniformity of thought that has evolved as the teachers and their union leadership swim ever more deeply into the marxist fold. This group conformity (they may call it "solidarity" when challenged) is compelling to ignorant and morally weak administrations and politicians who are generally incapable of challenging the teachers. The teachers themselves become ever less accountable in the matter of their own quality of education and ability to communicate as they are allowed to become simple parrots of groupspeak.

The result is a failure of the education system to provide the critical tools of rational analytical and critcal thinking.
As the content of what is taught in our schools wanders away from proper use of language and from effective training in the use of mathematics and understanding of physical sciences. As instruction in cultural history is confused through revisionism and through meaningless distractions such as propaganda from the feminist and the so called  "gay" special interests. With the substitution of  "alternative" views for factual studies and even through the outright elimination of any historical reality that contradicts the "progressive" world view the marxist agenda has propagated.

What has happened in Canada over the last 40 years as an incremental slide into the destruction of the rational aspect of our childrens education is becoming a cascade of forced change in the USA.

Read more »

Our Happy Socialist Paradise

It came to my attention this past week that in our happy socialist paradise of Manitoba the powers that be are continuing the courageous war on Christianity and crusader tradition.

Raise a fist of triumph and solidarity for the Louis Riel School Division and vice principal ... Mr. Anonymous for daring to propose that ALL of the Crosses be removed from St. George school stationary, signage ad displays. Why so shy? The staff and Mr. VP Anonymous should be proud to display their names on the school directory of staff ..... shouldn't they?

We can't allow these emblems of Christian oppression continue in our schools ... can we?


See the example below of the  horrible traditions that brave VP Anonymous is fighting to erase:

Welcome to the Home of the Knights!

 

Welcome to the St. George School website.

St. George School is a Kindergarten to Grade 8 English Program school located in Winnipeg Manitoba—part of the Louis Riel School Division. St. George has a rich history and has served its community for more than 50 years. St. George has an enrolment of approximately 340 students.

We are very proud of our diverse population and we welcome a large number of newcomer families and students. Please take a moment to visit our website and you will find important information about upcoming events, contact information and newsletters. Please contact us with any questions. We encourage you to check out all the links and pages of our website.

St. George School - The home of the Knights!

Home of the Knights!


OMMAG

The Great Failure of Modern Educators

 This is the Mission Statement of the University of Alberta Education Faculty ....

The Faculty of Education is committed to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge about teaching and learning. We promote the view that to be a professional educator is to continue to question, to reflect, to seek knowledge, and to be open to change.

This is what the Dean of the faculty thinks it means ... Fern Snart ...

...  “To educate students beyond the superficial,” she writes, “we must engage them in transformational processes and deep thinking such that they understand the Western position of privilege that is often reflected in issues of diversity, power, and justice, and that they move to an internalization of responsibility related to this privilege.”

From a post at SDA and a column by  Margaret "Privileged" Wente:

Unfortunately, the people who educate the educators sound like the wacky wing of the NDP.

Prepare your children to resist the feminist/marxist/idiotarians of the world .... that alone will be worth far more than any diploma or degree from any of these indoctrination mills.

Read more »

How Did Our Universities and Colleges Come to This?

It seems that almost every day you hear about some liberal/progressive group behaving like complete jackasses. It happens a lot at colleges and universities.... like this !

For the most part it seems to be the students ie, the immature by right and reason of ... immaturity. More often ... it is the Profs and on occasion the administrations that are getting attention for the self indulgent and all too often wrong headed behaviour.

My observations:

It started with the dumbing down of teachers in the public system.
The requirements for high school teachers before the 1970s were fairly tough ... had to have an education diploma + at least a B(x)... university level math, english, science etc.
The only exceptions in my HS seemed to be shop teachers and the arts crowd. One of my science and tech teachers was a Peng... and a very good teacher as well as role model.

By the time my HS class had progressed to university grad level the campuses were having a tough time finding students with the grades and the proper credits to qualify for entrance.

The reason? Many of those HS teachers with real credentials went to work in the real world getting jobs that paid a lot more than the teacher salaries they were living on. At the same time the demands for new blood in the teaching talent pool were forcing administrators to accept less less qualified teachers... compounded by the fact that well educated university grads had plenty of opportunity to go into the real world instead of teaching.
Brain drain ... with the added complication in the form of meddling social experimenters who were in the early stages of f@cking up the school system through the introduction of "options" that allowed adolescents to elect whatever courses they wanted to ... which resulted in still fewer secondary school grads with any useful education.

A perfect storm that resulted in post secondary institutions being forced to lower their standards just so they could keep admissions up.

The next trend was the explosion of arts and liberal arts plus pseudo-sciences (humanities)in the universities and the downwards spiral of intelligence within faculties and student bodies.

Today ... the only serious students (a minority) are left struggling to get any value at all out of this sausage factory education system. I doubt if there is much of a chance for improvement.

The only way a serious young person should even consider university these days is if they are seeking Profession ... as in Medicine or Applied Science. Other than that ... go straight into job training.

As for those suckers who find themselves stuck with the losers that populate what remains of these institutions ... get out and save yourselves from a future of frustration and irrelevance.

OMMAG

Read This Smartass

And understand why liberal arts degrees are the best possibly way to stake out a future of using cardboard as your primary home building material.

You're too effin lazy to do real work or learn a trade? liberal arts and social sciences faculties all love to help you get where you deserve to go.


After you've wasted 3 to 5 years of your life and helped a bunch of likewise useless f@CKERS justify their own existence in academie.... you'll be ready.


OMMAG

Bargames in Cabo? OR .... Spirit Week at Churchill HS in Winnipeg?

Antigen To Stupidity

Perhaps.........

In any case the decidedly not stupid Jo Noory has an example of the terminallly stupid of academia:

Informed by feminist investigations of embodiment and bodiliness, we ask: How do we understand our bodily relationship to other animals? How do we embody animals, and how do animals embody us? How are carnal modes of incorporation, intimacy, and inhabitation kinds of contacts forged between “HumAnimals”?
What, or more precisely, who, we eat is determined by the patriarchal politics of our culture. Patriarchy is a gender system that is implicit in human/animal relationships… Manhood is constructed in our culture by access to meat eating and control of other bodies.

That is a synopsis for a humanities course ... I assume in women's studies ... from some university somewhere that is losing or has lost all of it's alumni support and endowments ... I am sure.

Truth Be Damned ....

At U of Albany ... it's cover your ass time.

Or as Freeborn John puts it, When push comes to research dollars it's like living Kafka at Albany !

For your average run of the mill Warmist acolyte these people are off the radar ... but in the so called 'Scientific Consensus' ... Wei-Chyung Wang is oft quoted and his "work" offered as evidence of conclusive warming trends in China.
Doug Keenan ... a respected mathematician ... studied the Wang data and found it questionable.
He then researched the data sources and methodology and found it ... obviously fraudulent.

He informed the U of Albany (where Wang works) of his concerns and followed up with a formal complaint.

The UofA in turn stalled and proceeded to break their own formal rules for handling such serious complaints. In the mean time ... Wang received over $7 million of research funding from federal agencies to continue his ... ahem... work.

Now it seems to me that we have a person first perpetrating a scientific fraud then obtaining federal funding by presumably fraudulent means then a state funded institution looking like they are trying to cover up the fraud.

Now Freeborn John sees this as sureal....

I wonder what would be the response of mssrs John and Keenan to our HRCs?

I also wonder how grad students under the Wang umbrella like this situation.

My question is: When someone covers and protects a fraud ..... does that not in turn make them a fraud as well? And in the USA is that not also a set of fellonies? Felonies that would not only result in jail time and big fines ... but also being permanently disqualified from receiving any further funds?



OMMAG