Texas Republicans want to eliminate critical thinking

Aroddo · Jun 28, 2012

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/texas-republican-party-2012-platform-education_n_1632097.html

Early this month, Texas Republican delegates met in Fort Worth to approve their 2012 platform, notable parts of which take aim at the state's education system.

In the section titled "Education Our Children," the document states that "corporal punishment is effective" and recommends teachers be given "more authority" to deal with disciplinary problems.

Additionally, the document states the party opposes mandatory pre-school and kindergarten, saying parents are "best suited to train their children in their early development."

The position causing the most controversy, however, is the statement that they oppose the teaching of "higher order thinking skills" -- a curriculum which strives to encourage critical thinking -- arguing that it might challenge "student's fixed beliefs" and undermine "parental authority."

The party also notes its encouragement of legislation that prevents "non-citizens unlawfully present in the United States" from enrolling in public schools, a stance that federal officials have previously deemed against the law.

In March, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told Bloomberg he felt "very, very baldy" for Texas students.

"Texas may have the lowest high school graduation rate in the country," Duncan said, according to Bloomberg.

The following weekend, former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs gave his own criticism of the state's education system.

"I think when it comes to someone like Rick Perry, [voters are] going to wonder why a place like Texas has one of the worst education systems," Gibbs said on "Meet the Press."

In the history of mankind only the most repressive regimes took active measures to keep their population dumb and uneducated ... and the GOP is trying to achieve the same results without the time-honored measure of killing everyone who is reading the wrong books.

[edit]
Added a video comment from the progressive internet news show TYT.

Link to video.

For balance I'd like to see the conservative answer defending the intentional dumbing down of children.

Yeekim · Jun 28, 2012

United States of America: making politicians of other countries seem good in comparison since 1776.

rugbyLEAGUEfan · Jun 28, 2012

I forsee a generation of lone star students

Aroddo · Jun 28, 2012

I just noticed in the quote: 'In the section titled "Education Our Children" [...] '
The linked document has the section written in correct english....

... it has already begun ...

Terxpahseyton · Jun 28, 2012

So, freedom is about the freedom to subdue yourself to common paradigms? Texas I weep for you

LucyDuke · Jun 28, 2012

Aroddo said:
"Texas may have the lowest high school graduation rate in the country," Duncan said, according to Bloomberg.

Click to expand...

By the sound of it, that might not be such a bad thing.

Don't they already not even teach biology?

That .pdf could be comedy if it weren't real. :sad:

The position causing the most controversy, however, is the statement that they oppose the teaching of "higher order thinking skills" -- a curriculum which strives to encourage critical thinking -- arguing that it might challenge "student's fixed beliefs" and undermine "parental authority."

Cause, you know, you wouldn't want to interfere with "fixed beliefs" that can't stand up to critical thinking. Those are the really... good... beliefs that need to be protected. Because I said so.

Cutlass · Jun 28, 2012

In Texas you can be free, but only so long as you do exactly what you are told to do every moment of your life.

Aroddo · Jun 28, 2012

Cutlass said:
In Texas you can be free, but only so long as you do exactly what you are told to do every moment of your life.

In Texas you can be free, but only as long as you can't spell it.

Ziggy Stardust · Jun 28, 2012

The word "fixed" should never be followed by the word "beliefs" except as an example when talking about words which should not follow each other, or when preceded by "not so" or "hardly" or "you know what I find silly?" or ...

I haven't though this through. I'll come in again.

Quackers · Jun 28, 2012

This is the bit from the actual report:

Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.

Leoreth · Jun 28, 2012

The best thing about this is that their fear that critical thinking might undermine "fixed beliefs" basically admits that said beliefs are wrong.

Crezth · Jun 28, 2012

Leoreth said:
The best thing about this is that their fear that critical thinking might undermine "fixed beliefs" basically admits that said beliefs are wrong.

Nah, doublethink is very helpful for such things.

Terxpahseyton · Jun 28, 2012

Well rationally wrong. But rationality seems to be the work of the devil. Remember those Christians who argue that you have to be religious to be moral? Same kind of reasoning here.

Farm Boy · Jun 28, 2012

Don't paint me with the same "Christian" brush as these guys. Oh well, maybe I should own up to them. When you worship a god of all things you have to include the violently stupid along with everything else.

I still thought we got the whole "rationality is the work of the devil" thing out of the way around the time of Galileo.

I'm just going to throw my hands up in the air and get another mug of coffee.

Ziggy Stardust · Jun 28, 2012

Farm Boy said:
I'm just going to throw my hands up in the air and get another mug of coffee.

Make sure you do that in that order.

Farm Boy · Jun 28, 2012

You take such good care of me Ziggy. :love:

Terxpahseyton · Jun 28, 2012

@Farm Boy
I just meant to highlight the core reasoning I see here. Which is that to be "good" one needs to adhere dogmatic believes, whereas rationality is void of values as such and just leads to question everything. That is in itself not even that unreasonable. But certain movements seems to put this to an extreme, where, to speak purely figuratively, rationality is the devil.
I by no means mean to say that this is something embraced by all Christians. But I think it is something that in its existence benefits from a religious background. However, any ideology can yield it.

Farm Boy · Jun 28, 2012

True enough. One wouldn't be in error to assume that "super-christians" sometimes have a predisposition to this sort of nonsense though. Cognitive dissonance is unpleasant and you get a snoutfull of it from time to time when you find yourself of it trying to have a reasoned discussion and it becomes apparent that some of your cohorts are idiots. Perhaps this builds wisdom over time. I can hope.

Leoreth · Jun 28, 2012

My impression is more that they think rationality just means you question everything and then arrive at random results.

kramerfan86 · Jun 28, 2012

Yea the state that brought us Rick Perry and W clearly needs to get dumber. What a freaking joke, oh how horrible, they might think about their beliefs and change them

Texas Republicans want to eliminate critical thinking

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Nobody

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The Man Who Wasn't There.

Emperor

Absolutely Sane

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Bofurin

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