Ask Dr. Helen: How can I keep my students from becoming little Marxists?
My PJM column is up:
Take a look at the column and see if you have any advice for teacher Scott on how to help his students become more politically tolerant.
It's not easy to keep young minds open to a variety of political views these days.
Take a look at the column and see if you have any advice for teacher Scott on how to help his students become more politically tolerant.
Labels: PJM column
posted by Helen at 4:43 AM
25 Comments:
One thought would be to teach American history, starting with the Revolution. I read recently that some pubic school systems are proposing to drop all of our hostory prior to the War of 1861 from the classroom, purportedly to save money. Nice! :-p
Ask the students what it was that caused America to emerge from all the nations of the world to become such an abundant society?
hostory, history; the keyboard is a mystery!
What subject does he teach?
When I taught incoming freshmen at college, I would take their first papers, mark every single mistake and make transparencies of every paper, then I would go over each paper on the overhead in front of the entire class (with names blacked out, of course). Prior to this exercise I would write on the blackboard: "You're trying to be different like everybody else. Why don't you be different like nobody else? Hope and Fear are Vision."
I certainly agree with Dr. Helen that critical thinking skills are what is sorely lacking in contemporary educational curricula. Most of what is taught is really group think, which I abhor. I always tried to encourage my students to be independent, original thinkers, and I never graded them on their opinions, only on their grammar, logic and rhetoric.
By the way, J. K. Rowling studied at the same shool at Oxford as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Like the latter two, her writing is enfused with Christian symbolism. There are libertarian strains in her work, but personally I don't believe those can exist outside of the Judeo-Christian framework. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights also owe their existence to that framework.
It is the mindless abandonment of the Western tradition that is plaguing education, and society as a whole, today.
Little Sally says "Bush caused 9/11″, dissect the crap out of it and show her she's been lied to. Much like "fire can't melt steel", it's not all that hard to do. Point out the hypocrisy of those spouting nonsense.
Any media lie from either side.
GawainsGhost --
Sure it can.
He should teach his students to love poetry.
Marxism will treat a man as a means to an end and as an "economic unit," which ultimately dehumanizes him. Instilling a love for something good for its own sake like poetry, worship of the Almighty, or even philosophy, will help slow or stop an infection by ideology.
Usually, people who think some form of collectivist society is best also think that corporations are inherently greedy, evil, etc., organizations. If you come across someone who thinks these things, try to get that person to consider the fact that the human beings whom he doesn't trust to run corporations are the same human beings whom he wishes to give the combined economic and governmental power of a collectivist society. If he thinks they do bad things when in control of business enterprises, what does he think would happen if they controlled both government and business? If you can get them to think about it, they might begin to grasp the benefits of private enterprise in a capitalistic, market-based economy and of a government of limited power.
I just found your blog. What a great treasure. Thank you very much. I found you by searching for Dr. Richard Carlson and found a 2006 posting. Your whole blog looks good. :)
questionsaboutfaithetc,
Welcome, glad you found it. I am/was a big fan of Richard Carlson, he seemed like a very kind and caring man.
One could start by claiming that the only way to improve society is to improve our own hearts and minds rather than trying to make other people good like Marxists do.
If the "tolerant" and "open minded" Left manages to get the so-called Fairness Doctrine passed in regards to talk radio, perhaps we should demand it be applied to education as well.
Jacob,
I do not think poetry is the key. Chinese culture and language are based in poetry, for one example. (and, from what I have seen, Russia was based in the literary and recently scientific, also seemingly no go's, imho).
About the article,
I fought that type of indoctrination all through schooling, to include what of college I have taken. My discomfort with what was being taught came about from reading history on my own. But I do not even think that matters, as what is read can be "adjusted" in a simple mind.
Personally, I think the conservative (actually revolutionary) notions which created this nation are pretty much dead. Education from top to bottom is poison, and I do not believe there is a fix. I, personally, just expect another dark age of socialism/communism. It would take a nearly literal revolt, starting from inside the government and against itself, to deviate from that. Barring that, expect world governance in the form of heavy socialism or worse.
Not to be down in the mouth or anything. Christians and free men have figured out how to survive these times in the past, if harshly. Nero is not new, Stalin was not the first, this too shall pass.
the Judeo-Christian framework. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights also owe their existence to that framework.
LMFAO!!! Where did YOU study history - at Free Republic?
Mr. Steve,
If you have a problem with Mr. Gawain's assertion, please provide a coherent argument. We should explore these ideas, not arbitrarily dismiss any of them.
---
Anyways, I believe that we have hit upon one skill that we need in order to liberate the minds of this generation. That's to teach them critical thinking skills(logic). However, in order for those skills to ever be of use, we need to instill a love a learning and a love of the truth. The question is...how best to accomplish this goal? I'll admit, I'm not sure. Most of you are saying we should teach "X" subject but I feel that there is something missing. Maybe it'll come to me...
the only way to improve society is to improve our own hearts and minds
Not just a claim but a fact. I read somewhere that if you want to change the world, change yourself, i.e. the only person you are guaranteed to be able to change is yourself.
Well, if the idea that inalienable rights come not from government but from God exists outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition--"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and render unto God that which is God's"--I'd like to see evidence, of any kind from any other tradition, as to where it exists.
Ignorance of history is one thing. Ignoring of facts quite another.
What I find absent in much of education is any discussion of practical application of the subject matter being taught. It seems to be okay for vocational courses to consider the "real world" out there, but college prep and theory courses on the college level seem to smack of a purist intellectualism that is a perfect breeding ground for the idealism of social engineering.
Some of the best teachers I have known have worked in business before teaching, and can't help but bring the lessons of enterprise to the classroom.
Some years ago I accepted a temporary job teaching gifted art in a public school system. My background is all in fine arts, not education. I concentrated on giving the students a strong classical background in the fundamentals of drawing and painting, but at the same time I used every opportunity to inject some thought about practical application. A typical illustration project might involve designing the theme, menu, decor, and advertising for a restaurant the student would like to own.
I felt like a complete subversive but nobody ever caught on as long as my paperwork was neat. I stayed in the temporary job for 8 years and had a blast.
We might start by not deleting comments that you do not agree with.
I personally think the trash can is the perfect tool, Nathan. It is used far too rarely. Not all thoughts are equal. Dump the wrong ones, like socialism, egalitarianism, what passes for "civil rights", and the rest of the just plain stupid thoughts.
Teachers used to just say, "No, that is wrong." They might have even said something was stupid. Now, they often are stupid and wrong. They deleted stupidity, now they accept it, see?
I hate it when I can correct an English teacher's grammar, pronunciation, or spelling, even if she only teaches younger children. Then again, maybe she is supposed to be more correct still. Either way, it is irritating to encounter. I don't like English, I do not study English, which makes the thing even worse. Ah, but she does believe in gay marriage, that everyone is equal, and that Obama is the way. Stupid.
Delete.
DADvocate said...
the only way to improve society is to improve our own hearts and minds
Not just a claim but a fact. I read somewhere that if you want to change the world, change yourself, i.e. the only person you are guaranteed to be able to change is yourself.
8:27 AM, December 16, 2008
All well and good self-improvement, but what if everyone around you is a Marxist fool?
@ Alex said... All well and good self-improvement, but what if everyone around you is a Marxist fool?
If you don't come around, they will leverage every power they can to make you come around. They're they tolerant ones, ya know.
@Trust said... If you don't come around, they will leverage every power they can to make you come around. They're they tolerant ones, ya know.
6:40 PM, December 17, 2008
In the end, I learned to love big brother.
My copy of the Propaganda game dates from when I first used it as a pre-teen back in the 1960s. I still refer to it at times.
I do hope that the language and examples have been updated, although I didn't see any "second edition" notices or such on the website. Along that line, a set of lesson plans and associated "powerpoint" slides would be useful, so that the entire set can be covered in a definite amount of class time (say, one week). Associated short homework assignments would also help. If the school year were to begin thusly, then a foundation for future reference would have been laid.
In any event, I strongly recommend it.
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