In recent years, many
Americans have adopted the idea that public education is neutral ground. Such a
mentality has undoubtedly sprung from the fact that the public school is the
agent of the government, an entity which strives to keep itself clear from sectarian,
political, or other ideological viewpoints.
But in recent years, the
falsity of this idea has been coming to light. A prime example of this is
the Edina public schools, where teachers have been
giving lessons driven through the lens of race, class, gender, and other social
justice norms.
As reports indicate, such news has not gone
over very well with parents, many of whom express shock and disappointment that
their children are being indoctrinated rather than educated.
But these parents really shouldn’t be surprised, for such an
approach to education has been touted by progressives since at least the 1930s,
if not sooner.
A paper written by
George Counts in 1932 is a prime example of this fact. Counts, an educator who
eventually went on to lead the American Federation of Teachers, was so bold to
ask if the education system dared to build a new social order. He wrote:
“If Progressive Education is
to be genuinely progressive, it must emancipate itself from the influence of
this class, face squarely and courageously every social issue, come to grips
with life in all of its stark reality, establish an organic relation with the
community, develop a realistic and comprehensive theory of welfare, fashion a
compelling and challenging vision of human destiny, and become less
frightened than it is today at the bogies of imposition and indoctrination.”
Counts went on to say that education in the 1930s was operating
under several fallacies, one of which was the concept of valueless, or
non-biased instruction:
“There is the fallacy that
the school should be impartial in its emphases, that no bias should be given
instruction. … My thesis is that complete impartiality is
utterly impossible, that the school must shape attitudes, develop tastes, and
even impose ideas.”
In order to accomplish this purpose, Counts recognized how
necessary it was to line up biased tools to aid in the indoctrination process:
“This means that some
selection must be made of teachers, curricula, architecture, methods of
teaching. And in the making of the selection the dice must always be weighted
in favor of this or that. Here is a fundamental truth that cannot be brushed
aside as irrelevant or unimportant; it constitutes the very essence of the
matter under discussion. … I am sure, however, that this means stacking the
cards in favor of the particular systems of value which we may happen to
possess. … I would merely contend that as educators we must make many choices
involving the development of attitudes in boys and girls and that we should not
be afraid to acknowledge the faith that is in us or mayhap the forces that
compel us.”
In essence, Counts
understood that education is primarily values-based. Those values can be
traditional, they can be progressive, or they can be something else, but
inevitably, they will be whatever those at the head of the class or the
administrator’s office or the school board intend them to be.
Given that this principle
was recognized almost a century ago, does it not seem a bit naïve on the part
of parents and concerned citizens to say that they had no idea that such
indoctrination is occurring in the schools?
The larger question, however, concerns what we do with this
knowledge. Is it time we allow parents to choose their child’s education based
upon the value system that they want instilled in their child?
http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/indoctrination-has-always-been-goal-progressive-education
