Academic Freedom

Education
3 Mar, 2006
14

I’m not sure why there is an uproar over this teacher in Aurora, CO. Sure he used his World Geography class to spout leftists propaganda. And yes he compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler. Okay, he explictly implied America and Israel were terrorists nation. And he seemed sympathetic toward murderous terrorists. But he has academic freedom and free speech. It’s not as if he mentioned Intelligent Design or anything – for that he would be automatically fired.

Tags: Education

Sam says:
2 March, 2006 at 10:23 PM
High school teachers don't have academic freedom Aaron. (Where did you get the Israel/America comment from that article though?) But, anyway, they don't have academic freedom. They teach from a curriculum and can be fired for deviating from that curriculum – if this idiot has actually said that Israel/America are terrorists (without any context whatsoever, which certainly might make more for a more interesting debate), well, then he deserves what the law brings down upon him.
Here's my question: do you actually dislike academic freedom? You seem to suggest that right-wing Intelligent Design adherents should have the academic freedom to discuss ID if this guy is going to have the academic freedom to discuss his political views. So which is it? Academic freedom, or not? Because if you want AF for your guys, you're going to have to tolerate what the other guys say too.
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Aaron says:
2 March, 2006 at 11:41 PM
I have listened to the audio of it. It may not have been in the article. He rants about the US killing innocent people and being no different than terrorists. He says terrorism by "Zionist movement' is why Israel was founded. He said between 1960-62 7.000 acts of terrorism were commited by the US against Cuba. He spouts all this stuff over and over, without ever sourcing it.
I honestly don't think academic freedom or freedom of speech applies here, I was simply giving the arguments of his defenders. You are correct that high school teachers should not have academic freedom beyond the curriculum.
But here's the difference between left-wing (or right-wing) rants in a World Geography class and discussion of ID in science class. One is applicable and one is not.
I don't need to hear abou the Zionist movement and how Bush is similar to HItler in order to learn about World Geography. I can learn about different theories of how life has evolved and developed on earth – be it Darwinian evolution or ID, in science class.
But right now I don't think ID can be taught in science class. That is why there is all the fuss over the curriculum. Currently ID is not acceptable to teach in science class. ID'ers are going about this the right way – trying to change the curriculum to allow for the discussion.
This teacher just used his bully pulpit as a high school teacher to cram <s>leftists</s> communist propaganda down 10th graders without any outside discussion of whether he had the right to do that.
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Sam says:
3 March, 2006 at 1:23 AM
Aaron,
Not to wade into this for the millionth time, but ID is not science. It is an idea that allegedly explains our development, creation, whatever. But there is no SCIENCE to back up ID. Discussion of evolution's weaknesses strike me as not being problematic. But pressing creationist arguments onto children as "science" seems regressive.
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Sam says:
3 March, 2006 at 1:24 AM
Incidentally, that teacher should be fired. The Jews only control the media and the justice system…everybody knows that.
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danielg says:
3 March, 2006 at 3:10 AM
He's a teacher, he's supposed to be teaching, not giving his leftist anti-american rants. I saw the kid who recorded him last night, interviewed on Larry King. Larry asked why no one stood up to him to argue. The kid said the guy is intimidating.
An teacher intimidating the class with an angry rant? That's not teaching, that's indoctrination. The guy was a classic liberal alarmist crazy person blowing off steam. He should be reprimanded, retaught what it means to be a teacher, and put back to work.
Regarding ID, for now, I have no problem teaching ID as part of a philosophy of science. I think we need to encourage open dialogue and skepticism in science, esp. when it comes to our overarching world views and assumptions, like those in evolution. Dialogue is NOT what Mr. Loco geography teacher was doing.
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danielg says:
3 March, 2006 at 5:21 AM
I think that the public school (which pays the teacher's salary) is the wrong forum for this style of criticism.
School should be a place of honest critical analysis, but not the kind of extremist rhetoric displayed here.
And the founding prinicples of this country should be taught and lauded in schools, so that children know what our ideals are. History class can also teach them how we have breached those ideals and not lived up to them, but our ongoing struggle and the success of our ideals should also be emphasized. There's a difference between indoctrination and education, and this teacher clearly errs on the indoctrination side, and is a very poor excuse for education.
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danielg says:
3 March, 2006 at 5:22 AM
And BTW, what the heck does his diatribe have to do with his subject matter, geography?
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Sam says:
3 March, 2006 at 5:40 AM
Grumble grumble grumble…I'm not with Seeker here, but FCL, come on. America has a certain amount of greatness. We've shamed ourselves on numerous occaisons (slavery, women voting, separate but equal, sodomy laws, illegal gay marriage) but that doesn't change America's greatness, particularly in comparrison to the rest of the world. America has its problems and its horrible history, but acting as if America has never accomplished anything is foolish and stupid.
But FCL, you do have a point. The issue here is the indoctrination itself, not the use of indoctrination. It is quite obvious that there are numerous Christians who believe that all American school children should be indoctrinated with Christian nonsense, which will deliver them to salvation. This is just as stupid as leftish indoctrination. In fact, indoctrination of any sort is generally wrong. Our children ought to be learning about critical thought, not the unquestioned rightness of whatever.
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danielg says:
3 March, 2006 at 5:55 AM
Actually, they need to learn more than just critical thought. In fact, BEFORE they learn critical thought, they need to do simple memorization, which is indoctrination.
For example, the typical three-tiered method for teaching language to children involves vocabulary (memorization), grammar (how), and rhetoric (argument). Most disciplines are taught in this manner. The first step is to memorize the basics, taking them on faith. There is little critical analysis at that point.
If we apply this to history, we might do it a little differently, but the same principles apply. Before you ever teach critical analysis, you have to select the foundational events and principles that you want to teach. This is a type of indoctrination, and there is no value neutral way to do this. Some approaches may be very one-sided, and aiming to be value neutral is not what I think education is about. It's about placing value on some things (like freedom), while devaluing others (tyranny), and THEN helping children to think critically about both ideas later on.
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FCL says:
3 March, 2006 at 6:09 AM
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FCL says:
3 March, 2006 at 2:09 PM
I never said America did not contain greatness. The very ideas she was founded upon make America exceptional compared with any other nation. That higher standard is what makes America’s failings all the more painful. Samuel Huntington years ago put it best. To paraphrase: America is not a lie she is a disappointment, but she is only a disappointment because she is also a hope.
All I said was that America is a leading practitioner of state-sponsored terrorism. That point stands; not as a condemnation of what America could and should be but of what she often, but not always, is compared with her ideals. It is this truth that all too many do not want to admit. It is this truth that public education glosses over in its drive for historical and mythological conformity. If nothing else this geography teacher has given the nation a glimpse of what Paul Harvey would call “the rest of the story”
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danielg says:
3 March, 2006 at 6:57 AM
I don't think this teacher is presenting the rest of the story in any kind of academic, or respectable manner. And while some might consider us a disappointment, I consider us an inspiration and a hope, not compared to our performance, but by comparing our imperfet performance to the rest of the world. I'd say the rest of the world is a disappointment ;)
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FCL says:
3 March, 2006 at 12:18 PM
God have mercy on us if the rest of the world is our standard of behavior!
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danielg says:
6 March, 2006 at 6:05 AM
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