Texas Republicans Say Schools Shouldn't Teach "Higher Order Thinking Skills"...

click here for article

Talk about George Orwell's 1984.

Very Very Very 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."

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reply to post by krossfyter


It's not school's job to influence kids on how to think. Simple as that. Public education should be education and not indoctrination. I've grappled with the critical thinking classes for a while. On one hand, kids need problem solving skills, on the other it's really easy to get carried away and when you start confining people in the ways of thought, problems arise.

By following the link in your Huffington Post article, I was led to the Texas platform .pdf. Here's the educational plank:

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.

Apprently "Higher Order Thinking Skills" is a name for a particular educational technique. I'm a little less concerned now, having read the whole thing..

That makes me think of the movie "Idiocracy".

reply to post by Mr Headshot


You seem to be confused. Critical thinking is the opposite of "indoctrination"... it challenges people to think outside of the box and gives them the thinking skills required to challenge the information which is presented to them. That is exactly why it could make students question their "fixed beliefs" (aka the religious fairy tales they believe in). Critical thinking does not "confine" one to a certain way of thinking, it gives them the ability to look at things from alternative angles and question the truth of the angle they are presented with (eg the ability to question MSM propaganda). The reason these idiots think it's dangerous to teach this sort of critical thinking is because it will give students the ability to question the status quo... and we can't have that can we.

well damn it. What do they want? retards?

Oh a nation of dumbasses that can't compete globally is better than a nation of critical thinkers that can lift this country out of the mess it is in. I guess in order to preserve the already destroyed family unit we must make every one easier to govern, That's it. Not make them a greater people so we may be remembered as intelligent and powerful people. NO. Let history remember us as the dumbest people ever. That way when our children grow up, they can be oriented to the best speaker and follow him where ever he leads.

If he tells them to kill brown people, they will. If he tells them to murder opposing political party members, then cool beans.

Oh if they tell them to overthrow the government as well they will listen, since after all they can't think for themselves. All they need is to follow orders. That is the foundation of a free society. Right.

Screw democracy, since after all if people don't have the necessary skills to practice it or preserve it. they won't need it. Let's just usher in a dictatorship already. Kill everyone we don't like and enslave mankind so OUR special people can feel that extra bit special when they stomp all over humanity.

I mean Hitler would have been a great world leader. He would have killed every other race except his preferred race. That's not a bad thing. We have learned NOTHING from brown cultures and owe them nothing. The future is bright without them since the past would be better off without them.

Or the world would have been better off without Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Einstein, ect. We need tards. Lots of them. That will make the future more manageable. Not better but hell we don't want true progress. Just dumbasses that can one day rise up like angry apes and kill us off already.

Lets act like Mongolian war lords with illiterate and base people fighting for an animalistic and primitive culture.
Reason and logic dictate that greater stupidity brings greater survivability. Sure.

This is why I can still imagine myself making people who think like this bite the curb. To our leaders from Texas...Screw you. You are horrible human beings. Please go die.

There was a thread on this the other day www.abovetopsecret.com...

So I'll copy paste what I said over there

Most right wing people cannot tell you what socialism,communism or fascism means yet argue against it vehemently. They don't seem to want to think critically themselves.

Just go look at any Obamacare thread, you'll see a bunch of uneducated right wingers calling it socialism. Breibart says it so it must be true, right?

reply to post by charles1952


It's critical thinking

The concept of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) became a major educational agenda item with the 1956 publication of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. Within the cognitive domain of Bloom's taxonomy there are six levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Higher order thinking skills are those skills in the top three levels: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. These three skill levels are important in critical thinking.

en.wikipedia.org...

However, the final wording of this item was evidently a 'mistake' according to Republican Party of Texas Communications Director Chris Elam who said, in an interview with talkingpointsmemo.com, that the plank should not have included the phrase 'critical thinking skills' and it was not the intent of the subcommittee to indicate that the RPT was opposed to critical thinking skills". When asked to clarify the meaning of the item he said, "I think the intent is that the Republican Party is opposed to the values clarification method that serves the purpose of challenging students beliefs and undermine parental authority" [4].

Translation: The GOP want your kids to remain robots. The GOP doesn't want kids to question authority. If you start questioning religion you'll probably question their corrupt party and not vote for them in 18 years.

double

I think there is no coincidence Judith came up on my playlist just as I hit this thread.

Yea, they really got some nerve to say people shouldn't think, only to clarify that they only want you to think critical about things they want you to.

Truly pathetic, in my opinion.

My belief has typically always been as follows :

I'll accept any democrat or republican that wants to question everything and acknowledges they might be wrong.

Its a basic idea to want to not only just think you are right but search and understand whether that really is the right answer. We might find out some surprising things about many of the issues we all think we are experts on.by simply keeping open minds to the possibility that we are wrong.

Deny ignorance, deny the Texas Republican party platform.

Originally posted by krossfyter
click here for article

Talk about George Orwell's 1984.

Very Very Very 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."

Explanation: S&F!

I suppose they meen they don't want people to be able to suss out their hypocrisy like this ...

Note: All quotes are taken directly from the huffingtonpost scribd linked document.

If It’s Good Enough For Us It’s Good Enough for Them -
The Government shall not, by rule or law, exempt any of its members from the provisions of such rule or law.

Versus ...

Homosexuality-
We affirm that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society and contributes tothe breakdown of the family unit. Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths thathave been ordained by God, recognized by our country’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans.

Personal Disclosure: Can't fool me ... I am already stupid!

P.S. There are many GOOD policies in the document ... I am just showing up the OBVIOUS flaws ok!

Originally posted by Mr Headshot
reply to post by krossfyter

 

It's not school's job to influence kids on how to think. Simple as that. Public education should be education and not indoctrination. I've grappled with the critical thinking classes for a while. On one hand, kids need problem solving skills, on the other it's really easy to get carried away and when you start confining people in the ways of thought, problems arise.

The current system is conducting a form of indoctrination when it use religion as a basis for how humans came to be...

Hypocritical at the very least...

reply to post by krossfyter


Well..

I mean, I could rag on Texas and be all like " well what did you expect?", but it's not about that.

It's about the education system being so crappy, that critical thinking is now seen as a detriment to a young person's "belief systems" and that it may mess with "Parental Authority".

I mean wow.

I don't even know how to respond to this kind of nonsense. Just like that creative spelling crap they are pulling now...

It's just disgracefull.

~Tenth

I've never taught in Texas, but here in Georgia, we DO stress the importance of critical thinking. In fact, that has been the emphasis here for awhile. The state standards (Georgia Performance Standards) were rolled out to teachers around the state with the expectation that we would move away from rote memorization of facts into the higher levels of thinking...analysis, evaluation, and synthesis.

That being said, even though the state has emphasized the importance critical thinking, we still test our children at the lower levels of thinking. It's hard to standardize analysis, evaluation, and synthesis, and VERY easy to test knowledge, comprehension, and application.

As I said, I am not from Texas. But we ARE another southern state, and a very conservative one at that--and I wanted everyone to know that this is not the typical conservative agenda here in the south.

I work with elementary aged gifted children, and I teach them to think for themselves. That IS still happening in education, believe it or not.

Originally posted by Mr Headshot
reply to post by krossfyter

 

It's not school's job to influence kids on how to think. Simple as that. Public education should be education and not indoctrination. I've grappled with the critical thinking classes for a while. On one hand, kids need problem solving skills, on the other it's really easy to get carried away and when you start confining people in the ways of thought, problems arise.

WHAT?

Are you kidding? It's not the school's job to teach my child how to think? How to analyse and break down information in order to get facts so that they are informed?

That's the entire idea behind school is for them to learn about subjects and then be able to use the information learnt in order to make decisions about their lives. You know, think critically about what is presented to them.

It's no indoctrination to have students make their own decisions about the information being presented. Indoctrination is not giving them the option of learning about the other side. Only presenting ONE side of the argument and claiming it as fact.

Your idea of what should be public education is very very flawed my friend, I'm sorry to have to tell you.

~Tenth

Please add any comments to the existing thread found here...

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Thread closed.

This is pretty shameful.
It's fairly obvious why a group of people would not want the human race to advance. Religion is the number one cause of the retardation of man's evolution.
If these new teachings are found to conflict with anyones beliefs, and the theories are sound and the proven theories which are accepted science move man closer toward understanding the universe in which we live, would the problem not be with the initial belief?
New teachings are what keep us as a species advancing. Critical thought is in direct opposition to the doctrine by which those who wish to control the masses use.
This cannot solely be about bruising people who reject science in favor of Biblical studies. This is about control and politics only.


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