Schools 'avoid Holocaust lessons' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6517359.stm The Holocaust will be protected in the new curriculum Some schools avoid teaching the Holocaust and other controversial history subjects as they do not want to cause offence, research has claimed. Teachers fear meeting anti-Semitic sentiment, particularly from Muslim pupils, the government-funded study by the Historical Association said. It also said the way the slave trade was taught could leave both white and black children feeling alienated. Ministers in England had asked for guidance on teaching emotive subjects. Staff may wish to avoid causing offence or appearing insensitive to individuals or groups in their classes Historical Association report When he commissioned the report last year, schools minister Lord Adonis said the national curriculum encouraged teachers to choose content "likely to resonate in their multicultural classrooms" - but some found it difficult to do that. The Historical Association report claimed: "Teachers and schools avoid emotive and controversial history for a variety of reasons, some of which are well-intentioned. "Staff may wish to avoid causing offence or appearing insensitive to individuals or groups in their classes. "In particular settings, teachers of history are unwilling to challenge highly contentious or charged versions of history in which pupils are steeped at home, in their community or in a place of worship." The report gave the example of a history department in a northern city which decided not to teach the Holocaust as a topic for GCSE coursework. 'Worrying picture' It cited another school which taught the Holocaust, but then avoided teaching the Crusades because "balanced treatment" of the topic would have challenged what some local mosques were teaching. Emotive issues such as the slave trade can be taught too blandly, portraying Afro-Caribbeans as victims and isolating black children, the report said. But when teachers downplay the role of the white authorities in abolishing the slave trade, white children can become alienated. The report called for resources, which were scarce at present, to be made available to teach controversial and emotional history subjects. Initial teacher training should include more attention on how to teach these subjects and a better research base should be made available to teachers, it said. Alan Johnson made clear in January there are certain subjects which will be protected in the new curriculum and that includes the Holocaust DfES spokesman And further research into the issue, particularly the attitudes of different groups, families and individuals' to difficult subjects, needed to be carried out. A government review of citizenship education recommended that all pupils should learn about issues such as slavery and the legacy of the British Empire. A Department of Education and Skills spokesman said there was scope for schools to make their own decision on what to teach within the national curriculum But he added: "Teaching of the Holocaust is already compulsory in schools at KS3. It will remain so in the new KS3 curriculum from September 2008. "As Alan Johnson made clear in January there are certain subjects which will be protected in the new curriculum and that includes the Holocaust." The department and Understanding Slavery have launched a citizenship resource and a national competition, debate and showcase for Key Stage 3 students to explore the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. A Commission for Racial Equality spokesman said the Historical Association report painted a "worrying picture". "The teaching of history provides the perfect forum for stimulating the development of shared values that are essential if everyone is to contribute and play a full part in an integrated British society." It was essential that teachers were supported in developing the confidence and expertise to discuss all historical periods and events in a balanced and sensitive way, the spokesman said.
I don't think it should be a "Crime" not to teach something in particular. It could be school mandated to teach it but making lack of action in the case of school subject matter a crime? Now that's just nuts.
It seems to me that the real lesson here is "Don't send your kids to public schools." It's moronic to trust the government with something as important as your children's education.
Actually what would help is if the government mandated the separation of "Liberal and State" instead of "Church and State"... That would probably solve everything and put about 95% of the teaching staff out of a job.
But think about all of the unemployed illegal immigrants who would then have to complete with those clueless beauratrons for jobs picking lettuce, mowing grass, and screwing up your orders at Taco Bell...
I second that This all is just the beginning of an upcoming nightmare. Most don't realize how they are already influenced by the mujahedeen jihadist tactics. Many just don't care and think it goes away by itself and push the snooze button.
Ohh... so that's how he got the nick "pizzaboy"... Actually, the thought of gworld touching my food makes me never want to eat out again.
*clears throat* It is at this point that I would like to point out that not all of the teachers in the public education system are mindless bureaucrats, or hopeless, or with weak spines. Some of them are. There is also some poor administration. But I know from personal experience that there are also many good and caring teachers in the system. One big thing that would help improve public schooling is if we gave some of the authority back to teachers, stopped balking any time a parent demanded that their child be given a better grade because of their 'ego' and if parents got involved with their children and their education, rather than treating school as a free day care and throwing a hissy fit at teachers for not giving their precious children high enough grades.
An excerpt from CNNH Text Glenn: After preaching radical reform and the birth of a new era, the democratically controlled congress is, as I see it, but I'm a conservative, done nothing but bush bash and I place the blame squarely on the leaders of the leader, the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi. Nancy, quite honestly, and I think I speak for most of America, we're bored with the bush bash thing. It's one thing to be ineffective here at home, but then again it's another to take your show on the road like Nancy is now doing on her trip to Syria, trying to broker a new peace talk between Syrian president Assad and the leaders of Israel. Nancy, in case you have forgotten, Syria declared a rogue terrorist state, a little honor they have held since 1979, maybe you should start reading the paper and maybe you would have seen the little story about how the ultraconservative United Nations implicated Syria in the assassination of Lebanon's president. Now here's a clip of what Nancy thinks she's doing over there. "Of course, the role of Syria and Iraq, the role of Syria of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, the role of Syria and so many respects that we think there could be a vast improvement so, therefore, we think it's a good idea to establish the facts to hopefully build some confidence between us. We have no illusions, but we have great hope." Glenn: Yeah. President Bush sees her mission just a little differently. Roll this out. "A photo opportunity and/or meetings with president Assad lead the Assad government to believe they are part of the mainstream of the international community when in fact they are a state sponsor of terror." Glenn: Okay. Is she a peace-maker, is she a trouble-maker? Brigitte Gabriel, the president of American Congress for Truth, author of "BECAUSE THEY HATE" A Survivors of Islamic Terror Warns America. See -- I'm a conservative who is not going to come out and say the democrats hate America because I don't think they do. How could she be this wrong? How do you possibly see Assad as anything as somebody who harbors terrorists? Brigitte: Well, let's just say, Glenn, she's misguided. I'm sure she's a patriotic American and loves this country but she sees things differently than you and I do. She does not understand the Middle East and has no concept. If she did, she would not be parading down the streets of Damascus in a hijab. Glenn: What is she missing? What do you know that she doesn't know? Brigitte: She needs to realize Syria has no interest in negotiating with the United States. Syria is using Nancy Pelosi as a puppet and a photo-op to give Syria credibility on the world stage, so Syria is not looked at as a dictatorship or as an axis of evil or as a terror-harboring state but as a state that the Speaker of the House of the United States goes and visit and gives them credibility and say, you know, we agree with you. We want to negotiate with you. We do not think our president is right in judging you, and, therefore, we're going above our president to give you credibility and to show you and the world that we are representing the American government and we think that you are okay. That is wrong. Glenn: All right. Brigitte, I know there are a ton of people in America who say I'm so sick of the Middle East. They can just open up and fall into a sinkhole because they have been fighting for 2,500 years, if not longer. Just shut up already. Why don't you just let them fight it out themselves. How do you respond to that? Brigitte: You know what, if we knew they can fight it on themselves and just let the world forget about them, we would. We would gladly let them fight it out themselves, sadly, Glenn, we have Israel as the only democratic country in the Middle East, the only civilized nation in the Middle East that is like the United States that is in the middle of a sea of hatred and venom that the Arabs are spewing to wipe her off the map. We also have a problem with the Middle East because now we are dependent on their oil. They are affecting us. They are imigrating to our country. They are infiltrating our country. They are studying in our universities. The world has become very small, and we can no longer ignore the fact that our enemies have repeatedly stated that had they want to destroy the great Satan, America. Let's not forget that Iran made that statement back in 1979. Glenn: Yeah. Brigitte: They have not wavered. We are the bull's eye. Israel is only the little Satan. Glenn: It's amazing to me that this really has been a week of propaganda. Brigitte: It is. Glenn: It's -- they are rolling 300s, strike after strike this week. You have Nancy Pelosi, Tony Blair folding, Ahmadinejad. What is the view of the west this week in the Middle East? Brigitte: The view of the West in the Middle East this week is that we are cowards, that we are weak. We no longer have men with courage to fight and stand up for their principles. The Arab leaders have been giving that message to their population year after year after year. This has started systematically for 20 years. However, this week we have proven to the Arab world, to the Arabic dictators who show to their people using their television and media, that, look, the West is cowhering one after the other. Britain is no longer the power it used to be. America is no longer the power it used to be. The West is divided. Glenn: You've got it. Thank you very much. Brigitte: Thank you. Brigitte Gabriel radio schedule for 4-5-07 7:30 AM WVOX-AM, Good Morning Westchester, NY 7:50 AM WILS-AM, Chris Holman Show, Lansing, MI 9:00 AM WSBA-AM, York's Morning News, York, PA 11:00 AM G. Gordon Liddy, Radio America, Nationally Syndicated 3:00 PM WCHS-AM, "58 Live in the Afternoon", Charleston, WV 4:00 PM Lee and Terry Show, Home Radio Network, KnoxvilleTN 4:30 PM Paul Edwards, Host, WLQV SALEM, DETROIT 8:00 PM Larry Elder show, ABC radio, CA
Judging by the number of girls that schools let out of Math because "They're girls, and it's to hard" I'd say... possibly. But then, look at where that puts those girls down the line as well.
Anyone matching that description will quickly realize that they can do much better for humanity in the private sector. They will realize that their talents are desired in the public sector and that their energies are being wasted in their current positions. They will leave to find jobs where they are appreciated and rewarded and where they can make a difference.
They can and do make a difference in public schools. And not every area has a lot of private schools.
*RaE* Actually, I'm specifically talking about my area, and my mother, and the area she grew up in and her mother. Fine teachers in areas that don't really have private schools. And I personally intend to eventually be a professor of mathematics or engineering. I've got a double major, and am not sure what area I am going to pursue for my masters and doctorate at the moment. So I do have a fair amount of familiarity with the school systems. I have also encountered a fair share of bad teachers both in the public and private sectors of education.