Challenges in American Classrooms & Curriculum

The NYTimes in-depth, Sunday magazine look Building a Better Teacher is a time investment, but probably one we should be making. A quick review of the article indicates that most stones about teachers and effective teaching methodology are unturned.

Another popular NYTimes article is Darwin Foes Add Warming to Targets. In several conservative states have moved to bundle issues like evolution, the origins of life, global warming and human cloning, mandating that educators share ‘critical thinking’ on all those subjects.

The strength of the article is that it lists many conservative thnik tanks promoting the alternative views: that humans didn’t evolve from simpler species but landed in the garden of eden fully formed.

While we object to bundling, it’s a clever strategy in the court system. We don’t put climate science — where there are many legitimate questions about what exactly is the science — with scientific discoveries of evolution. Even the Vatican is launching a conference in March, embracing Darwinian theory.

Our greatest commitment is to understanding alternative ideas. There is no dialogue when a society doesn’t have any understanding of the opposing arguments. Darwin Foes Add Warming to Targets is an important update to educational curriculum initiatives in America.