In addition to writing for K12Academics, I'm also a subscriber to the list in order to see the ideas that others have about education. Recently, there has been an extended debate about Intelligent Design taking place, and since there were such widely varying opinions out there, I thought it might make a good topic for this month's article. Why has a tradition of secularism been established in the public school system and why is that tradition being challenged so adamantly as of late?
As a history teacher, I find myself always looking into the past to find guidance for problems of the present and the history of the school system shows that there are two schools of thought: behavioralism and constructivism. The behavioralists, like B.F. Skinner, advocated a teacher-centered and psychological approach that treated students as receivers of stimuli and would act accordingly to 'proper' methods. The constructivists took the opposite approach and focused on a student-centered education where drawing out thinking on the part of the student should be encouraged. Perhaps one of the more well known advocates to this philosophy would be John Dewey. During his time in Chicago at the experimental school, Dewey came up with several of the ideas behind a progressive student centered education with strong emphasis on democratic ideals (a well-informed, critically thinking citizen). However, once Dewey moved on from Chicago, most of his ideas were ignored or picked up by those claiming to be carrying on, but even Dewey spent most of his life disagreeing with them. With constructivism on the ropes, the other major philosophy, behavioralism took over as the leading theory for public education. In the period of 1930-1960, we see this trend in full swing; the student is to be orderly and studious, taking everything the instructor has to say as written in stone.
In the 1960s, with the counter-culture gaining ground, the educational pendulum started to swing in the opposite direction. Open-air classrooms and demonstrations were considered commonplace, even with some consternation on the part of administrators/instructors that still held to the behavioralist ideas of order and control. Many of these tendencies would be observable throughout the 1970s.
The pendulum continues to swing: behavioral in the 80s, constructivist in the 90s, and swinging back to behaviorism in our current decade. However, some new issues have entered the mix and it is starting to break that pedagogical pendulum.
Typically, government in America has always been about moderation and compromise. The Constitution designed in such a way as to balance out the country attitude so that no single group would be able to turn the country towards totalitarian/monarchial control. In addition to that, the Bill of Rights was enacted to make sure that majority rule would never interfere with minority rights. The recent political culture is trying to find a loophole in that system and it could very well succeed in destroying the protections that every American considers an inalienable right.
The recent Congress has shown an aptitude for parading ignorance around as patriotism in the face of problems much larger than the simplistic decrees made in the name of furthering education. For those who might not be reading on the story of the new 'Constitution Day', the Congress has seen fit to have all schools receiving federal funding to stop everything and teach students about the Constitution. This is absurd to those that realize the problem isn't rooted in the covering of the topic, but in the administration's continued lack of seriousness about education via NCLB; social studies is not considered a serious topic and therefore it is being pushed aside for the perceived need to bolster math, science, and reading. Granted, these are observations based upon state educational policy because of the signing NCLB, so each state is limited in the resources it can place in individual areas, but because of that limitation, Congress sees a serious gap in the curriculum (which they have caused) and tries an unfunded band-aid. The ironic part is that if Congress understood the spirit and the letter of the Constitution, they should leave education to the states, as it is not a listed power of the federal government. Is this really the group that should be deciding educational policy, people who have shown they lack any sort of understanding about the process?
Following in line with the Constitution, shouldn't honest Americans be looking toward our governmental origins - with which the founding fathers placed their hopes and dreams for a country based upon freedom to continue that tradition? Why are parents looking to the government to teach values (religious/ethical/etc) when they have the right to do it themselves? Why are issues like intelligent design coming up in legislatures and courts?
To be honest, the only answer I have come up with that makes any sense is that parents don't know how to be parents anymore. Sure, they can clothe, feed, and house their children.maybe even install a bit of discipline, but I wonder about actual parenting. I think parents are so caught up in the hectic chores of life, that this aspect goes overlooked. In response, there is a knee-jerk action that there isn't enough moral education on the part of the schools, and then proceed to get into an argument over what the 'right' morals are. All the while forgetting that schools are not the right forum in the first place. If people are going to clamor about upholding their traditions then the effort should start at home, not be passed on to a government agency. I am all for keeping schools secular, it ensures that schools are kept away from as many special interest groups (religious, social, and political) as possible.
