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Posted on 04/04/2006 4:20:38 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
S.C. House panel votes for emphasis on ‘critical thinking and analysis’
Textbooks emerged Monday as the new battle front in the evolution debate.
In a 3-to-2 vote, a House education subcommittee authorized the addition of language to a Senate bill that directs the state Board of Education to approve only textbooks that “emphasize critical thinking and analysis in each academic content.”
The amended bill is Rep. Bob Walker’s latest effort to break a stalemate that has stalled the approval of a single page of revisions to biology standards that guide high school teachers on how to address the subject of evolution and diversity of life.
Most science educators reject attempts to inject the phrase “critical thinking” into lessons about evolution because they insist it invites religious discussions — specifically about creation — that are difficult to prove.
“This has nothing to do with intelligent design or creationism,” Walker said. “It’s a way to help young people to look at things more realistically.”
Pierce McNair, the state Department of Education’s chief lobbyist, said Walker’s proposal “may be confusing to some teachers and districts.”
“Is he saying there should be critical analysis of all subjects?” McNair asked. “How can you critically analyze German, or algebra, or keyboarding, for that matter? The language of the bill may not fit the reality of the subject being taught.”
All textbooks the state’s 1,100 schools use should emphasize lessons that challenge students and teachers to look at topics from several viewpoints, Walker said.
“We think it ought to be across-the-board,” the Spartanburg Republican said.
The amended Senate bill goes to the full House education committee, where scrutiny is likely.
If approved by the House, members of both chambers would meet to reconcile the versions before sending the reconciled bill to the governor.
Rep. Ken Clark, R-Lexington, joined Rep. Mike Anthony, D-Union, in voting against the amended language Monday.
Clark opposed it because he wanted more time to think through its broader implications.
“‘Critically analyze’ — what does that mean?” Clark asked. “By changing the (current textbook) law, are we trying to address a short-term issue with a long-term solution?
“What are the motivations behind it?” Clark asked. “I think it’s pretty obvious, given all the talk about intelligent design.”
Over the past several months, Walker and state Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, have emerged as vocal advocates of modifying the science guidelines for discussions about evolution in high school biology classes.
Both lawmakers insist they are not trying to sneak religious instruction into science classrooms and laboratories. They say enough evidence exists that contradicts or questions Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution that students should be exposed to other competing theories.
The state Board of Education rejected efforts by Walker and Fair last month to modify the biology science standard for teaching evolution that would have given teachers more leeway in lecturing about alternatives to the theory of natural selection.
Under state law, the Department of Education conducts cyclical reviews of teaching standards that guide educators in how to present lessons subject to standardized testing. The state Board of Education is responsible for endorsing any changes or revisions, which it has done at least three times in the case of the biology standards.
A separate state agency — the Education Oversight Committee — has the authority to approve or reject standards and has clashed with the state school board over the evolution standard.
Walker said Monday he is lobbying state school board members to reconsider.
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Keyboarding is easy. Half the class outlines the lack of evidence supporting Apple and the other half of the class covers the falacies of Microsoft.
Critical Thinking sure.
Snakes talk.
Women get turned in pillars of salt
Languages were rooted in the fall of a tower.
These and other "realistic" explanations of nature make perfect sense if you are still to ignorant to understand that:
Nonrandom reproduction plus hereditary variation leads to changes in gene distribution over time.
The state Board of Education voted today to reject a challenge to how evolution is taught in South Carolina high schools.On an 11-6 vote, the state board upheld its previous evolution-only science curriculum for 10th grade biology. Last month, the state's Education Oversight Committee voted to add the phrase "critically analyze" to the evolution guidelines.
Educators say that change would open the door to other theories about the origin of man. The fear among educators is that the change would introduce religious themes to those discussion and undermine what has been regarded as among the nation's strongest science standards.
Rep. Bob Walker, a Spartanburg Republican and a member of the EOC, urged the board to add the phrasing so students can talk about the holes in Darwin's theories on evolution and natural selection. He presented the state board with a letter signed by 67 members of the House, which in part said the Legislature may intervene if the board rejects the EOC's recommendation to add the "critically analyze" phrasing.
State Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum says the vote means the state will continue to use its old evolution-only teaching guidelines until this issue is resolved.
"The language of the bill may not fit the reality of the subject being taught.”
That's about right - the people pushing this nonsense aren't terribly interested in reality.
yanno, if I thought that this wording could be taken at face value, I'd actually favor it - critical thinking and skepticism are vital intellectual tools. However... my reasonably developed critical thinking leads me to look with great skepticism at this proposal.
I think they just want to hold a religious discussion out of science class.
Science is not a viewpoint and this is something politicians simply cannot comprehend. And the viewpoints that do exists in science are so close to the cutting edge that you would need a Masters degree just to keep up with them. Alternatively, that may also mean we have to included the air/fire/water/earth description of chemistry. And we must also tech the Earth is flat because there is a whole organization around that very concept. Politicians, it seems, cannot tell the difference between science and rubbish so they need to keep their noses out of it.
More evidence the post Dover decision Creationist strategy is to emphasize Critical Analysis/Thinking instead of ID.
“This has nothing to do with intelligent design or creationism,” Walker saidDoes anyone really believe that? If so, I have a bridge to sell. Liars makes me angry, and being interested in politics means I seldom need to spend time NOT being angry -.-
tag-line bump.
Guess I been a bit cynical lately.
Teach the controversy.
No aeronautics engineering student should be required to learn about lift and drag. It is pixies that keep airplanes flying.
No doctor should be forced to learn about bacteria and viruses. If leeches were good enough for George Washington, they are good enough for all red-blooded Christians. Teach the controversy.
If a student claims he always has a handful of neutrinos and these make microprocessors work because of his faith in god, why not? All beliefs are equal. Teach the controversy.
The state’s 1,100 schools should emphasize the lessons they already have rather than introduce even more distractions to retard the students education. The reason we have freedom of religion is so people can teach their children whatever dogma they choose. The reason we have elective biology classes in schools is so children can have an opportunity to understand biology free of dogma.
LOL!!!
I love the pixies thing.
Full Disclosure: As it is, I was under the impresssion (hat tip to King Prout) that critical thinking is something we want to encourage in the youth of today. I'm all in favor of critical thinking when it is used to eliminate cretins like this twit from the teaching profession . . .
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