“From my studies, this analysis of philosophical/worldview differences is pretty accurate.”
Of course, it is not “pretty accurate.” At best it is a caricature of the differences between liberals and conservatives, and at worst it is full of intentional half truths. For example, take the statement, “most liberals do not believe in original sin, and as a consequence they feel people can be improved by education and knowledge.” The clear implication is that most conservatives believe in original sin and, therefore, do not believe people can be improved by education and knowledge. Ignoring all atheistic conservatives, ignoring the variations in the concept of “original sin,” and leaving aside the difficulty of accurately explaining any theological concept of original sin, there is probably no conservative who believes people cannot be improved by education.
The teacher could have easily made this statement much more accurate by saying that many conservatives believe people are flawed (excessive selfishness and guilt being chief among the flaws) and that education cannot completely cure the flaws in all people (and likely not in any people).
The two statements sound alike to someone who does not think about them very much, but they are very different. Because they are so different, and because it would be so easy to make the more accurate statement, the teacher is likely either rather dumb or rather devious (evil).
Take up your argument with Thomas Sowell.
This analysis follows his “Conflict of Visions” almost to a T, even though this analysis has a bit of a leftward slant.
What is meant by “improvement” is, on the left side, “perfection of intellect and morality” and on the right, the assertion that people cannot be improved through education refers to the “fixing” of the basic fallen nature of mankind.
No conservative believes you can “fix” the fallen nature of mankind, and this is the kind of “improvement” that the left believes possible through societal institutions and education. This is why they treat Ivy Leaguers as demi-gods.