Brenton
Dumbing Down By Dr Kevin Donnelly; Introduction
December 24th 2007 10:52
I’m pretty cool with books. I’ve read literature, pop fiction, erotica, factual books, government texts, books on Scientology, books I disagree with, books I agree with, books that offend and shock me. I read a lot.
I can honestly say, I have never had the misfortune to come across a book as ridiculous as the one I speak of now- “Dumbing Down” by Dr Kevin Donnelly.
The basis of the book? That left wing ideals and opinions are destroying the way the education system functions, as a result of Left wing freaks winning the Culture wars.
The book is based on deceits and misrepresentations, and most disgustingly of all, makes it’s point through the process of manipulating fears parents already have for their children, and using them to promote a political agenda.
He has taken certain problems, whether real or perceived, in schools, and found scapegoats to blame them on. This is done in a disturbingly political fashion – with a kind of religious good vs. evil dichotomy, painting black and white issues.
I'd like to say, while I'm generally a bit of a lefty, I don't think schools are places for inducting students into particular ideologies. Donnelly seems to fear that this is the case... so much so that one begins to suspect his fear isn't that students inevitably view some kind of bias... but simply that it's not his particular bias.
In the books defense, it does touch a number of relevant issues, and make some valid points. However, if you’re clever enough to manage to extract these points from the relentless political scapegoating, you’ve probably worked them out for yourself a long time ago.
Image used under fair use, from HERE.
I can honestly say, I have never had the misfortune to come across a book as ridiculous as the one I speak of now- “Dumbing Down” by Dr Kevin Donnelly.
The basis of the book? That left wing ideals and opinions are destroying the way the education system functions, as a result of Left wing freaks winning the Culture wars.
The book is based on deceits and misrepresentations, and most disgustingly of all, makes it’s point through the process of manipulating fears parents already have for their children, and using them to promote a political agenda.
He has taken certain problems, whether real or perceived, in schools, and found scapegoats to blame them on. This is done in a disturbingly political fashion – with a kind of religious good vs. evil dichotomy, painting black and white issues.
I'd like to say, while I'm generally a bit of a lefty, I don't think schools are places for inducting students into particular ideologies. Donnelly seems to fear that this is the case... so much so that one begins to suspect his fear isn't that students inevitably view some kind of bias... but simply that it's not his particular bias.
In the books defense, it does touch a number of relevant issues, and make some valid points. However, if you’re clever enough to manage to extract these points from the relentless political scapegoating, you’ve probably worked them out for yourself a long time ago.
Image used under fair use, from HERE.
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