tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073298.post111506162884511921..comments2023-10-16T08:20:47.101-05:00Comments on The Iconic Midwest: A Not-So-Old-Fashioned Monkey TrialRich Hortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15561931187909269006noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073298.post-1115333002178753422005-05-05T17:43:00.000-05:002005-05-05T17:43:00.000-05:00"I'd argue that it is a teacher's responsibility t..."I'd argue that it is a teacher's responsibility to challenge the assumptions students carry into school."<BR/><BR/>College student, absolutely. Children? That becomes more troublesome. Obviously you cant have public school teachers belittling Mormons or Amish children.Rich Hortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15561931187909269006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073298.post-1115153559194720952005-05-03T15:52:00.000-05:002005-05-03T15:52:00.000-05:00Obviously if there were to be student initiated di...Obviously if there were to be student initiated discussion, that would be different from being a stated part of the curriculum. School district may (or may not) want to have guidelines for how teachers deal with such discussions. But in practice it could be little different than dealing with other controversial topics, like abortion or whatever.<BR/><BR/>"Does this mean that the origins of life should not be touched at all in districts where Evolution is too touchy of a subject? I could see that."<BR/><BR/>Yes, I do think in some parts of the country it would come to that. And, yes, I cannot think why anyone should have a problem with that.<BR/><BR/>I would also support not teaching origin of life issues at all, but still teaching evolution in "the distribution of genes in a species" mode. (Of course this would smack of compromise and neither side seems all too keen on that approach.)<BR/><BR/>There exists a kind of conceit about education that one of the educators jobs is to disabuse students of the beliefs they came into school holding. I find little to say in favor of the notion. It smacks of elitism; it feels patrician; it is positively demeaning to students (and their parents); and it can in no sense be called "democratic." I believe evolution to be true, but I am uneasy about these attempts to strongarm those who disagree with it for religious reasons. I wish more people felt uneasy about these attempts.<BR/><BR/>Just because you think someone's intellectual position is dumb (and I do think creationism is incurably dumb), that doesn't make their position inherently unconstitutional.Rich Hortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15561931187909269006noreply@blogger.com