When education becomes indoctrination

Once upon a time the prime objective of education was to teach individuals to be self-thinking adults.  This was achieved by focusing on what were commonly referred to as the 3 Rs; reading, writing, and arithmetic.  These three subjects were regarded as crucial to one’s development since the goal of educators of the time was much nobler then preparing the student for a job.  They recognized that democracy could not exist without a solid citizenry made up of independent thinking individuals.  It was their goal to create such a citizenry by teaching:  

• Reading: If a person can read he can independently learn without being told what to learn.  He can develop his own way of thinking without being told what to think.  In other words, it leads to education while avoiding indoctrination.
•  Writing: By developing the ability to communicate in verbal and written language the individual can effectively communicate his ideas, thoughts, and opinions with others.
• Arithmetic: It has long been accepted that math develops analytical skills.  Increasing math ability also increases a person’s ability to think analytically.  

Once mastered and applied, these three skills gave the individual the foundation to learn any subject he wanted, communicate what he has learned, and, most importantly, to think critically for himself.  This resulted in unleashing the creativity, originality, vision, and ingenuity of the individual person, which benefited not only the individual but also the society as a whole.

Unfortunately, over the last several decades the 3 Rs have lost favor with the elites that direct what our schools are teaching our children.  

In his book the Lonely Crowd, David Riesman (considered the father of American sociology) points out that the education system has consistently moved away from developing educated self-thinking individuals to creating citizens who can relate to others.  As a result the 3 Rs have been replaced by 

• Conformity
• Sensitivity
• Thinking “correctly” 

Although his book was written in the 1950s, the process of getting students to think “correctly” started nearly a half a century before.  As the Commissioner of Education under President Taft, William Harris, wrote:

Ninety-nine [students] out of a hundred are automata, careful to walk in prescribed paths, careful to follow the prescribed custom. This is not an accident, but the result of substantial education, which, scientifically defined, is the subsumption of the individual. - The Philosophy of Education (1906)

Four generations later, John Gatto, the recipient of New York City’s 1990 Teacher of the Year award, would remark on how thorough the collectivist transformation of the education system has been.  In a speech, he observed that “schools are intended to produce through the application of formulae, formulaic human beings whose behavior can be predicted and controlled.”

As recently as 2008, a California appellate court re-affirmed this collectivist approach to education when it ruled that the “primary purpose of the educational system is to train schoolchildren in good citizenship, patriotism, and loyalty to the state and nation as a means of protecting the public welfare.”  [If this does not scare you, nothing will!]

Note that in each of these examples, there is no mention of creating self-thinking individuals.  In fact, the quotes seem to imply that the modern method of education sees individualism as something that needs to be discouraged or even eliminated.  Neither is the revered Gifted (or Gate) program a safe haven for the individualistic and self-thinking youngster.  In his biography of Winston Churchill, renowned historian William Manchester notes that the standards teachers use to select bright students “would have excluded Churchill, Edison, Picasso, and Mark Twain.”  

When does education become indoctrination? 

I believe that the line between the two is crossed when we start teaching what to think instead of how to think. The sad truth is that we are no longer teaching our children how to think.  Instead, we are telling them what to think.  Our schools have passed through education and onto indoctrination.  Until that is changed, our education system can never be fixed; regardless of how much money we throw at it.

Countdown to Independence Day; #9 Return America’s exceptionalism to the schools

Over the next several days leading up to Independence Day I will be posting the 10 steps that must be taken to preserve our great nation and the principles it was established on.  Each day will cover one of the steps as they appear in my book Liberty Inherited.  It is my hope that, in some small way, I can get Americans to start thinking of what they are on the verge of throwing away.  Today's posting covers step number #9.  I recommend reading the previous posts for step #1 through 8.  Please note that any additional comments that I add to the original text will be in italics.

9. Return America’s exceptionalism to the schools

As exposed, America’s exceptionalism has been slowly removed from our schools. Although most Americans sense that there is something special about our country, very few know what makes it so. This is because they were never taught it.  It is truly the history lesson that all Americans should have had but never received. Instead of educating our students on European political philosophies we need to be teaching first and foremost the philosophy that was at the heart of this country until the progressive movement began its campaign to erase it. Americans of all ages need to have well-founded pride in their country but instead our children are being educated to loathe it. By focusing on America’s imperfections, rather than comparing it to its contemporaries, American children are receiving a biased and unjustified view of the nation and its history. It is time that our children are given a more realistic and balanced view of America and her role in the world.  This is not indoctrination for it is based on historical fact, which makes it education.

As I have always stated, I will put America (and for that matter the British Empire) up against any of its contemporaries.  What I will not do is put it up against some ideal of perfection.  Yet, by focusing on what America has done wrong, this is exactly what many schools across the country do.  They focus on America's history of slavery or the oppression of the Native-Americans.  It is true that both of these events (as well as others) are black spots on America's legacy.  But it must be remembered that all societies are comprised of people...imperfect people.  Therefore, any society that has any history at all will have black marks on its record.  As I explained in my book, many bad and horrible actions were done by and in the name of the British Empire.  By today's standards it was barbaric, racists, and oppressive.  But compared to its contemporaries it was very enlightened and civilized.  This is the same for the United States.  While not perfect, it has been the best system man has ever devised.  By removing the chains of bondage it has allowed man to use his creativity and intelligence to their full potential.  And, overall, the world has benefited from its example.  

What many fail to recognize is that before the United States there was no such thing as human rights.  In fact, the Human Rights many take for granted originated with the rights of Englishmen that the original patriots fought for.  This is the lesson schools need to be teaching.  Not only is it accurate but it is also more realistic since it does not compare America to some impossible standard of perfection.  

Countdown to Independence: #7 Continue to educate yourself

Over the next several days leading up to Independence Day I will be posting the 10 steps that must be taken to preserve our great nation and the principles it was established on.  Each day will cover one of the steps as they appear in my book Liberty Inherited.  It is my hope that, in some small way, I can get Americans to start thinking of what they are on the verge of throwing away.  Today's posting covers step number #7.  I recommend reading the previous posts for step #1 through 6.  Please note that any additional comments that I add to the original text will be in italics.

 

7. Continue to educate yourself

Remember that ignorance and neglect are one of the causes of the rotting that is afflicting the roots of the Liberty Tree. As James Madison wrote in a letter he penned in 1822, “What spectacle can be more edifying or more seasonable, than that of Liberty and Learning, each leaning on the other for their mutual & surest support?” This is what this book attempts to achieve. It was designed to be an introductory course to a part of history that many have been deprived of. Its purpose was to provide an informative and educational book that is easy to read. It is by no means an exhaustive piece of work. Therefore, I urge you not to take everything you read within these pages at face value. Instead I ask you to start your own journey of discovery. In doing so, I believe you will discover that the arguments I put forth within these pages are true and accurate. 

With that said, the biggest fear people have with studying history is trusting the accuracy of the facts they are reviewing. To this I reply, “If you read one book on a topic you get one opinion, the author’s. But if you read four books on the same topic you get five opinions - those of the four authors and then your own. Once your opinion is established, you will be able to discern what rings true and what rings false.”  This is the reason why it is not enough to rely on the history you were taught in school, even if you were one of the few who paid attention.  In many cases it is nothing but the point of view of the teacher and, as Daniel Hannan told me, “When history is taught, it is taught badly.” So go out and educate yourself!

Back to School History Lesson

Last month my daughter returned to school.  As a high-school junior, she is required to take American History.  When I asked her about the class, she told me that they were starting from the beginning.  “Christopher Columbus and all that” is how she put it.  She then handed me the class outline.  The sections leading up to the American Revolution was the same story that most Americans learn.  It essentially starts with the discovery of America by Columbus and then progresses through the settlement of Jamestown, the French and Indian War, and terminates with the events immediately preceding the Revolutionary War, such as the various tax acts, the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party.  It confers on the student the impression that nothing of importance was transpiring in Mother England during that time.  That England was asleep until one day George III wakes up and exclaims, “My God, I have colonies.  Let’s tax them!”

The reality is that there were many events that transpired in the mother country that profoundly influenced the development of the American colonies.  In 1707, for example, the union of England and Scotland meant that although the colonies started off as English they fought Britain for their independence.  The most notable and significant of those events was the Glorious Revolution of 1688.  Although the Glorious Revolution took place almost 100 years before America’s struggle for independence, it did more to bring about the American Revolution than any other event in America’s pre-independence history.  It could be argued that if the Glorious Revolution of 1688 did not occur or had the outcome been different the American Revolution probably would not have happened at all.  Additionally, the success of the thirteen colonies forming into one constitutional republic would not have been possible without the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

The events surrounding the Glorious Revolution are so vital to the creation and development of the United States that in “Liberty Inherited: The untold story of America’s exceptionalism” I dedicate over a quarter of the book to the subject.  In summary, the road to revolution started when James II wanted to return England to the absolutism that the monarchies on the continent enjoyed.  In this system, the king has absolute power over everything in his realm including its people.  In England, this form of servitude was restricted by a series of covenants or contracts, including the Magna Carta (1215).  Upon seeing this threat to their liberty, the English rose up and through a series of events replaced James II with the Dutch ruler the Prince of Orange and his wife Mary.  But before the Prince of Orange could become William III, King of England, he had to accept what became known as the Declaration of Rights.

This declaration ensured that England would continue on its path to developing the tradition of limited government, of parliamentary supremacy, of personal freedom and of the common law.  The limitations placed on the monarchy by this document meant that the king could not act without the consent of the people as represented by parliament.  Additionally, it ensured the rights and liberties of individual Englishmen.   It guaranteed his right to bear arms, to a speedy trial, to due process, to be safe and secure in his life and property.  Like all good Englishmen, the Founding Fathers believed these to be their God-given rights and made sure that, in one form or another, they were included in the Bill of Rights.  The fact is that the framers of the constitution used the declaration, the system of limited government it established, and the rights it protected as the template for establishing the United States of America.

Additionally, I believe that if James II had not been removed from the throne of England the United States would not exist today, at least in its democratic form.  Once he assumed the throne James set out to reform the colonies along the same authoritarian format used by France and Spain.  His plan was to form the thirteen colonies into four captaincies.  This would be followed by the elimination of the colonial assemblies and an appointment of a Royal Governor with absolute authority and answerable only to the king.  At that time, many of the colonies were just beginning to enjoy representative democracy.  To eliminate it at this point would result in the colonies losing almost 100 years of the democratic experience they would need to establish the new nation.  Under those conditions, it is highly unlikely that the American Revolution would have been fought, much less won.  The events immediately following a victory by the Patriots would certainly have been different.  The probability of establishing the liberty based country we have today would certainly have been almost zero.  Instead, the liberty focused revolution would probably have resulted, not in a Washington, but in an American version of Napoleon, Santa Anna, Lenin, Stalin, or Chavez. 

Until a few years ago I, like most Americans, was ignorant of the Glorious Revolution.  This ignorance was not out of a lack of interest but a result of the way American history is taught.  This is not a partisan issue since both sides have benefited from keeping Americans uneducated.  Conservatives do so because it supports the myth that the establishment of this nation was miraculous.  Liberals do it because if the American people understood the origins of their liberties they would realize what a threat an ever-increasing and powerful government is to those liberties.  Therefore, much to the chagrin of our British cousins, Americans are not informed of the struggles that made this country possible.  This limited education has had dire consequences for our country.  Without this part of our history, we do not have a context to put the American experience into.  We lose the sense of what it means to be an American and clarity as what type of nation the United States was established to be.  We fail to recognize the implication of being an English colony had for the development of the United States.  More tragically we fail to recognize the dangers that threaten to eliminate our liberties forever.

As I explain in “Liberty Inherited: The untold story of America’s exceptionalism,” the founders of this extraordinary nation did not accidently stumble onto the system of government they established in 1789.  It was developed over several centuries and, while I still think that America is based on a miracle, I now realize that that miracle took place several hundred years earlier in a place called England.  In fact, the more I study the origins and history of our liberty the more I marvel at its existence.  The more I learn the more I appreciate the improbability of its survival.  This becomes strikingly clear especially when compared to what was going on in the rest of the world at the time, which, for the common man, was slavery and servitude.  This leads me to ponder a couple of questions:

If schools did not omit the tremendous struggles for liberty that were occurring in England at a time when the United States was nothing more than scattering of fledgling colonies, would we, as Americans, feel or think differently about our country?

Would we still be having the political debate that is currently dividing this nation?  

What do you think?  Leave your comments and thoughts below.