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City Journal did some very unscientific research into how many education colleges and schools around the nation focus on teaching fundamental courses, like “how to teach math,” versus teaching more fundamentalist courses, like “how to teach multiculturalism.”
The average ed school, we found, has a multiculturalism-to-math ratio of 1.82, meaning that it offers 82 percent more courses featuring social goals than featuring math. At Harvard and Stanford, the ratio is about 2: almost twice as many courses are social as mathematical. At the University of Minnesota, the ratio is higher than 12. And at UCLA, a whopping 47 course titles and descriptions contain the word “multiculturalism” or “diversity,” while only three contain the word “math,” giving it a ratio of almost 16.
Some programs do show different priorities. At the University of Missouri, 43 courses bear titles or descriptions that include multiculturalism or diversity, but 74 focus on math, giving it a lean multiculturalism-to-math ratio of 0.58. Penn State’s ratio is 0.39. (By contrast, the ratio at Penn State’s Ivy League counterpart, the University of Pennsylvania, is over 3.) Still, of the 71 programs we studied, only 24 have a multiculturalism-to-math ratio of less than 1; only five pay twice as much attention to math as to social goals.
Read the rest here. It’s important to remember that education schools aren’t failing. They aren’t bad, ineffective places. They’re very successful, very effective at teaching what they intend to teach, which is ideology. Not Reading. Writing. Or Arithmetic.
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Politics of fraud
Oh wow. Big Surprise. A study shows that liberal liberal arts schools are teaching ideology instead of facts? Isn’t that about like the study that finally concluded women and men actually are different? Who knew?
The ironic thing is that on World Mag Blog the blame for falling scores in math and sciences seems to be all the fault of Christians…. where’s RDean when you really need him?
We make take solace in the fact that the average education major isn’t smart enough to remember what he or she was taught in college.
Well, I don’t know much about edyookashun majors, but I’m just pleased as punch that my alma mater leads the pack at an ideology/math ration of 12! 12!!!!
Go Golden Gophers!
Um, “ratio,” not “ration.” I wasn’t smart enough for the School of Education, see.
Did I miss the link? I don’t think it’s there i the article.
http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_1_snd-ed_schools.html
I especially like the class ‘Teaching Multicultural Math to Whitey Teachers’
Like a lot of such “studies,” the methodology here is so shoddy a sixth-grader could see it.
From the article: To determine just how unbalanced teacher preparation is at ed schools, we counted the number of course titles and descriptions that contained the words “multiculturalism,” “diversity,” “inclusion,” and variants thereof, and then compared those with the number that used variants of the word “math.”
What are the variants of the word “math?” Mathematics. Mathematical. Math. Maybe Arithmetic.
That means they are not counting any courses with the words: algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, analytics, computation or any other term related to math that doesn’t actually use some form of the word “math.”
Another methodologic problem is that the raw number of courses offered isn’t a metric for academic emphasis. More students likely take the handful of core mathematics courses taught in huge auditoriums than gather in small groups for the more numerous but narrow seminar course offerings.
I recognize that HSK qualified this as “some very unscientific research, ” but if that’s the case, why bother repeating it? Why not just lift headlines from Globe or Star for similar effect?
What SteveG and Serious George said.
I worked in database publishing of college and university information (similar to Peterson’s, College Board, etc.), and it can be difficult to judge the content of a major or a course from a title or even brief course description. How would you categorize a liberal arts major called “Varying Exceptionalities”? (This is a real major at a real school, BTW. I am not making this up!)
I think there is a methodological problem assuming the comparison was made only against the word “math” and ignoring the stated, and quite obvious, variant studies where math is the root of the course considering the hieroglyphics that had to be translated to determine which courses were diversity oriented.
Why does any school at any level have the need to teach multiculturalism or diversity at all? Why not stick to the arts and sciences and leave out the other crap.
On the other hand, math is not the only subject. What about writing, grammar, music, history, English and other languages, sciences, Social Studies (which could be Multicultural)Geography, etc.
If the study was a comparison of core subjects:multicultural or diversity classes the ratio would probably be reversed.
It’s not unreasonable that most elementary teachers took the basic college math courses plus one course in the methods of teaching math. Hence, you are not likely to find many math courses in the education department. A student majoring in elementary education wouldn’t have time to take more than one, anyway. They must also take methods courses in the other subject areas.
I agree with other commentors who see this study as fatally flawed. I think there are too many college courses devoted to multiculturalism, and the like, but I didn’t determine that by comparing the course titles. It’s simply my opinion that one or fewer such courses is enough.
When I was taking education courses there was one course called “Multicultural Education” at my university that seemed sufficient for any teacher. I can’t imagine how you could expand that topic into more than one course.
heh… ball state has multicultural and “female studies” classes out the wazoo…
to get a major in ANYTHING, you have to take at least one or two classes stressing that subject and its relation to minorities and women and women who are minorities.
you can ALSO major in women and minorities and women who are minorities.
the ratio is about 1.7 multicultural classes to ANY OTHER CLASSES, divided by subject.
These stats come from the school catalogues not the course schedules. The ratio is far different when you weight the titles for frequency and enrollment. Comprende?
E Pluribus Unam, turned on its head.
I am very pleased to hear that the University of North Carolina-Wilmington must face a lawsuit brought against it by Mike Adams, a criminology professor at the school who also writes nationally syndicated columns. A federal court has pointed out that Adams has raised legitimate arguments concerning the possibility that UNC-W refused to grant him full professorship status because of his religious beliefs and conservative political views.
Adams often received accolades from his colleagues after he was hired as an assistant professor in 1993 and promoted to associate professor in 1998. This all took place, however, when Adams was an atheist. After his conversion to Christianity in 2000 there followed interrogations, accusations, and refusals for promotion even though the quality of his work and conduct at the university never wavered.
Our universities have become havens for Marxist liberals who are intent on brainwashing their students with their secular progressive, godless philosophies. This is why the fascist hierarchy of the university cannot allow Christians and conservatives among its ranks. They seek to avoid the light of public debate. We owe Mike Adams a debt of gratitude for daring to challenge the status quo.
Our universities have become havens for Marxist liberals who are intent on brainwashing their students with their secular progressive, godless philosophies.
You know, this song and dance is soo tiresome. And so wrong.
I don’t know if Adams has a case or not, but in North Carolina I seriously doubt that a state university is run by atheist Marxists intent on keeping all vestige of patriotism, capitalism or religion off of the campus.
#18 STEVEG
“You know, this song and dance is soo tiresome. And so wrong.”
In CS Lewis’ “the Last Battle” the dwarves are in the hut of Tashlan but don’t want to come to Aslan’s land with the others. They don’t want to see The King.
Well, I guess I got those< thingies wrong.
those secular progressive godless marxist liberal educated intelligent segment of the culture.
viva la anti-intellectualism!!!
Amen, Joel Mark
What’s the point of all this multi-culturalism,To highlight the differences we have with each other, instead of our commonalities? And the point of that is what??
The point of that is to help people understand where their differences are and why they exist so they can interact with each other with respect and understanding rather than suspcion and condemnation.
And the point of opposing that is what??
Teaching a few courses concerning multiculturalism in any school would have some merit, probably in the Social Studies Department, but to have a large percentage of courses dwelling on it and the assignments in every department dwelling on it is crazy.
In a previous post some of the School Majors were mentioned. I have a niece that graduated with a major in Women’s Studies. I have no idea what she learned but she is 27 and still single. Her current employment does not reflect her major but has more to do with communications. Whoops! Maybe it does relate!
I attended college for 2 years in the early 70’s after which I got married and returned to the farm. I met my wife while going to school so some say my Major was “Women’s Studies”.
#23
Toleration and not condemnation, of course (except for the Christians).