The Common Core Way: civics lesson masquerading as mathematics
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Wed, 09/10/2014 - 6:59am
A recent bruhaha over Common Core math was triggered by an examples from the THIRD grade, in Washoe county, in which a “math” lesson and a “math” problem was centered on full length study of the “Rights of Man” from the French revolution, “Universal Declaration on Human Rights,” and the children’s version, both from the UN. The only excuse for any math in this lengthy lesson was that at one point they asked how much it would cost to do a project to illustrate something in these documents.
The study of these lengthy foreign documents would be appropriate in a CIVICS class, not in math. And it would be appropriate if and only if it’s done by contrasting them with the simplicity and elegance — and therefore the superiority — of the American versions (Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights).
Unfortunately it’s too early to do that in the elementary grades, because
First you have to understand the difference between individualist and communitarian philosophies and why the former is superior to the latter.
Then you have to understand the differences between the practical manifestations of these philosophies, such as free enterprise vs. “social justice economics,” or “social justice” anything, and why the former is superior to the latter.
Then you have to understand the (1) pioneering foundational works such as the Magna Carta, “Wealth of Nations” and other philosophical treatises from the Scottish Enlightenment, and of course the Federalist and anti-federalist Papers, and contrast them with (2) The Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf and their endless derivatives from the Left and the Right, and why the former is superior to the latter.
Then you have to understand the difference between immutable objective natural law and malleable arbitrary subjective man-made law, and why the former is superior to the latter.
And finally you have to understand that math and science (as well as vocabulary and grammar) are TOOLS, not philosophical or moral statements. They also happen to teach, both explicitly and implicitly, respect for analytical verifiable objective absolute truth and logical consistency, not arbitrary subjective “reality”… and therefore I am sure the social engineers do look at them as expressions of inconvenient, counterrevolutionary, subversive philosophical and moral principles.
This is heavy fare even for adults. If anything like this is dumped on children, especially the lopsided material from the UN presented totally out of context as is The Common Core Way, it can only amount to indoctrination and child abuse. I thought there are laws against child abuse.
I would start with the simple facts of American history and go into gradually wider and deeper detail in the higher grades. And never mislabel civics as math.
