Youngkin Orders Department of Education to Review the College Board’s AP African American Studies Course

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) ordered the state’s Education Secretary to review the College Board’s “AP African American Studies” course, becoming the fourth state to do so.

"After numerous reports about draft course content, the governor asked the Education Secretariat to review the College Board’s proposed AP African American Studies course as it pertains to Executive Order 1,” a spokesperson for Youngkin’s office said in a statement.

Executive Order 1 prohibits divisive concepts, like Critical Race Theory (CRT), from being taught in Virginia schools. The order was signed shortly after Youngkin entered office.

According to Fox News, the Advanced Placement course covers a variety of topics pertaining to black history. A revised version released this month removed the lessons on the Black Lives Matter movement and topics derived from books that teach CRT.

Last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rejected the new proposed AP African American studies course. His administration held open the possibility of approval of the course if changes were made, which Guy covered. DeSantis’ office later said that the College Board would revise the curriculum.

"We are glad the College Board has recognized that the originally submitted course curriculum is problematic, and we are encouraged to see the College Board express a willingness to amend,” Florida Department of Education (FDOE) Communications Director Alex Lanfranconi said, which Townhall covered.

“AP courses are standardized nationwide, and as a result of Florida’s strong stance against identity politics and indoctrination, students across the country will consequentially have access to an historically accurate, unbiased course,” Lanfranconi continued. "As Governor DeSantis said, African American History is American History, and we will not allow any organization to use an academic course as a gateway for indoctrination and a political agenda.”

Shortly after, the College Board denied that DeSantis’ decision played a role in the revision of the course.

Other states to review the course include Arkansas, Mississippi and North Dakota.

"I would invite the review and I would invite everyone to participate in the review," Associate Professor Greg Carr of Howard University's Afro-American Studies told WUSA9. Carr reportedly contributed to the course framework.

"We all don't agree, but this is a very inclusive course and course framework that allows the flexibility for all of us to come to the table of any racial or cultural background and discuss what it means to be a person of African descent in the world and U.S.,” Carr added.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2023/02/21/youngkin-education-n2619784

*****************************************************

Scottish schools have become places of indoctrination

Nicola Sturgeon may be on her way out – but after 16 years of SNP rule, Scottish schools are still places of indoctrination. This may sound like a hyperbolic thing to say, but that’s the only conclusion you can draw when you look at what Scottish educators and the Scottish government are saying themselves.

Take the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s Standard for Headship, which sets out the professional framework for what a headteacher, teachers and schools should be all about.

You would expect such a document to be all about imparting knowledge and aspiring to teach every child as much as possible. Instead, it is a horrifying mix of therapeutic new-speak that stresses the need for teachers and headteachers to focus on the matter of social justice.

In the 16-page Standard for Headship report ‘social justice’ is mentioned seven times. We are informed, for example, that the very culture of Scotland is ‘based on social justice’, that we now have ‘professional values of social justice’, and that social justice is about a commitment to ‘sustainable policies and practices in relation to protected characteristics…. and intersectionality’.

The terms sustainable or sustainability appear 23 times in the document. This includes what some would see as a Malthusian demand for ‘respect for our natural world and its limited resources’ as well as a call for ‘learning for sustainability’, whatever that means.

This new doctrine is highly therapeutic, with the entire document grounded in a need to ‘promote health and wellbeing’ and ‘emotional intelligence’, which, as part of our culture of social justice, is ‘enabling’ and ‘empowering’ pupils to be ‘safe’ and ‘caring’.

This melding together of social justice moralising and therapeutic language permeates through the entirety of the Scottish education system. Education in Scotland is no longer viewed as a way of passing on vitally important knowledge to children, but rather as a way to ensure that ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ are embedded in our children’s minds.

As one educational expert told me, if student teachers, ‘don’t subscribe to the particular interpretation of “social justice” that is currently in vogue, then they won’t achieve registration for the General Teaching Council.’

Elsewhere the Scottish government and Education Scotland have worked to ensure that teachers are ‘Embedding race equality in school’. This is not simply about treating people equally, quite the reverse in fact. Rather it is about the promotion of Critical Race Theory and the divisive and self-loathing idea of ‘white privilege’, which is endorsed by Education Scotland.

According to the Scottish government, ‘A new package of support materials…. will embed anti-racism and race equality into all aspects of school life’. An Education Scotland policy document says that ‘As the child grows, they can see diversity’ in all subjects, including, ‘mathematics’. Who knows, perhaps future generations in Scotland will be taught that ‘their truth’ means that two plus two equals colonial oppression.

Perhaps worse of all is the Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools guidance document, a policy that would fit comfortably on the shelves of the most extreme trans activist.

Schools, for example, have to ensure that children, ‘demonstrate an understanding of diversity in sexuality and gender identity’. From age 12 children can self-identify and receive support and validation from schools. The school will develop a ‘support plan for the transgender young person’, thus creating a ‘safe space for transgender young people to be themselves and have their identities respected’.

If parents don’t support this development it is implied that they a wellbeing concern. But then, many parents will not even know that this gender fluid ideology is being adopted or that their child is being transitioned with the help of the school as, ‘it is best to not share information with parents or carers without considering and respecting the young person’s views’.

Some of the above issues may appear to be justified and legitimate, and indeed, if we were talking about university education, being exposed to some of these ideas would be entirely legitimate. It’s entirely fair for young adults to be able to debate the merits of Marx versus Malthus or the differences between Critical race theory and colour-blind anti-racism. And we should be able to discuss transgender policies too – even though many universities appear to be uncomfortable with any debate on this issue.

But this is school education we are talking about. Many of these ideas are not part of a debate, they are a dogma, a form of cultural engineering, where ideas and outlooks that the majority of the Scottish population oppose are forced onto children.

For those who are directing this process there is a clear attempt to ‘change the culture’ of Scottish society through the politicisation of the curriculum.

To counteract this a number of colleagues and I have just set up the Scottish Union for Education, a campaign group for parents and teachers to challenge the declining standards in education and the growing indoctrination that is taking place in our schools.

The Scottish Union for Education will challenge these illiberal (and indeed illiterate) developments and aim to create a framework for ordinary parents, grandparents, teachers and communities to make their voices heard. It may appear to be a tough ask, but I am convinced that the majority are on our side and for the sake of our liberal and democratic society, something must be done.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/02/scottish-schools-have-become-places-of-indoctrination

*****************************************************

Work visa extension to attract international students to Australia

International students who complete a degree in a skill shortage area will be given an extra two years to stay in Australia after graduation.

The move, intended to help business beat skill shortages as well as speed the return of international students to Australia, was announced on Tuesday by federal Education Minister Jason Clare and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil.

For international students it means that the period of their post study work visa is increased from two to four years if they complete a bachelors degree, and increased from three to five years if they complete a masters degree.

But they get the benefit only if they study in a skill shortage area and the government has released a list of likely complying degrees including many in the health, teaching, engineering and agricultural fields.

All international students doing PhDs will benefit from the new policy regardless of their field of study. The period of their post study work visa will lengthen from four to six years.

The new work rights will come into effect on July 1 this year. International students are warned that they should check a more precise list of courses eligible for the extended work rights which will be released nearer to the July 1 commencement date.

Mr Clare said the changes would “make Australia more attractive as a study destination” for international students and help business fill skill shortages.

“Businesses are screaming out for skilled workers, particularly in the regions. We have got the second highest skills shortage in the developed world, according to the OECD,” he said.

The government will continue to give international students a further extension on their post study work rights period if they study at a regional or remote university. Regional universities will continue to attract an extra year and remote universities an extra two years on top of the two year extension announced on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s announcement also brings back the cap on the number of hours which international students are permitted to work in Australia while they attend their education institution.

The previous 40 hour per fortnight cap was temporarily removed by the Morrison government in early 2022 to help deal with labour shortages as the Australian economy emerged from Covid.

The new working hours cap will be 48 hours a fortnight and the higher figure will ease the impact of the change on international students who currently have no limit on their working hours. As before, the cap will not apply in holiday periods.

International Education Association of Australia CEO Phil Honeywood said he believed Mr Clare and Ms O’Neil had struck the right balance between the need to give students an incentive to choose Australia over other study destinations, the need to meet Australia’s skill needs and the obligation to find a sensible working hours solution.

But he said that international students will needed a clearer path to permanent residency. “If we are to encourage students to spend a decade of their life in studying and working in our economy, we need to have clearer migration pathways,” Mr Honeywood said.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/work-visa-extension-to-attract-international-students-to-australia/news-story/1bf983e2ca3101510a057e3a51ed4cab

***********************************

My other blogs: Main ones below

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

*******************************