"...We talk to anybody about anything." Infiltrating Australia's Academe
(5April06)“ In February, Prime Minister Howard's Muslim Advisory Group met for the first time for 2006, and it was not a happy event. Prior to the meeting, Howard and his Treasurer, Peter Costello, spoke to the media on Islamic extremism in Australia….it appears that the national Islamic youth group, the Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth (FAMSY), has been working assiduously to promote extremist aspects of Islam to the next generation of Australian Muslims….When Steven Emerson – one of the world's leading authorities on Islamist extremist networks – recently visited Australia, he acknowledged that FAMSY is an ideological offshoot of the international Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood….FAMSY has operated in Australia since 1968…One of the organisation's most committed members is Zachariah Matthews , who has been involved with FAMSY since 1992…” Infiltrating Australia's Academe by Sharon Lapkin FrontPageMagazine.com.“...FAMSY's guest speakers over the last few years validate Emerson's claim that the organisation is clearly an ideological offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. It also demonstrates that Islamists have become regular fixtures on Australian university campuses….American convert to Islam, Mahdi Bray , spoke to Australian Muslim youth at the FAMSY conference in 2003. Within two months of his University of Sydney guest appearance, Bray was named by a witness who addressed the US Congressional Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security, as the contact for a key organisation involved in Muslim prison recruitment…last year, FAMSY bought Anas Altikriti to Australia to speak to Muslim youth. Altikriti's father had attended school with Saddam Hussein and was currently head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Iraq . And Altikriti himself is a founding member of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), which readily admits to having links to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Militant Islam invades school curriculum
(25Feb06) “A radical Muslim thinker who inspired al-Qa'ida is being served up as subject matter for high school students in NSW.
Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian militant hanged in 1966 but still a powerful influence on violent Islamists, and the Pakistani fundamentalist Sayyid Maududi are the only two modern Muslim thinkers on a revised syllabus for studies of religion… To pick these two writers is like representing modern German culture with Marx and Hitler." Militant Islam invades school curriculum Bernard Lane The Australian “… Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, commentators have pointed to Qutb as the intellectual inspiration for violent campaigns against the West and Muslim states seen as corrupted by modern values. Among those influenced by Qutb's writings is Ayman al-Zawahiri, seen as the intellectual force of al-Qa'ida. But Professor Shboul doubted Qutb would have approved of al-Qa'ida's violence….”
Union rhetoric drives parents from public schools
(19Feb06) The community wants its own values taught to children, not necessarily those of teachers, writes Kevin Donnelly.
‘While it is wrong to say that education should be values-neutral, the traditional approach is one that sees education as impartial and balanced. Education is not indoctrination, and social engineering should not be confused with critical inquiry and searching for the truth. On reading the 2005 and 2006 Australian Education Union annual general meeting speeches by the union's federal president Pat Byrne, it is clear she is in no doubt on the need to promote certain values and the union's right to shape the social debate and the work of schools…” Union rhetoric drives parents from public schools by Kevin Donnelly The Weekend Australian “..Instead of reflecting mainstream opinions, the AEU, according to Byrne's own admission, champions a left-wing view of the world enmeshed in the culture wars against conservative values… Anyone familiar with AEU policies will know the teacher union, along with other cultural elite groups such as the ABC, teacher academics and assorted artists and intellectuals, consistently attacks Australian society as socially unjust and champions a range of left-wing causes… On being asked why they chose non-government schools, ``respondents talked about the reduction, as they saw it, in educational standards -- a lack of rigour in teaching the `three Rs', a lack of discipline and respect in schools, and poor teaching…”
Unhelpful for Students and Teachers
(23Oct05)“…A syllabus would provide teachers with an outline of possible routes to Sydney , for example, via the Hume Highway or around the coast, and there would be details of what all students should learn and what constitutes a pass or a fail...” Unhelpful for Students and Teachers by Kevin Donnelly “..Based on OBE (outcomes based education), not only are teachers denied a syllabus detailing the best way to Sydney , but children negotiate their own way in their own time, and as long as they eventually arrive, whether via Perth or Brisbane , all are considered successful…”
Report card fails postmodern student assessments
(11Sept05) “…Australians love competitive sport and the idea of winners and losers. Australian parents also want to know how well their children are traveling against others at school and whether they have passed or failed…Instead of pass or fail, student progress or lack of progress is clouded by such politically correct terms as beginning, established, consolidating or emerging, solid, comprehensive..” Report card fails postmodern student assessments by Kevin Donnelly in The Australian “.. While parents want an end to politically correct reports, the same cannot be said for those seeking to control our education system….The next time you drive across a bridge, hope that the engineers knew and respected the laws of physics and that their understanding was not at the "beginning" or "emerging" stage…. Not only do students in Japan , Singapore and The Netherlands regularly out-perform Australian students in international maths and science tests, but thousands of Australian students enter secondary schools illiterate and innumerate…”.
The Culture Wars in the Schools
(31Aug05) “….Teachers who have been taught in tertiary faculties steeped in political correctness have had, and are having, a significant impact on schools. As a result, instead of receiving an objective and balanced educa tion, students are given a one-sided view on issues like peace studies, history, multiculturalism, the environ ment, feminism and the class war.” The Culture Wars in the Schools by Kevin Donnelly (Quadrant April 2005) “….Those committed to political correctness argue that the mainstream Anglo-Celtic cultural tradition (represented by folk tales like "The Three Little Pigs") is inequitable, socially unjust and biased in that it fails to properly recognise and value the culture of so-called oppressed groups like Indigenous Australians, women and recently arrived migrants. Ignored is that "disci pline and hard work" might be worthwhile attributes to promote in young children….. The key values outlined in the ( Queensland ) SOSE document include; democratic processes, social justice, ecological and economic sustainability, and peace. Such values are interpreted from a left- wing, new-age perspective. Students are taught:
• that "knowledge is always tentative",
• that they should "deconstruct dominant views of society" and "critique the socially constructed ele ments of text",
• "how privilege and marginalisation are created and sustained in society", and
• how "the consumer of a text is positioned" and to consider "the possibility of who may have been marginalised by authors".
French Schools Lurch Towards Islamization
(8May05) France 's educational system appears headed towards meltdown. An article by Olivier Guitta in the May 9th Weekly Standard reports that a leaked study conducted between October 2003 and May 2004 under the auspices of France's inspector-general of education, Jean Pierre Obin, describes an educational system that is cracking under the strain of a growing, non-assimilating Muslim population. French Schools Lurch Towards Islamization from Moonbat.
Orbin found that Muslim students regularly boycott classes that concern Voltaire, Rousseau and Moliere, whom the students accuse of being anti-Islamic. The students also protest the Crusades and frequently deny the Holocaust. Orbin's report cites Muslim students' refusal to use the "plus" sign in mathematics because it looks like a crucifix; Muslims boycotting class trips to churches, cathedrals and monasteries; and forcing wholesale changes in school lunch fare to accommodate their religious and cultural practices.
Parents: Watch out for 'Constructivist Math
(23Apr05) "The curriculum is designed to address the failure to teach mathematics to girls and ethnic minorities -- not by creating high expectations, but by abandoning standards.." Parents: Watch out for 'Constructivist Math "We have replaced elitism with dull uniformity; rigor with smile buttons; pride in accomplishment with pride in showing up...Who would you prefer to have operating on you -- a surgeon driven by perfectionism or one taught through the years that exactitude isn't everything, and that even the most miserable performance is worth a gold star and a hug?"
Why Our Schools Teach Socialism
(20Feb05) Does this sound familiar? Why Our Schools Teach Socialism by Joe Larson in the Education Reporter "Democratic socialism" became the battle cry for socializing the United States . The goal was to "permeate and penetrate," then control from within. The socialists' first target was education, and they attacked with deceitful language. There were no badges or socialist labels; followers described themselves as "liberal," "progressive," and even "moderate." Words were the weapon of choice in this new war. By changing the meanings of words, socialists concealed their true purpose. This massive social engineering was carried out under the banners of "reform" and "social justice."
In the Humanist Magazine , Jan./Feb 1983, John Dunphy wrote: "The battle for mankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom . The classroom must and will become the arena of conflict between the old and the new…..”
Parent rage problem in schools: Principals report rising abuse
(13Feb05)“….When I was young and the school called our home, my dad would ask me, “What did you do?” said Terry Price, president of the Canadian Teachers Federation. Parent rage problem in schools: Principals report rising abuse "Now, there's such a shift that many parents' first reaction is 'What did the teacher do?' They seem to want to lay the blame anywhere but with their own children."
"Teaching in 1960s crackers," says inspector
(oct 2004) "The head of the government's education watchdog last night launched an unprecedented attack on teaching in primary schools in the 1960s and 1970s, claiming that much of it had been "plain crackers".David Bell, the chief inspector of schools, admitted he had come "off the fence" in criticising a succession of Labour and Conservative government education policies which for two decades had left children to learn for themselves." says Rebecca Smithers, education editor of the Guardian, in her article "Teaching in 1960s crackers", says inspector, which appeared on 6 October 2004
Multiculturalism's War on Education
(19Oct04 )' Multiculturalism seeks to inject an anti-Western dogma into today's curriculum.' Multiculturalism's War on Education by Elan Journo- The Ayn Rand Institute- September 23 2004
Surviving the latest classroom fads
'How successful are Australian schools? Judged by the annual complaints of the Australian Education Union (AEU), the answer is that our school system is failing and nothing will improve until more money is spent.' Surviving the latest classroom fads by Dr Kevin Donnelly Printed in News Weekly :17 May 2003
Children 'being brainwashed' by new green geography lessons
"...Pupils are leaving secondary school knowing "everything about pollution but nothing about rivers or mountains", say researchers from Canterbury University about the new "greenwash" approach to teaching. Children 'being brainwashed' by new green geography lessons By David Harrison, Environment Correspondent, UK Telegraph (Filed: 24/11/2002)
'Modern education, with its emphasis on non-absolutist standards, feelings and approximate "truth," strips us of the very knowledge and skills that we need in order to live. Here, a fictional story demonstrates how the tenets of modern education — from "fuzzy math" to "whole-word" reading — destroy a man's self-esteem and, ultimately, lead him to destroy himself.' From the Ayn Rand Institute Modern Education Kills by Edwin A. Locke (filedMonday February 25, 2002).
Communist purge plan for schools
What’s gone wrong in Education -Concerned about the deterioration in the Public School System??? It hasn’t been by accident… More by design. Everyone wrings their hands and despairs about discipline, violence (20,000 reports in the last 12 months- SMH 29/10/01) Reference to this article from the Sydney Morning Herald, Communist purge plan for schools (24/8/1971) explains a hell of a lot…More to the point, where were the politicians in all of this? Communist agenda or not, they are the one’s who have allowed it to happen. Read it and weep!!
Public schools are beyond reform and redemption
'... yes, Virginia , learning is hard work...' '...there is no consensus even on what education should accomplish. Business wants it to produce docile workers and mindless consumers. Various fanatics want it to produce cannon fodder for their respective ideological wars. Many parents just want public schools to baby-sit their brats so they can enjoy their soap operas in peace. In the meantime, colleges of education, better called institutions of no learning, are spreading the poison that education should be effortless and under no circumstances should any child have to earn self-esteem." but 'Contributing to the unlikelihood of serious reform is the disunity in a country that is being destroyed by immigration and by a moronic native population conditioned to despise its own heritage.'Public schools are beyond reform and redemption by Charley Reese (Published July 10, 2001). Once again, what is happening in America applies to Australia.
'Teachers, as well as parents, are rueing the day they lost the ability to physically discipline their children. The result is a predictable ‘smart alec ' attitude which inhibits the child's progress towards becoming an independent and respectful adult. How often have we witnessed a child of 10 or 11 threatening their parent or teacher with the words “you touch me and I'll report you to social welfare!” Oh yes, our children know their “rights” all right, but what damage is it doing to their thinking? 'Bring Back the Cane - TNA News with Commentary -Thursday 26 April 2001