LET’S TALK ABOUT IT…
What Does It Mean to ‘Think Critically’?

Do you know who this man is?

If not, you should.

He is influencing your children.

To properly understand today’s schools, you must know a man by the name of Paolo Freire. Freire is the most significant figure in American education int he past 50 years and he is cited in academic papers more often than Einstein. He has been described as a titan of the education industry and is internationally recognized and celebrated. Freire was a Brazilian Marxist who was brought to the United States via Harvard University in the 1980s and has been a pillar of American education ever since. His educational philosophy has been taught to teachers and administrators through education colleges for decades. Freire’s education methods influence how your kids are taught in Poudre School District and Thompson School District right now.

So what is Freire’s philosophy on education and can it really be tied to your neighborhood school and local district?

The Kingdom of God on Earth

Freire first started writing about education in the 1970s, and he criticized the methods of the time based on the belief that they simply duplicated the current society, which he saw as inherently unfair and oppressive. Freire believed that children were taught to replicate their current social circumstances and were never taught to actually see that their society and culture was problematic. The Brazilian Marxist, who admired and quoted Marxist leaders such as Mao Zedong and Che Guevara, viewed the world as a constant struggle of power dynamics between the oppressed and oppressors. His most influential book that permeates American teachers education pipelines is even titled, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Freire’s educational practice is based on a foundation of critical theory:

1. We can imagine a perfect society which has been freed from all the suffering and inequities of the current world.

2. All the imperfections and inequities within the current society should be highlighted and relentlessly criticized.

3. Action must be continually taken to resolve the the perceived problems with the current society until society transforms into the envisioned perfect society from step 1.

It is important to understand that Freire believed that education should be used to develop a child’s critical consciousness. Someone with critical consciousness has been awakened to the sociopolitical conditions which surround him and commits to taking action to bring about a new and better world.

Freire’s educational philosophy can be described in religious terms, as it is based on the idea that the world can be perfected by man, using education as the mediator for denouncing and criticizing the existing world so that the transformed new perfected world envisioned by those with critical consciousness can be realized.

Henry Giroux, another influential academic in American education, described Freire’s philosophy in religious terms:

This is the foundation upon which modern American education is based.

The Kingdom & Your Kid

Evidence of this educational philosophy can be found throughout local school districts. Poudre School District offered a professional development class for its teachers in 2022 studying the book Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. One of the stated goals of the class was for, “Learning and developing the ability to read texts (including print and social contexts) to understand power, equity and anti-oppression.”

Evidence of denouncing of the current world with the encouragement of using action to create a new and better world can be found in PSD’s world history textbook when it states: “…structures of capitalism trend toward increasing inequality over time...market economies result in a gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" that grows bigger over time. So without corrective action, a disparity between rich and poor will continue.” Do you see the Freirian message embedded here?  Capitalism creates unfairness and action must be taken.

In elementary schools, teachers are taught to weave social lessons into all disciplines throughout the school day. Books such as Pink is for Boys and Not My Idea: a Book About Whiteness are read to local elementary students and the books are used as mediators for discussions about perceived shortfalls of current western society.

The Colorado Department of Education recommends to Colorado teachers the Human Rights Campaign’s Welcoming Schools lessons. The one below guides teachers on how to draw social issues into all educational disciplines—yes, even math.

Teachers in PSD have also studied the book The Civically Engaged Classroom: Reading, Writing, and Speaking for Change. This book advises teachers on ways to teach local kids to view the world critically, analyzing it through a lens of bias, identity and privilege. The book then teaches the teachers how to incite their students into action for transforming the world.

Maybe This Explains the Academic Results

The education industry has embraced and perpetuated Freire’s educational philosophy and it is evident in our community. Realizing this made the academic results from our local districts more understandable. Local public education is built on a foundation of denouncing the current world and using educational lessons as the opportunity to highlight social conditions that are perceived as limiting the revelation of the new and improved, transformed world.

Perhaps this explains PSD’s lack of interest in remediating perpetually poor math scores, for instance. Several PSD middle schools have over 60% of the students as below expectations in math yet PSD leadership has never meaningfully discussed remediating the academic shortfalls. In contrast, PSD routinely highlights social conditions and elements of bias and racism for students and their staff.

We wonder if students and our community deserves better.

TRENDING CONVERSATIONS
America IS Cool

This is one of the best social media conversations we have seen.  Instead of focusing on what is problematic in America, this thread is dedicated to what is AMAZING in America.

Click this link, scroll through, and feel grateful.

Add something local to the list.

IS THIS A GOOD IDEA?
Colorado Civil Rights Rules Creators

Colorado regulations dictate that all public entities must allow access to restrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms and dormitories consistent with a person’s “gender identity”, which is defined as an internal feeling a person has about themselves. These ‘rules’ were determined by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies’ Civil Rights Commission. The Civil Rights Commission is a seven-member group appointed by the governor of Colorado. None of these rule-makers are elected by citizens, yet they have the power to conduct hearings, provide policy advice to the Governor and Colorado General Assembly, and create rules and regulations to which Colorado residents are subjected. Commission membership requires three of the seven members to be union representatives and at least four commissioners must be “members of groups of people who have been or who might be discriminated against…” 

Should unelected commissioners have the power to create policy and rules which are legally binding on Colorado citizens?

WHY WAS I NEVER TOLD?
Poet Phillis Wheatley and Her Famous Friends

Separated from her family in Africa by brute force as a seven or eight year old, she witnessed death and horror on the Middle Passage enroute to America before being inhumanely sold as chattel on the Boston docks in 1761. Yet despite her tragic experiences, she rose to become one of the most respected and revered poets of the turn of the 19th century in revolutionary America.

Phillis Wheatley was “a slender, frail female child” bought for a “trifle” because the slave ship captain thought she was terminally ill. The young slave was embraced by her mistress Susannah Wheatley, who taught the bright young girl to read, write, and speak English fluently within about a year. Phillis was baptized at the Old South Church in Boston and studied the Bible and Christian teachings.

Incredibly, within six years of being on a slave ship, Wheatley, at the age of only 14, was recognized as an expert poet, writing an address to the graduates of Harvard College’s class of 1767. Wheatley’s work was recognized and promoted in London by significant Revolutionary leaders such as Boston Governor Thomas Hutchinson and signer of the Declaration John Hancock.

Wheatley’s poetry prowess challenged the racist ideas of the day and inspired changes of heart in prominent figures such as John Paul Jones and George Washington. After reading Wheatley’s work praising his moral strength and character, Washington invited her to his Boston Campaign headquarters; the two likely met in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the spring of 1776. Wheatley wrote of Washington, “Fam’d for thy valour, for thy virtues more. Hear every tongue thy guardian aid implore!” to which Washington responded, “…and however undeserving I may be of such encomium and panegyrick, the style and manner exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical Talents.”

During her time, Wheatley was criticized by some for being “too white”, yet she remained focused on framing her vision of humanity through her Biblical belief, pushing human morality to focus on the higher level principle that embraced each human as individually equal, not grouped by race.

Read more about this amazing early American slave and poet HERE.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION:

☑️ ATTEND the PSD Board of Education’s Meeting on Tuesday, September 10th at 5:30pm. Meeting details are HERE.

☑️ BUY tickets to a conversation which will evaluate the relationship between faith, reason, and the pursuit of knowledge. Theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss will speak with Stephen Hicks, a distinguished philosopher known for his work on postmodernism and the philosophy of religion. More information HERE.

☑️ SING patriotic songs and learn to better understand the U.S. Constitution during the Blessings of Liberty’s Constitution Week event. Ticket information HERE.

☑️ SHARE this newsletter with anyone who believes in asking good questions and having curious conversations! Subscribe HERE.