The Politicization of University Schools of Education: The Long March through the Education Schools

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. 353 East Six Forks Road Suite 200, Raleigh, NC 27609. Tel: 919-828-1400; Fax: 919-828-7455; Web site: https://www.jamesgmartin.center/

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101

Schools of Education; Politics of Education; Teacher Education Curriculum; Course Descriptions; Political Attitudes; Progressive Education; Educational History; Critical Theory; Multicultural Education; Ideology; Social Change

North Carolina; Michigan; Wisconsin (Madison)

Few institutions receive more attention and more funding than our education system. And it certainly warrants that attention; after all, education plays a big part in determining the future. Reformers abound, for both higher education and the K-12 system. But they have largely missed one of the most crucial components of education, our schools of education, where future teachers are trained. They are out of sight and unapproachable for the K-12 reformers, and too technical and too much on the periphery for those who focus on higher education's shortcomings. That has proven a grave error. Education schools are fundamental to all education. They are serving the nation badly, and it's not just about test scores and graduation rates. Teacher education has become one of the most politicized corners of academia, an institution that is already out of step with the rest of the country politically. Education schools are leading the charge to "transform" the nation, and that transformation is not leading us to a better, freer, more prosperous, more humane society. This politicization of the education schools is not new, it is not invisible, and it is not occurring through random happenstance or by good ideas pushing out bad ones. It started over 100 years ago in the Progressive era, when the education schools first emerged as a body of experts who focused on "teaching" as a science; many of those experts were socialists who were open about their intentions to change the nation. The report reveals the extent of that politicization using two approaches. One is historical and operates at the theoretical level, showing how education schools were ideological from the start and became more so over time. The second is empirical. Education school syllabi were obtained from three leading schools of education: the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Michigan, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Recommended and assigned reading selections were quantified to discover the most popular authors. [This report was funded by the Thomas W. Smith Foundation.]

ERIC

2019

ED594180