itsboring.net

The left's stranglehold on higher education is nicely exemplified by The University of Minnesota College of Education's proposed plan for qualifying and training prospective teachers.  Katherine Kersten:

In a report compiled last summer, the Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group at the U's College of Education and Human Development recommended that aspiring teachers there must repudiate the notion of "the American Dream" in order to obtain the recommendation for licensure required by the Minnesota Board of Teaching. Instead, teacher candidates must embrace -- and be prepared to teach our state's kids -- the task force's own vision of America as an oppressive hellhole: racist, sexist and homophobic.

The task group is part of the Teacher Education Redesign Initiative, a multiyear project to change the way future teachers are trained at the U's flagship campus. The initiative is premised, in part, on the conviction that Minnesota teachers' lack of "cultural competence" contributes to the poor academic performance of the state's minority students. Last spring, it charged the task group with coming up with recommendations to change this. In January, planners will review the recommendations and decide how to proceed.

The report advocates making race, class and gender politics the "overarching framework" for all teaching courses at the U. It calls for evaluating future teachers in both coursework and practice teaching based on their willingness to fall into ideological lockstep.

The first step toward "cultural competence," says the task group, is for future teachers to recognize -- and confess -- their own bigotry. Anyone familiar with the reeducation camps of China's Cultural Revolution will recognize the modus operandi.

The following blog posts further analyze the plan and provide excellent commentary:

Hot Air - University of Minnesota demanding political allegiance for educators?

Hot Air - FIRE: Those U-Minn teacher-program requisites have our attention.

SCSU Scholars - Quick followup on dispositions:  Preaching to the choir.

Shot in the Dark - Indefinite Detention.

National Review, Phi Beta Cons - Thought Reform at the University of MInnesota?