IB Wary of IB
I finally got to see the entire video of the school board meeting that discussed the controversial “International Baccalaureate” program. School Board member, Kurt Webber, supports this program based on his eye witness account of how the military mishandled things in Iraq. I have two nephews that served in the military, one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan. They would agree with Mr. Webber’s description of how the US military didn’t properly prepare its personnel to deal with the people’s culture. I’ve also read much on this subject in regards to our military schools revising a curriculum to deal with the problem. Yes, it’s a new problem because I’m assuming that we had more in common with our European allies than our Middle Eastern allies (from a cultural stand point). I would completely agree that It’s a good idea to understand the language, religion, and culture of the people that you’re trying to help before you start killing the bad guys in their country.
So I ask; what does that have anything to do with a child’s k-12 education in Gilford? I believe Mr. Webber finished his statement with this “If it’s good enough for the military then it’s good enough for Gilford schools.” Really? Excellent, I’m looking forward to the new weapon’s training classes or how about those maneuvers. Maybe we incorporate some other military traditions such as latrine duty and kitchen post. This would certainly save money and more importantly provide job training for our students, which is good because the educators have no apparent intentions of actually providing an education that allows them to compete for skilled jobs. Another benefit to the IB program is that it might prepare our children to better understand the culture of the people they will be working for. They might also find out that many other countries don’t reward laziness and failure. This will be important when they are living on the street corner begging for food. It is unfortunate that our educators have been suckered into an education program that is popular in Europe where the culture is being strangled by religious fanatics. As Europe countries lose their way to socialism and religious freedom, “third world” countries such as China and the former soviet Union are growing stronger while maintaining their sovereignty.
Many of these so called “third world nations” are driving their children to succeed and compete for skilled jobs in the new global economy. The children of these countries are entrenched in advanced math, reading and writing skills. Their testing requirements are very rigid and those that succeed are publicly rewarded with front row seating and special assignments. The competition to be the best is what drives each student to study harder and perform better. They aren’t allowed to look like freaks and “express themselves” in school. While our children are busy playing video games at the library and collecting coins for a sidewalk to nowhere, their children are working harder than ever to take our children’s place in the global job market.
The premise to provide a “global” curriculum seems to be based on the need to provide an understanding that people can have different cultures and still coexist together. To achieve this goal we need to completely change the entire curriculum? Are the educators so clueless that they don’t see how much exposure today’s children get on the changing world? Our children have been so indoctrinated into the hypersensitive politically correct world that I’m not even sure what culture they would present to the international community, as “American”. There indoctrination comes courtesy of so many outlets in their daily lives such as MTV, My Space, and an array of teen magazines. Throw in the public outlets sponsored by any number of government funded programs and what more do they really need?
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