[Project.leer] decolonizing the curriculum/science must fall

Also fyi- The other related issue that we might pick up next is the “decolonizing the curriculum”- if it hasn’t trickled down to you yet, likely will soon. This video was circulated widely a few years back on the “science must fall” movement out of South Africa- https://youtu.be/C9SiRNibD14 Which has become “decolonizing the curriculum”- https://www.nas.org/academic-questions/33/3/decolonizing-the-curriculum https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003027140-11/scie... In the US- is playing out as science is oppressive and racist, teaching a=the a sound is a form of colonization because English is…well. Largely a Germanic language (There is the same issue in South America by the way around Spanish…because Spanish…is well…from Spain). And then there is 2+2=5, no objective truth can be found, etc. lots of the post-modern anti-truth stuff we debated in the 1990s under the science war umbrella- back again in a new form…basically, it has taken the place of the anti-science space of the whole language/constructivist movements of the 1990s with a focus on deskilling the curriculum and normalizing problem, anti-social and deviant behavior. But I thought then, as now, science is a tool that can be used for good, or ill. And what would these people say: https://www.famousafricanamericans.org/top-10-famous-african-american-sci... or early Americans like Crispus Attucks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispus_Attucks Or Benjamin Banneker- someone every kid should know about…especially the fascinating correspondence between him and Thomas Jefferson. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Banneker It also dove tails sadly with the CRT stuff which comes to us in the area of disability in the form of “DisCrit”- which also views science, evidence-based practices, and special education as racist and oppressive…as ”science is a form of colonization” and “special education is a form of segregation”. Here is a piece on how it is negatively impacting STEM from Sokol- he is a physics from NYU- weighed in on the last round of science wars in the 1990s. in the end, it undercuts the very Enlightenment principles that Banneker and our much maligned founding fathers were working from… https://academic.oup.com/jope/article/57/2/517/7148290 However some of this started- likely with some good intentions- it has become incredibly regressive and harmful in the way it is playing out. By taking the stance that science statistics and math are racist and oppressive- there is a very real danger of harming an entire generation of CLD learners who will be negatively impacted, either through deskilling instruction, or turning off an entire generation of young talented African American and Hispanic students who could make important contributions in STEM fields. Or in our area- it is the issue of bringing empirical practices to bear on closing achievement gaps with CLD learners- the very reason Bowman and Boon and I wrote Project DIVERSE. To invest in a “Benjamin Banneker” generation that would focus on science and special education at the intersection of CLD and disability. We need diverse scholars (people like you…I am the least diverse person of us all…😊 ) who can think clearly and rationally and bring the best of what science has to offer on how to close achievement gaps for students with or at-risk of disabilities, promote human flourishing for CLD learners, and improve quality of life and wellbeing. Unfortunately, we occupy the same intellectual space as many promoting really harmful things now in the name of justice or rather- I think now injustice…I also fear you all might have to suffer a bit- being stuck working with a former high school history teacher who now is both a middle aged moralist and seems to have taken up history/special ed blogging 😊 MDB From: Burke, Mack <Mack_Burke(a)baylor.edu&gt; Date: Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 11:46 AM To: project.leer(a)lists.it.utsa.edu <project.leer(a)lists.it.utsa.edu&gt;, project.diverse(a)lists.it.utsa.edu <project.diverse(a)lists.it.utsa.edu&gt; Cc: Morgan, Grant <Grant_Morgan(a)baylor.edu&gt;, Saxon, Terrill <Terrill_Saxon(a)baylor.edu&gt;, Carter, Erik <Erik_Carter(a)baylor.edu&gt;, Hagan-Burke, Shanna <Shanna_Hagan-Burke(a)baylor.edu&gt; Subject: [Project.diverse] Building International Capacity for an Inclusive Special Education: Views from Germany, Tanzania and the United States For those interested in international issues around disability- we just submitted this one- crossing fingers we get good reviews- have to say, I still can’t get over the witch doctor thing with kids who are albino in Tanzania…the people from University of Dodoma and Patandi Teachers College cited this one on the organ trade…MDB https://enactafrica.org/enact-observer/buried-alive-tanzanias-albinos-pay... Mack D. Burke, Ph.D. Department of Educational Psychology Applied Behavior Analysis and Special Education Programs Behavioral Education & Assessment Research (BEAR Lab) School of Education, Baylor University