< Changing Worldviews.Commentary >

Words are powerful - Thoughts shape - Ideas have consequences

Allen Quist

EdWatch
Posted July 26, 2004

International Baccalaureate
The New Left is Not Dead

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program was started in the mid 1960s by European diplomats who wanted their children to have an undergraduate program that would enable them to attend college anywhere in the world. IB is run by a non-governmental organization called the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). In 1996 UNESCO formed a “partnership” with IBO to form what it called a universal “curriculum framework for peace education.” [Reported in The Washington Times, January 18, 2004]

IB has been adopted by 1,450 schools worldwide, 502 of them being in the United States. IB requires that the tests administered under the program be sent to the IB headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland for grading. The U.S. Department of Education recently established a $1.2 million grant program for middle schools that are willing to participate in IB and become feeder schools for IB high schools. [Ibid]

The Washington Times reported that IB is now a pilot program of UNESCO developed for the purpose of creating what UNESCO calls an “international education system.” The purpose of IB, said UNESCO, is to “… be a school of values, attitudes, [and] above all of practical action … [Ibid]

The IB website states that the IB curriculum is based on six themes. These six themes are as follows [http://www.ibo.org]:

[1] Who we are
[2] Where we are in place and time
[3] How we express ourselves
[4] How the world works
[5] How we organize ourselves
[6] Sharing the planet

These six themes focus more on attitudes, values, beliefs and behavior than on academic knowledge, just as UNESCO said. That is, IB is transformational education as opposed to knowledge-based education. The IB themes taken together constitute a worldview--an overall philosophy of life. According to UNESCO, the worldview taught by IB includes the promotion of the Earth Charter (a religious/pantheistic document),* the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which views human rights the same way Communist countries view human rights) ** and multiculturalism (which is based on the ideology of Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci).*** [http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=14697&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.htmll]

Because of the non-academic nature of IB, many colleges and universities will not accept IB courses as fulfilling undergraduate requirements for admission. [Reported in The Washington Times, January 18, 2004]

America’s foundational principles of national sovereignty, natural law and inalienable rights are at odds with the IB curriculum and are not taught. IBO explicitly states that its curriculum does not follow the political system of any particular nation, including the United States.

In summary, IB is a transformational system of education which exists to promote internationalism. It is structured to change the attitudes, values, beliefs and behavior of its students to conform to the world government system. Dr. Ian Hill, Deputy Director of IBO, recently said that the primary goal of IBO is the promotion of “world citizenship.” [In his article, “Curriculum Development and Ethics in International Education,” given at the UN Disarmament Forum, 2001, http://www.unidir.ch/pdf/articles/pdf-art53.pdf]

* The Earth Charter is a broadly defined religious and political document that promotes the following positions:

1. Earth worship (pantheism).
2. Socialized medicine.
3. World government.
4. Abortion on-demand.
5. Education for sustainability including spiritual education in New Age/pantheism.
6. Adoption of the gay rights agenda.
7. Elimination of the right to bear arms.

** The UN Declaration of Human Rights ends with the words: “These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.” That is, the UN Declaration of Human Rights takes the same form as the constitutions of all Communist countries which say that governmental policies have higher standing than individual human rights. The U.S. Declaration of Independence, in contrast, states that human rights have a higher priority than government decisions.

*** Multiculturalism, as defined by Samuel Huntington, Richard Bernstein, and David Horowitz:

1. Believes that all cultures are equal. It also intends that all groups have equal outcomes -- on income levels, education test scores, use of natural resources, and the like.
2. Follows the Marxist worldview that portrays government as being a creation of the powerful used to keep themselves in control and used to exploit the weak and vulnerable.
3. Is postmodernist. It views knowledge as being a tool by which the powerful subdue the vulnerable. Even language and traditional academic disciplines such as mathematics are viewed as constructs by which the strong exploit the weak
4. Views history as the study of "multiple perspectives" of history. Traditional history is to be deconstructed, and students are expected to construct their own history (under the guidance of IB instructors).
5. Sees morality, modesty, human rights and the family as being mere constructs. Believes that marriage is a creation of powerful males used to keep vulnerable females under subjection. Includes obscenity for the purpose of deconstructing student beliefs about modesty, morality and marriage.
6. Takes a negative view of individualism. Group identity and group rights are promoted instead. An emphasis on group projects and group grading is used to teach group identification and group consciousness.
7. Sees private property rights from the same Marxist perspective. Views Christianity as a construct used by the powerful to exploit the masses. Multiculturalism is opposed to Christianity.

[This article is included in the Appendix of The Battle For America Being Fought In Our Schools, by Allen Quist, to be published in the Fall of 2004]

© Allen Quist 2004 Reprinted with Permission

Allen Quist served three terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives where he was Chair of the Social Services Subcommittee and sat on the House Education Committee. He was chief author of numerous bills including the bill that created Minnesota's Department of Jobs and Training and played an influential role in legalizing home schools in Minnesota. He was the Republican endorsed candidate for Governor in 1994 and was one of seven delegates elected from his state to the White House Conference on Families. He holds a BA, a Masters degree and a Masters of Divinity degree, and is currently Professor of Political Science at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minnesota. He is author of "Fed Ed - the Federal Curriculum and How It's Being Enforced." Contact: edwatch@lakes.com
Website: www.edwatch.org