< Changing Worldviews.Commentary >

Words are powerful - Thoughts shape - Ideas have consequences

Debra Rae

Author, "ABCs of Globalism"
Posted January 3, 2005

The Hijacking of State Schools
Part II: Nouveau Educationese

Because each field garnishes its own exclusive vocabulary, a trade word oftentimes connotes something altogether different from what the layman might presume. To the tourist, for instance, a Bombay duck is just that; but to the native chef of India, it is more accurately an indigenous fish—dried, salted, and served with curry.

These days, State educators likewise speak a language unfamiliar to most. Benign-sounding, but cutting edge buzzwords are more likely than not to elicit knowing nods from the uninitiated public. For instance, timeless, cross-culture values now need “clarifying.” Today, authority figures are “partners” and parents, “allies”; teachers are “coaches” and students, “human capital.” “Process thinking,” “consensus,” “transformation,” and “the possibilities mind” may bring to mind students working in concert so that each might realize lofty academic goals, but this by no means paints the full picture.

“Process Thinking”
Keep in mind that “back-to-basics” means one thing to traditionalists, but something else to progressives. For example, the 3-R’s historically represent “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic.” Note that pioneer progressives demean all three as “cumbersome anchors” that “block the dialectic process.” Instead, the latter advance the New 3-R’s of “relating, representing, and reasoning.”

“Well and good,” you say; but think again. Agreeable-sounding contemporary and/or recycled vocabulary often bolsters a not-so-satisfactory agenda. Too often State-school youth are coerced into the straight jacket of cosmically aware and politically correct collective consciousness. Process-over-content indoctrination and cradle-to-grave control crouch undetected and poised to claim their unwitting victims.

“Consensus”
To bring about “group think” under peer pressure, Hegelian dialectic or conflict resolution, otherwise known as the Delphi Technique, is the behavior modification tactic of choice. You see, in Sustainable Values, Ross McCluney calls for a new, more liberal core set of values that the entire species can agree upon. Without a shared point of the compass, however, two cannot possibly walk together in agreement—that is, unless rugged individualism bows to consensus, and “gray” thinking prevails over absolutes. In the dialectic process, ends always justify means; and through it, educrats handily discredit notions of fixed rights or wrongs. Students, then, are primed for “transformation” to the new mindset.

To ease this process, facts, formulas, and laws of physics—that is, absolutes—are necessarily undermined for their inherent divisiveness. Spelling becomes more a matter of personal discretion, and any-old stab at reading is rewarded when students execute whole-word or configuration strategies. Certainly not to be mistaken for measurable, merited accomplishment, successful cosmic education relies instead on “balanced energy,” “human potential,” and “egoic advancement.” To mask demonstrably declining academic skill levels, youngsters are pumped up with fanciful notions of Self.

Today’s lifelong psycho-social process of relearning (also called “deschooling”) systematically supplants independence with interdependence, individual creativity with collectivism. Now, State schools employ unionized “change agents” to train human resources for specific placement in pre-determined, entry-level vocations that support our global economy.

To further the plan in Washington State, a bevy of bureaucrats collude with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). Take, for example, Dr. Robert Carkhuff, creator of HRD Press (1975). This self-described, self-published scientist and educator has yet to publish in peer reviewed journals; nonetheless, his ever-unfolding pseudo-social science underpins a radical theory of cosmic education shared by his fellows.

“Transformation”
OSPI colleagues and longtime friends Drs. Shirley McCune, Andrew Griffin, Robert Carkhuff, and Superintendent Terry Bergeson share interest in the disturbingly esoteric study of the paranormal and human potential. See for yourself in The Light Shall Set You Free (Athena Publishing, 1996) and The Possibilities Mind (HRD Press 2000) by Drs. McCune and Carkhuff, respectively. In said pursuit of transpersonal psychology, Dr. Carkhuff applies his own make-believe formula (Energy=PE²1³) to measure human energy toward self-actualization, clarified by McCune as looking to “the Light within” in our collective journey toward the Fifth Dimension—that is, cosmic mindfulness entered through altered states of consciousness. The way to that Light, she claims, is to increase one’s vibration frequency.

Sounds to me like a religious experience. True, Dr. McCune has the constitutional right to believe as she does. Keep in mind, however, that the “path to power,” as she puts it, “requires a whole new curriculum and set of guidelines.” Don’t think for a moment that this federal liaison refrains from exposing children to her arcane theological grid. Without apology, McCune commissions “classrooms of today” to “accept expanded concepts of who and what we really are.” This, my friend, is New Age occultism. Enabling her nefarious vision, taxpayers reward Theosophist Dr. McCune with a generous salary akin to that of the Superintendent.

“The Possibilities Mind”
The utopian brave new world of infinite possibilities, purportedly achieved by Carkhuff’s Links Project, costs taxpayers an additional $13 million in federal grants. His similarly perplexing paradigm identifies “the possibilities mind” as god—yes, god—who allegedly co-processes with us to illuminate his so-called mysteries. In order to engage in “mutual processing for mutual benefit,” one must “process the interdependent phenomena.” Only then will he discover his capacity “to become one”—first, with any phenomenon (product or service); then, with god.

If this isn’t weird enough, “the possibilities mind” discards what is dubbed dysfunctional traditional math for “constructivist learning.” Forget numerals. Students are required—not to solve a problem with its correct answer—but rather to use their “team voices” to “think about mathematics” and how it makes them feel. Carkhuff advances a similarly troublesome new science of possibilities.

The ageless adage, “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is flat out wrong. As we have seen, words do hurt, and they can mislead. Before the hijacking of State schools is complete, the public must intervene—and fast. For this reason, Nouveau Educationese should pique our curiosity, spawn a thorough look-see, and sharpen our vigilance. Kids deserve no less from us. Don’t you agree?

© Debra Rae 2004 Reprinted with Permission

Debra Rae received her Master of Education degree from the University of Washington, and her Bachelor of Theology Master of Ministries degrees from Pacific School of Theology. Her work spans pre-school through adult education, including teaching at the American School of Kuwait, during which time she tutored the daughter of Kuwait's Head of Parliament. After marrying Debra joined her husband in further exploration of Africa, Asia, East- and West- Europe, North- and South- Americas -- about 70,000 miles their first year of marriage! One trip featured a memorable jaunt on the elegant British Concorde. Her book, ABCs of Globalism has prompted numerous radio interviews aired across the nation, the Western Hemisphere, Russia, and the Middle East. And her latest, the ABC’s of Cultural-isms is its sequel.