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Posts Tagged ‘John Goodlad’

Yesterday I was in a panic over an email I received from someone who was quite upset at a flier that was circulating concerning Steve Baugh. I won’t post that email here but suffice it to say, it made the flier sound horrible and specifically fingered me as the person providing quotes that attacked Steve Baugh in a very negative way. I immediately sent out an email to my list asking if people made their own fliers to make sure they had the story straight and not put words in anyone’s mouth, mine or candidates.

It turns out my panic was unjustified. When I later obtained a copy of the flier, I saw that it was fact based and merely pointed out troubling associations for Mr. Baugh to answer to. When did it become taboo to ask candidates uncomfortable questions? When they run as a Democrat but don’t tell people or want people to bring that up? When they tout church callings in their campaign materials in an effort to garner religious votes?

Mr. Baugh told the Deseret News yesterday that the flier was “Half truths. Quotes out of context. Lack of references,” he said. “Accusing me of being a socialist, that’s nonsense. It’s ridiculous.” Here is the actual flier that was being distributed from Linda Jardine.

Dear Steve Baugh Supporter:

I am giving you this letter because you have a Steve Baugh sign in your yard.  I have a Sandstrom sign in mine, but I’m not affiliated with him or his campaign.  While Steve Baugh seems like a nice man, nowhere in his literature, web site, or signs does it even mention that he is a Democrat, which I consider deceptive.  His brochure says he is a “Mainstream Candidate”.  But Mr. Baugh has a socialist agenda and I don’t consider that “mainstream”.  His brochure says he is a “Man you can Trust!”.  But he is not a man I can trust because the values he espouses are very different from the values I hold dear.  Character is what guides a man in the choices he makes in his life and will, in this case if he is elected, guide him in making the laws of our state.

Mr. Baugh is the director of the CITES program (Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling) at BYU.  His bio on BYU’s website says: “ I am interested in the moral dimensions of teaching as identified by Dr. John Goodlad.” Canadian Dr. John Goodlad espouses the ideas of John Dewey, the founder of humanism, and is in favor of transforming America from a republic to a socialist state. Also, Dr. Goodlad’s NNER (National Network for Educational Renewal) “is aware of, concerned about, has a commitment to and is an advocate of LGBTQQIIAA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Intergender, Asexual, Ally) concerns.”  The confirmed terrorist-turned-educator, Mr. William Ayers, was a keynote speaker at NNER’s conference this year.  You may think Mr. Baugh doesn’t have much to do with these people, but NNER’s online publication was written by CITES.  The people with whom Mr. Baugh has allied himself are not those whom I trust to teach children, let alone make laws in our state!

Mr. Baugh is a former superintendent of Alpine School District.  He was there when the Investigations math program began, which still continues.  This program is questionable at best because it does not teach basic math skills like multiplication tables, and leaves children unprepared to function in life.  It is one of the reasons that many parents have taken their children out of Alpine School District and placed them in charter schools or home schooled them.  There is also a great deal of controversy regarding Alpine School District’s mission statement: “Enculturating the Young into a Social and Political Democracy”, which is a direct quote from Dr. Goodlad.   Mr. Oak Norton has explained a lot more than I have room for here in his website at www.utahsrepublic.org/actions-items/why-i-believe-candidate-steve-baugh-should-not-be-elected.  He quotes some of Dr. Goodlad’s “moral dimensions of teaching” as:

• “Most youth still hold the same values of their parents… if we do not alter this pattern, if we don’t resocialize, our system will decay.”

• “Parents do not own their children.  They have no ‘natural right’ to control their education fully.”

• “the curriculum of the future will be what one might call the humanistic curriculum.”

• “Enlightened social engineering is required to face situations that demand global action now.”

• “…the state we should strive for is better described in Deweyan terms as a social democracy.”

• “Educators must resist the quest for certainty.  If there were certainty there would be no scientific advancement.  So it is with morals and patriotism.”

These socialist views are subversive to our government and way of life.  I don’t believe we want to have a man representing us in the legislature, and making our laws, who espouses the view that children should be indoctrinated against the teachings of their parents or that has a problem with patriotism.  It isn’t hard to see why these ideas aren’t in Mr. Baugh’s literature, website or signs.

I urge you to study both candidates and become informed; this is a critical election.  Then I hope you will join me in voting for Representative Stephen Sandstrom on November 2^nd.

Thank you,

Linda Jardine

Mr. Baugh, the references to the Goodlad quotes are on this page of this site.

The link to the reference you make concerning your bio page is here.

On the LGBTQQIIAA quote, I’m not finding Linda’s exact quote in a quick Google search but this document I found shows the NNER is fully in support of the above statement here.

I would also be interested in what you claim are half-truths. As for being out of context, please prove it. I’ve read Goodlad and he is bad news. He’s a humanist and does not meet our Utah community values. The only thing I might change about this flier is where Linda says, “Mr. Baugh has a socialist agenda,” I would have said, “Mr. Baugh follows an individual with a socialist agenda.” Only a slight modification and certainly doesn’t diminish the question raised. Linda also shares something I didn’t know, that CITES (for which Mr. Baugh is the director) actually PUBLISHED the NNER Today update for 2009-2010. (Scroll to the very bottom to find CITES printing this document)

I would also be interested in knowing why you support the Citizens Ethics Initiative which will destroy our system of checks and balances and create an elitist oligarchy in Utah. I would also like to know why your organization CITES has stonewalled Senator Margaret Dayton’s attempt at finding out where public tax dollars CITES has received have gone to. There is nothing wrong in the world of politics with asking these questions and learning the truth about a candidate’s positions BEFORE they get in office. Associations are fair game as well. If America had known Barack Obama’s association with radical Marxists before the election, we wouldn’t have a president who has put Marxist revolutionaries into his cabinet and other important posts throughout our government and now direct our agenda. Why should a potential state representative get a pass just because he’s a nice guy?

By Susie Schnell, Meredith Schnell, and Oak Norton

“And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments.” -Mosiah 23:14

“Public education has served as a check on the power of parents, and this is another powerful reason for maintaining it.” – John Goodlad, Developing Democratic Character in the Young, pg. 165 “[schools] should liberate students from the ways of thinking imposed by religions and other traditions of thought.” -John Goodlad, “Education and Community,” in Democracy, Education, and the Schools, Roger Stone, pg. 92.	“There is a spirit working among the Saints to educate their own offspring. If our children will be all we will have for a foundation of glory in eternity, how needful that they be properly trained… There are wolves among us in sheep’s clothing ready to lead astray our little ones… Wolves do not devour old sheep when there are any young ones. I have herded sheep long enough to know that. Look after your children.” – Elder John W. Taylor, (Collected Discourses 2:138.) “There are three dangers that threaten the church from within, and the authorities need to awaken to the fact that the people should be warned unceasingly against them. As I see them, they are flattery of prominent men in the world, false educational ideas, and sexual impurity.” -President Joseph F. Smith (Gospel Doctrine p. 312-313.)
“Most youth still hold the same values of their parents… if we do not alter this pattern, if we don’t resocialize, our system will decay.” – John Goodlad, Schooling for the Future, Issue #9, 1971	“Many activities link the values of one generation to the next, but perhaps the most central of these activities is parents teaching children in the home. This is especially true when we consider the teaching of values, moral and ethical standards, and faith.” -Elder L. Tom Perry, April 2010 LDS General Conference
“Parents do not own their children. They have no ‘natural right’ to control their education fully.” – John Goodlad / Developing Democratic Character in the Young, pg. 164	“[We should] reassert the primary right and responsibility of parents for the total education of their children, including social values, religious convictions, and political concepts. Schools should be reminded that their primary field of competence is academic, not social adjustment, or world citizenship, or sex education. Parents should stand firm on this and not be intimidated by ‘professional educators.’ After all, it’s their children and their money.” -Ezra Taft Benson (An Enemy Hath Done This, p. 231)
“Education is a task for both parents and state. The state, parents, and children all have interests that must be protected.” – John Goodlad, Developing Democratic Character in the Young, 2001, pg. 164	“While other institutions, such as church and school, can assist parents to ‘train up a child in the way he [or she] should go’ (Proverbs 22:6), ultimately this responsibility rests with parents. According to the great plan of happiness, it is parents who are entrusted with the care and development of our Heavenly Father’s children. ” -Elder L. Tom Perry, April 2010 LDS General Conference
“The curriculum of the future will be what one might call the humanistic curriculum.” – John Goodlad / Directions of Curriculum Change, The NEA Journal, March 1966 “Education is thus a most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic Sunday-schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?” -Charles Potter, co-signer with John Dewey of the Humanist Manifesto, “Humanism: a New Religion”, pg. 128(Humanism is the denial of God and elevation of man. It is the “Korihor” doctrine if you are LDS.)	“Humanism is a threat to the work of the Lord. One of the greatest threats to the work of the Lord today comes from false educational ideas. There is a growing tendency of teachers within and without the church to make academic interpretations of gospel teachings – to read, as a prophet leader has said, ‘by the lamp of their own conceit.’ Unfortunately, much in the sciences, the arts, politics and the entertainment field, as has been well said by an eminent scholar, ‘all dominated by this humanistic approach which ignores God and his word as revealed through the prophets.’ This kind of worldly system apparently hopes to draw men away from God by making man the ‘measure of all things’ as some worldly philosophers have said.” -Harold B. Lee, Conference Report 10/68 p. 59. “There is promise, given under inspiration from the Almighty, set forth in these beautiful words: “God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost.” (D&C 121:26.) The humanists who criticize us, the so-called intellectuals who demean us, speak only from ignorance of this manifestation… They have not heard it because they have not sought after it and prepared themselves to be worthy of it. … Do not be trapped by the sophistry of the world which for the most part is negative and which seldom, if ever, bears good fruit. … Rather, “look to God and live.” (Alma 37:47.)” -Gordon B. Hinckley,  10/83 GC, Be Not Deceived “We are very particular to forbid anyone from preaching Catholicism, or Protestantism, or Mormonism, or Judaism, in a public school classroom, but for some reason we are very patient with those who teach the negative expression of religion. In the separation of church and state we ought to demand more protection from the agnostic, from the atheist, from the communist, from the skeptic, from the humanist and the pragmatist, than we have yet been given… I submit that the atheist has no more right to teach the fundamentals of his sect in the public school than does the theist. Any system in the schools or in society that protects the destruction of faith and forbids, in turn, the defense of it must ultimately destroy the moral fiber of the people.” -Elder Boyd K. Packer, What Every Freshman Should Know, September 1973 Ensign
“Enlightened social engineering is required to face situations that demand global action now.” – John Goodlad / Schooling for a Global Age, pg. xiii	“If they embark on this course the difference between the old and the new education will be an important one. Where the old initiated, the new merely ‘conditions’. The old dealt with its pupils as grown birds deal with young birds when they teach them to fly; the new deals with them more as the poultry-keeper deals with young birds- making them thus or thus for purposes of which the birds know nothing. In a word, the old was a kind of propagation-men transmitting manhood to men; the new is merely propaganda.” -C.S. Lewis, Abolition of Man, Pg. 22
“…educators must resist the quest for certainty. If there were certainty there would be no scientific advancement. So it is with morals and patriotism.” – John Goodlad / Education for Everyone: Agenda for Education in a Democracy, Woods Learning Center, pg. 6 “…a student attains ‘higher order thinking’ when he no longer believes in right or wrong. A large part of what we call good teaching is a teacher´s ability to obtain affective objectives by challenging the student’s fixed beliefs. …a large part of what we call teaching is that the teacher should be able to use education to reorganize a child’s thoughts, attitudes, and feelings.” -Benjamin Bloom, psychologist and educational theorist, “Major Categories in the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives,” pg. 185	“Unfortunately, other educators deny the existence of God or deem God irrelevant to the human condition. Persons who accept this view deny the existence of moral absolutes. They maintain that right and wrong are relative concepts, and morality is merely a matter of personal choice or expediency.” -Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, October 1992, pg. 60 “God uses scripture to unmask erroneous thinking, false traditions, and sin with its devastating effects. He is a tender parent who would spare us needless suffering and grief and at the same time help us realize our divine potential. The scriptures, for example, discredit an ancient philosophy that has come back into vogue in our day—the philosophy of Korihor that there are no absolute moral standards, that “every man prosper[s] according to his genius, and that every man conquer[s] according to his strength; and whatsoever a man [does is] no crime” and “that when a man [is] dead, that [is] the end thereof” (Alma 30:17–18)” -Elder D. Todd Christofferson, April 2010 LDS General Conference
“I walked out of jail and into my first teaching position—and from that day until this I’ve thought of myself as a teacher, but I’ve also understood teaching as a project intimately connected with social justice.” -Bill Ayers at the World Education Forum in Caracas, Venezuela in front of Pres. Hugo Chavez“It is my expectation that Teacher Education for Democracy and Social Justice will become a rich resource for continuing this multi-layered conversation-from democratic belief to democratic action-that is the hallmark of educational renewal.” -John Goodlad’s forward to “Teacher Education for Democracy and Social Justice,” Nicholas Michelli and David Lee Keiser	“In a complete reversal from a century ago, many today would dispute with Alma about the seriousness of immorality. Others would argue that it’s all relative or that God’s love is permissive. If there is a God, they say, He excuses all sins and misdeeds because of His love for us—there is no need for repentance. Or at most, a simple confession will do. They have imagined a Jesus who wants people to work for social justice but who makes no demands upon their personal life and behavior.” -Elder D. Todd Christofferson, April 2010 LDS General Conference “I wonder how much we offend Satan if the proclamation of our faith is limited only to the great humanitarian work this church does throughout the world, marvelous as these activities are. When we preach the gospel of social justice, no doubt the devil is not troubled.” -President James E. Faust, Liahona, November 1995, pg. 3
“…the state we should strive for is better described in Deweyan terms as a social democracy.” – John Goodlad, Developing Democratic Character in the Young, 2001, pg. 153	“I feel to warn you that one of the chief means of misleading our youth and destroying the family unit is our educational institutions. There is more than one reason why the Church is advising our youth to attend colleges close to their homes where institutes of religion are available. It gives the parents the opportunity to stay close to their children, and if they become alerted and informed, these parents can help expose the deceptions of men like Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, John Keynes and others. There are much worse things today that can happen to a child than not getting a full education. In fact, some of the worst things have happened to our children while attending colleges led by administrators who wink at subversion and amorality.” -Ezra Taft Benson (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 307.)
“I do not see how any honest educational reformer in western countries can deny that the greatest practical obstacle in the way of introducing into schools that connection with social life which he regards as desirable is the great part played by personal competition and desire for private profit in our economic life. This fact almost makes it necessary that in important respects school activities should be protected from social contacts and connections, instead of being organized to create them. The Russian educational situation is enough to convert one to the idea that only in a society based upon the cooperative principle can the ideals of educational reformers be adequately carried into operation.” – John Dewey, Impressions of Soviet Russia and the Revolutionary World, pg. 86 “I believe that the school is primarily a social institution. Education being a social process, the school is simply that form of community life in which all those agencies are concentrated that will be most effective in bringing the child to share in the inherited resources of the race, and to use his own powers for social ends. I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.” -John Dewey, My Pedagogic Creed, January 1897	“When you speak of peace, the Communists mean the cessation of all opposition to Communism, the acceptance of a Communist world. Then, and only then, can there be peace. This alone is what peace means in Communist language. Once this is understood the utter falsity and hypocrisy of Communist references to peace becomes at once obvious. I have mentioned these things simply to emphasize one dominant force which has as its ultimate achievement and victory-the destruction of capitalism, the destruction of the free agency of man which God has given him, and that destruction may be brought about-as advocated by Marx himself-in a brutal way. What is the other force? It is just the opposite. Jesus said to the man who came and asked him which is the greatest law, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve, and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ When Marx was asked one time what was his object, he answered, ‘To dethrone God.’ -David O. McKay, Two Contending Forces, BYU Speech, May 18, 1960
“Every child in America entering school at the age of five is insane because he comes to school with certain allegiances to our founding fathers, toward our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, and toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. It’s up to you as teachers to make all these sick children well – by creating the international child of the future.” -Dr. Chester M. Pierce, Harvard Professor of Education and Psychiatry, in an address to the Childhood International Education Seminar in 1973	“From the 5th grade through the 4th year of college, our young people are being indoctrinated with a Marxist philosophy and I am fearful of the harvest. The younger generation is further to the left than most adults realize. The old concepts of our Founding Fathers are scoffed and jeered at by young moderns whose goals appear to be the destruction of integrity and virtue, and the glorification of pleasure, thrills, and self-indulgence.” -Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, pg. 321
“Education should aim at destroying free will so that after pupils are thus schooled they will be incapable throughout the rest of their lives of thinking or acting otherwise than as their school masters would have wished …” -Bertrand Russell, quoting Gottlieb Fichte the head of psychology that influenced Hegel and others.	“Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him…I caused that he should be cast down;” -Moses 4:3“Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;” -Doctrine & Covenants 58:27 “We must protect this American base from the brainwashing, increasingly administered to our youth in many educational institutions across the land, by some misinformed instructors and some wolves in sheep’s clothing. Their false indoctrination, often perpetrated behind the front of so-called academic freedom, is leaving behind many faithless students, socialist-oriented, who are easy subjects for state tyranny.” -Elder Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, April 1962

It seems that no matter how many times I try to explain something, there are always a few people who feel they are gifted to look beyond what I say or write and that it’s just a cover for what I really believe. I’m not smart enough to live 2 lives that way and have one set of beliefs and values that I hide and keep separate from what I say publicly.

For example, this was recent posted on one candidate website.

[candidate] are you an advocate for traditional public schools?  Oak Norton and associates are anti-public education and pro-private education as indicated by his Powerpoint displayed on his website. You were endorsed by that group.  Does that endorsement mean that you are also against public education?  If so, why should we elect someone who associates with those who are anti-public education or makes bombastic and baseless comments such as Superintendent Henshaw is buddies with Bill Ayers?

Let me explain this one more time for the benefit of my readers. I am not anti-public education, I am anti-federal government involvement in public education (my own children are in a wonderful PUBLIC school). I am against dumbing our children down with weak math and revisionist history. I am anti-John Goodlad involvement in public education. It just so happens that the Alpine School District is tied at the hip with John Goodlad and his literature and teachings are being passed out to our teachers to read from and be taught in professional development. Goodlad is a humanist with dangerous beliefs. He is a socialist and uses his forums to transform America into a socialist state. He is friends with Bill Ayers and Ayers is the keynote speaker at the Goodlad conference this month. Vern Henshaw was on the executive committee of Goodlad’s national organization (NNER) when Bill Ayers was a speaker at another conference. ASD’s Superintendent is fully aware of Goodlad’s positions yet continues to allow his teachings to be disseminated to teachers. To anyone who hasn’t watched the presentation referenced above, here’s a link. Go see for yourself what was presented and you’ll discover a national movement to destroy religious morality, belief in God, and to separate children from their parents. The public education teachers that were present thanked us after the presentation.

This individual continues his post:

My feeling is that anyone who is associated with Oak Norton and subsequently the radical Eagle Forum, and the conspiracy theory-laden John Birch Society should not be serving the children of ASD. I’m also disturbed by the fact that Oak Norton supports the Texas education standards which indoctrinates children to learn about Phylis Schlafly, ultra-conservative movements such as the Eagle Forum, and rewrites history by inaccurately vindicating McCarthyism?  Do you support a core curriculum that makes an attempt to be politically neutral and teach students to evaluate and think for themselves or do you support the right-wing ideological indoctrination of our students as those who endorse you do?

So the attack continues. Lets look at how this person succeeds in labeling the situation by presenting the facts. The individual begins by naming the Eagle Forum and John Birch Society to be radical and shouldn’t be serving the children of ASD. I am a member of neither organization but I believe them to be wonderful groups who spend countless hours promoting freedom issues and support of the constitution. The JBS actually produced the 10 minute video found on this site in the upper right corner which explains the difference between a republic and a democracy. The Eagle Forum was founded by Phillis Schlafly, a woman who stepped forward in the 70’s to stop the feminist movement. Her efforts had a tremendous impact on the entire nation. This individual thinks children will be “indoctrinated” to learn about her contributions, but I disagree. This is what one single Texas history standard actually says about Ms. Schlafly.

Describe the causes, key organizations, and individuals of the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract with America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority, and the National Rifle Association;

If the individual feels this is conservative indoctrination to learn about such individuals and organizations that have had an impact on America, then why does he not decry the other side of the coin when further down the Texas standards later include the contributions of Hillary Clinton?

Evaluate the contributions of significant political and social leaders in the United States such as Andrew Carnegie, Thurgood Marshall, Billy Graham, Barry Goldwater, Sandra Day O’Connor, and Hillary Clinton.

This individual seems to have seen a group he despises and leveled charges. The John Birch society isn’t even mentioned in the standards so it’s further confusing to his point to bring them into his rant.

His last charge that the Texas history standards are rewriting history are amusing when our history books already contain a rewriting of history calling the Framers of our Constitution deists and accusing them of all manner of immorality. His specific charge deals with Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Venona papers. Have you ever heard of the Venona papers? Neither has most of the country because that was removed from our history books as well. I’d never heard of them till this year. Here’s what the Texas standards say:

Describe how Cold War tensions were intensified by the arms race, the space race, McCarthyism, and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), the findings of which were confirmed by the Venona Papers.

This is a completely relevant standard. High schoolers should be taught what happened during the Cold War including the facts about what McCarthy was doing and what was later shown to be correct. Did McCarthy finger some people who were innocent? Possibly so, but to ignore the significant findings of the Venona papers would be the equivalent of indoctrinating our children in the false assumption that there were no Soviet spies and that McCarthy was on a baseless witch hunt. The Venona papers identified 349 persons who had some level of relationship with the Soviet Union, from Alger Hiss and other well known spies, to many whose code names have never been matched up with real individuals.

The Texas history standards are a landmark achievement for presenting history as factual and fair. It removes the prior revisionist history and adds important facts. Significantly more minorities are discussed with their contributions to America. America is repeatedly identified as a constitutional republic (for a change from democracy). And there is a newfound emphasis on the founding documents of our nation. If you haven’t taken a look at them, here’s a link to see for yourself.

https://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=3643

Here’s one I just noticed that is new to these standards:

Describe U.S. citizens as people from numerous places throughout the world who hold a common bond in standing for certain self-evident truths

I would love to have Utah adopt these standards. What an improvement over the current indoctrination of diversity and multi-culturalism!

Over 200 years ago the Framers of the constitution gave us a republic “if [we could] keep it.” During the 20^th century, progressives in our nation worked to replace “republic” with “democracy” as the name of our form of government. The reason for this was so that people would blur the meaning of the word democracy and give it a dual meaning. They’ve succeeded. Websters defines the word both as representational government we typically think of as a republic, and also as a pure democracy (mob rule) which the Framers were so against.

Now when you hear someone talk about democracy, we always assume they mean the “good” one formerly known as a republic with checks and balances. However, the progressives wanted to blur the meaning so they could introduce the bad form of democracy into casual language and gradually move direct democracy principles into the public discourse in a way that seemed natural. “We’re a democracy so we all have a voice and vote.” It’s a gradual process toward an end we weren’t expecting.

ASD’s slogan “Enculturating the Young Into a Social and Political Democracy” is said by them to mean a republic (though that word seems to burn their lips to say it). Right in front of our eyes they are redefining the terms social democracy and political democracy. A social democracy is defined by the dictionary as a democratic welfare state (socialism) and a political democracy is a pure democracy. These definitions are again being introduced with false meanings in order to make the language commonplace for us so we forget the actual meaning of the words.

John Goodlad wrote this phrase in his book “The Moral Dimensions of Teaching” which ASD has pushed into all its teacher training. Goodlad is a socialist that talks about the need for democracy training in education (along with Bill Ayers). What is their end? It isn’t representational government, it’s pure socialism. Ayers wrote extensively in the Weather Underground Manifesto on the need for teaching youth democracy in order to bring about revolution. Read his writings.

So the point is, when we let someone else define the meanings of terms like “social democracy” and “political democracy” and lose the actual meanings, we get used to the newly defined terms and start accepting some of the true and evil meanings once we get used to the watered down meanings. We accepted “democracy” in place of “republic” and now we see the seeds of true democracy bearing fruit such as the public accepting the 17th amendment so that we would “all have a vote” on our senators, destroying the check and balance that the Framers set up to protect states’ rights. It’s gone downhill from there. So now the progressives start talking about social democracy and redefine it as something that doesn’t sound so bad and once we accept it in our vocabulary they’ll start talking about democratic socialism. We are the frog in the water and the temperature is going up.

When John Goodlad says, “…the state we should strive for is better described in Deweyan terms as a social democracy,” he’s literally talking about socialism. Dewey was an original signatory on the humanist manifesto which erases God and teaches people that science is supreme. All of Goodlad’s training tools are built upon this foundational goal.

When John Goodlad says, “The curriculum of the future will be what one might call the humanistic curriculum,” he is literally saying that his work is to bring to pass humanism through his enculturating programs.

When John Goodlad says, “…educators must resist the quest for certainty.  If there were certainty there would be no scientific advancement. So it is with morals and patriotism.” He is literally saying he is for moral relativism and his curriculum and methods are calculated to bring this about. It’s no wonder he’s for constructivist math because that focuses on the process and not the result under the belief that there are no absolute truths (like morals which come from God).

When Bill Ayers said, “the struggle for self-determination has had two stages: (1) a united front against imperialism and for New Democracy, and (2) developing out of the new democratic stage, socialism,“ he is literally saying he wants to push for democracy to replace capitalism, and out of that democracy stage, to bring about socialism. It’s no wonder Bill Ayers is the keynote speaker at next month’s John Goodlad conference, a conference which ASD personnel have always attended and even been members of the national executive committee. Every year till now they have helped organize and present at these conferences, at least until this year when a controversy has been raised over it.

This doesn’t mean Alpine School District is full of socialists, it means we’ve got a few progressives in high places that like the worldly accolades that John Goodlad’s organization brings to them. It means our “watchmen” are asleep on the towers and these national movements have already slipped in the door when vigilant people watching over our education system should have stopped it in its tracks.

If you still think the district phrase above is no big deal, what then will be a big deal? When a teacher tells students that America is not a republic? When a teacher gives an assignment that says “label the form of government of all these nations from around the world” and then marks republic wrong for America on a student’s paper? When a teacher calls a book full of quotes from the Founding Fathers “pure science fiction?” When a district administrator agrees to distribute “In God We Trust” posters until he finds the word “republic” in the subtext referencing “The National Motto of the Republic of the United States of America?” Well I’m sorry to say that all those things have happened in Alpine School District. No, socialism isn’t being taught outright in the classes, but we’re being poisoned by degrees and those who are awake are having a difficult time waking up those who are slumbering because they’re so trusting of those in educational positions of authority.

Oak

I suppose this post is long overdue. I continue to hear rumors that go around the Alpine school district concerning how I criticize teachers or similar statements. I am grateful to those of you teachers who have helped defend me because you are able to see the issues as well. It seems that a lot of teachers don’t realize that criticism of the “district” isn’t necessarily criticism of them, in the same vein that criticizing the out-of-control federal government isn’t criticism of all the citizens of the country.

The answer to the question I’ve posed to myself is, yes and no. I will give each answer separately so that those at ASD who wish to pass on to others that I blame teachers can easily pass on the YES answer without the NO. :)  Please understand that there are teachers who fall into EACH category. I’ve never heard of anyone who has EVER lumped all teachers into one boat. There are good and bad in the profession just like everywhere else.

The NO answer: No I don’t blame teachers for our predicament. I blame those educrats in power at all levels who have corrupted the education system over decades of time, dumbed down our children through weak curriculum and revisionist history, and sought to ensure our children get a free education through compulsory means. Saying you’ll force people to learn or do good doesn’t achieve either in the long run and continually dropping test scores and college enrollments show this to be the case. Teachers who are concerned about their jobs but understand the issues have had hard choices to make while they’re trying to do the right thing for our children and I feel for them. I deeply sorrow for the hard working teachers who would rather just teach our children but instead have to play inane games with educrats looking over their shoulders telling them what the latest study says they need to do. If you’re in this category, you have my very sincere gratitude and thanks. Keep up the good work.

The YES answer: Yes I blame teachers who didn’t have a shred of common sense when the district told them to not teach the times tables anymore and they did it. This is just as wrong as a marine who is told by a commanding officer to do something he knows to be wrong but does it because he’s told to do it. I blame teachers who claim to teach the truth to our children about our constitutional republic but have never studied it, or even worse, they’re socialists at heart and teach our children how to embrace socialism. Yes I blame teachers who put more concern for advancement and doing the will of the district over the welfare of the children in their classrooms. Yes I blame teachers who buy into everything they are told by the district or college professors, and never take the time to validate what they are being told. There are no peer reviewed studies that support Investigations, Connected, and Interactive math regardless of what some district educrat tells you.

If you are a teacher, before you believe what is being said about me, please look at the amount of research I and others have done and then question those who tell you they are the “professional” and they know what’s right. As an accountant, I knew Enron was a disaster for the profession but wasn’t afraid to admit it. It’s time more teachers spoke up and displayed the intellectual honesty about the issues that the education profession faces. If you don’t, the education system will turn into the next Enron and when it goes down, it will be too late for you to speak up just like it was for the auditors of Enron. In fact, if you thought NCLB (No Child Left Behind) was bad for you, wait till we get federalized assessments and training to go with the new Common Core standards Utah just adopted. We’ve sold our souls gambling for a little pocket change. The assault on you continues to advance.

Some questions you might start with:

• Why is Bill Ayers the terrorist so interested in teaching democracy in education? (link)
• What is humanist John Goodlad’s Agenda for Education in a Democracy?  (link)
• Did you know these two men are birds of a feather and that Bill Ayers is the keynote speaker at Goodlad’s 2010 NNER conference? (link)
• What kind of beliefs are written in the anti-God Humanist Manifesto? (link)
• Why did BYU just drop their membership in Goodlad’s NNER after being one of the founding members back in 1986? (link)
• Why is the NNER trying to push the homosexual movement into BYU? (link)
• In all of the United States, there are only 30 Goodlad “AED Scholars” (Agenda for Education in a Democracy). Why does Utah have 4 of the 30 at ASD and BYU’s McKay School of Education? (link)

Does any of this trouble you?

Ever read the Humanist Manifesto? If not, here’s a link and a few quotes from it:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/12293/Humanist-Manifesto

“There is great danger of a final, and we believe fatal, identification of the word religion with doctrines and methods which have lost their significance and which are powerless to solve the problem of human living in the Twentieth Century.”

Humanism and science can solve our problems but not God? I guess God’s teachings were OK for the nineteenth century and prior, but not the twentieth century. ;)

Today man’s larger understanding of the universe, his scientific achievements, and deeper appreciation of brotherhood, have created a situation which requires a new statement of the means and purposes of religion. Such a vital, fearless, and frank religion capable of furnishing adequate social goals and personal satisfactions may appear to many people as a complete break with the past. While this age does owe a vast debt to the traditional religions, it is none the less obvious that any religion that can hope to be a synthesizing and dynamic force for today must be shaped for the needs of this age. To establish such a religion is a major necessity of the present. It is a responsibility which rests upon this generation. We therefore affirm the following:

FIRST: Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created

So religion as a term is applied to old outdated doctrines and methods of solving human problems. We owe them thanks, but it’s time to move on to the new religion…secular humanism which celebrates man over God.

FIFTH: Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human values. Obviously humanism does not deny the possibility of realities as yet undiscovered, but it does insist that the way to determine the existence and value of any and all realities is by means of intelligent inquiry and by the assessment of their relations to human needs. Religion must formulate its hopes and plans in the light of the scientific spirit and method.

In other words, eliminate faith, put religions on a 5 senses program, and then religion is OK.

ELEVENTH: Man will learn to face the crises of life in terms of his knowledge of their naturalness and probability. Reasonable and manly attitudes will be fostered by education and supported by custom. We assume that humanism will take the path of social and mental hygiene and discourage sentimental and unreal hopes and wishful thinking.

IE. Stop using that crutch you call religion. Just figure that probabilities exist and you’re going to have to face some crisis without God’s help. Get a grip and get over your silly emotions.

TWELFTH: Believing that religion must work increasingly for joy in living, religious humanists aim to foster the creative in man and to encourage achievements that add to the satisfactions of life.

Now we’ll replace faith-based joy in God’s creations with encouraging man to create things and supplant God as creator.

FOURTEENTH: The humanists are firmly convinced that existing acquisitive and profit-motivated society has shown itself to be inadequate and that a radical change in methods, controls, and motives must be instituted. A socialized and cooperative economic order must be established to the end that the equitable distribution of the means of life be possible. The goal of humanism is a free and universal society in which people voluntarily and intelligently cooperate for the common good. Humanists demand a shared life in a shared world.

Voluntary socialism is an oxymoron. The only way to achieve a United Order or Zion like society is through moral absolutes and an acceptance of God’s commandments. This Utopian dream is nothing more than another counterfeit to God’s plan.

So stand the theses of religious humanism…

Utah state law says that no sectarian religion can be taught in our schools yet we as a state and nation accept it based on the premise that we can’t have God in schools or that’s a violation of the separation of church and state. That falsehood needs turned on its head. The only thing you get when you remove God from schools are schools without God.

The Humanist Manifesto was signed by 34 men including John Dewey and embraced by others including John Goodlad.

Update 10/23/10: for those of you looking for the most relevant information on the elections I recommend you visit www.SaveASD.com for candidates that will act as the public watchdogs we need, instead of acting as apologists for district policies.

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Original post:

An open letter to the teachers of Alpine School District (ASD) – I encourage all parents to forward this email to their children’s teachers and principals, and then to your friends elsewhere so they can be aware of the transformation taking place in our schools.

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Dear Teacher or Principal,

Thank you for becoming teachers and engaging in the challenging and rewarding work of inspiring the rising generation. Thousands of families hope for your success in reaching their children to help them achieve all they can. I write you to express my concern over a dangerous agenda which is filtering into schools around our country and even into our own school district to an extent. My hope is to simply raise your awareness so that you are not drawn into these philosophies unaware of their intent.

Last year I started the website UtahsRepublic.org after reading the history standards for the state of Utah. I discovered that the word Republic did not appear one time in the K-12 standards. Article 4, section 4 of the U.S. Constitution guarantees us a republican form of government but it seems that all we ever hear about is that we are a Democracy. The short video at this link clearly explains the difference between a republic and a democracy.
https://www.utahsrepublic.org/get-educated/why-a-republic/

The name John Goodlad is well known in the field of education.  His book, “The Moral Dimensions of Teaching” is the source of the statement in the Alpine School District Professional Development Center which says, “Enculturating the Young into a Social and Political Democracy.” When I first encountered that phrase about 6 years ago, I didn’t realize the full ramifications of what it was saying. Only during the past year, with the help of others, were we able to understand what Goodlad meant.

John Goodlad is a follower of John Dewey. Dewey was one of the original signatories on the Humanist Manifesto in the 1930’s. A humanist is one who replaces the worship of God with the worship of man and his “genius.” With no God, there are no absolute truths so all knowledge and morals are relative or as Goodlad says, democratic. This moral relativism is based on evolving majority public opinion and is the core of Goodlad’s belief system. This is why he favors and promotes a constructivist philosophy. It is centered in the notion that the process is more important than the result which he believes may change over time.

Among Goodlad’s beliefs are: (references below)

• “Most youth still hold the same values of their parents… if we do not alter this pattern, if we don’t resocialize, our system will decay.” (1)
• “Parents do not own their children. They have no ‘natural right’ to control their education fully.” (2)
• “The curriculum of the future ‘will be what one might call the humanistic curriculum.’” (3)
• “Enlightened social engineering is required to face situations that demand global action now.” (4)
• “…the state we should strive for is better described in Deweyan terms as a social democracy.” (5)
• “…educators must resist the quest for certainty.  If there were certainty there would be no scientific advancement. So it is with morals and patriotism.” (6)
• “Education is a task for both parents and state. The state, parents, and children all have interests that must be protected.” (7)

Do these statements surprise you as much as they did me?

A “social democracy” is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as a democratic welfare state or the gradual transition from capitalism to socialism. Goodlad seeks to accomplish this transition by his “enlightened social engineering.” Charlotte Iserbyt (worked in the Department of Education under Reagan) in her book “The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America” wrote that Goodlad is this nations “premier change agent” to take us toward socialism. (www.deliberatedumbingdown.com) In her book she quotes Goodlad as saying:

“The most controversial issues of the twenty-first century will pertain to the ends and means of modifying human behavior and who shall determine them. The first educational question will not be ‘what knowledge is of the most worth?’ but ‘what kinds of human beings do we wish to produce?’ The possibilities virtually defy our imagination.” (pg. 56)

Goodlad espouses centrally planned indoctrination for the modification of human behavior. There is no agency or liberty in Goodlad’s formula for success.

In 1983 John Goodlad came to BYU’s McKay School of Education (MSE) and set up the Public School Partnerships (PSP) which ASD joined (along with Provo, Wasatch, Nebo, and Jordan school districts). In 1986 he established the NNER (National Network for Educational Renewal) and the MSE became a founding member in the hopes of improving education for our children.

In June 2006, during an NNER Executive Board meeting at which Vern Henshaw (ASD Superintendent) was present, Ada Beth Cutler raised concerns that BYU fired an adjunct faculty member for writing an Op-Ed in support of homosexual marriage. Ms. Cutler then shared “her grave concern about BYU’s action and policies that discriminate against homosexuals, given the principles of the Agenda for Education in a Democracy.” You can read more about this and the NNER here:
https://www.utahsrepublic.org/education/daily-herald-what-social-democracy-means-to-utah-county-educators/

As this information spread the last few months, worried parents were happy to hear BYU’s MSE announce at the end of June 2010 that they were dropping their association with the NNER for financial reasons.
https://www.utahsrepublic.org/media-coverage/byu-drops-goodlads-nner/

The story became even more troubling when we discovered the connection between John Goodlad and Bill Ayers. Would you be comfortable with an avowed Marxist revolutionary terrorist teaching your children? Bill Ayers was a founding member of the terrorist group “The Weather Underground” and was involved in activities like bombing the Pentagon and New York Police Department between 1968 and 1975. In 2001 he lamented to a NY Times reporter that he regretted he couldn’t have done more. Ayers realized after the terrorist days that you can’t gain a big following by bombing things. The way to attract followers is to indoctrinate the young into your philosophy. To learn more about his radical philosophy and how he promotes it through teaching democracy to children, please read this page:
https://www.utahsrepublic.org/education/bill-ayers-exposed/

Bill Ayers and John Goodlad are birds-of-a-feather. They have the same fundamental beliefs except Goodlad didn’t blow stuff up. He went straight into education and skipped the violence. If you read the comparison at the link below you will see how similar their philosophies are. Then ask yourself: why has Bill Ayers been invited by John Goodlad to be the KEYNOTE SPEAKER at the 2010 NNER conference this October?
https://www.utahsrepublic.org/education/whats-the-difference-between-john-goodlad-and-bill-ayers/

Both Goodlad and Ayers teach that our form of government is a democracy and push to have it taught in the classroom in order to revolutionize our society. I strongly suggest you read the 2nd link above which lays bare their agenda in their own words. You can read snippets or download the entire Weather Underground manifesto co-written by Ayers. Their Agenda is all laid out just like it is on the NNER website in one of the links above.

I believe Bill Ayers and John Goodlad both to be dangerous men. Goodlad is well respected in education circles and that allows him to promote his philosophy in friendly environments making it difficult for people to separate the good educational practices from the bad social philosophies. I believe that someone who is an atheist/socialist/humanist has no place in our school system, attempting to indoctrinate teachers how and what to teach our children.
https://www.utahsrepublic.org/education/dealing-with-korihor/

I pass this on in the hopes that as you become aware of what is happening here and around our country you can find ways to resist this agenda.  If you would like further information or to join with us in opposing this socialist movement, please contact me through the UtahsRepublic.org website.

Sincerely,

Oak Norton

Quote References

1) John Goodlad, “Report of Task Force C: Strategies for Change,” Schooling for the Future, a report to the President’s Commission on Schools Finance, Issue #9, 1971
2) John Goodlad, Roger Soder & Timothy McMannon, “Developing Democratic Character in the Young”, pg. 164
3) John Goodlad, “Directions of Curriculum Change”, The NEA Journal, March 1966
4) John Goodlad, “Schooling for a Global Age,” pg. xiii
5) John Goodlad, “Developing Democratic Character in the Young”, 2001, pg. 153
6) John Goodlad, Corinne Mantle-Bromley, Stephen John Goodlad, “Education for Everyone: Agenda for Education in a Democracy”, Woods Learning Center, pg. 6
7) John Goodlad, “Developing Democratic Character in the Young”, 2001, pg. 164

In June 1969, Bill Ayers and 9 other members of the terrorist organization “The Weather Underground” (WU) (one of which was, or would become, his wife), wrote “You Don’t Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows.” This was their manifesto and blueprint for the Marxist revolutionary takeover of America. Download the entire document here (You Don’t Need A Weatherman), or you can read some highlights below.

If you are like me and didn’t grow up studying this stuff, here are a few definitions that will be helpful as you proceed.

• Proletariat: the laboring/working class
• Bourgeoisie: the middle class
• Petit Bourgeoisie: small business people of the middle class (professionals)
• Nationalist peasants: the poor who have national loyalty
• National Bourgeoisie: middle class with national loyalty
• Imperialism is capitalism to the WU and seemingly all authority in and out of country (police, military, politicians, etc…)

This key component from the document stood out to me:

“In the history of some external colonies, such as China and Vietnam, the struggle for self-determination has had two stages: (1) a united front against imperialism and for New Democracy (which is a joint dictatorship of anti-colonial classes led by the proletariat, the content of which is a compromise between the interests of the proletariat and nationalist peasants, petit bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie); and (2) developing out of the new democratic stage, socialism.“

The essence of the WU blueprint you are about to discover, centers in the need to work toward a new “democracy” (a now very palatable word to the public) and promote class warfare so that the lower and middle classes can reach a compromise with each other forming a majority (essential to a Democracy) and overthrow the free enterprise system and entrepreneurs of the world. This democratic compromise will set the stage for a socialist society. Once the majority overthrows constitutional government and the free enterprise system, the revolutionaries will come to power and bring about a communist dictatorship. This is to be achieved creating discord among the people of the country by heightening race tensions through Black Liberation programs, through the education system teaching the young to hate authority figures such as the police, and to promote the liberation of women taking them out of the home where they are oppressed by their husband. The destruction of the family will help lead to revolution.

Isn’t it curious that Bill Ayers is to be the keynote speaker at the John Goodlad NNER (National Network for Educational Renewal) conference this October? Since we know Goodlad to be a socialist with practically identical public beliefs to Bill Ayers, this is not very surprising.

To read more disturbing clips from the document, continue below which includes commentary from me, otherwise download the whole document at the link above and read it in its entirety.
Read the rest of this entry »

Red Meat Radio Republic Update 7-3-10

(I am at the beginning of this audio clip, but at the 13:48 mark, the Teacher of the year from the Utah online charter school is interviewed)

For those of you that didn’t listen to Red Meat Radio this morning, here’s the audio from it. I discussed BYU’s McKay School of Education leaving the Goodlad NNER (National Network for Educational Renewal) organization as well as two other important issues.

Back in March when I presented our petition to the State School Board I received a letter from Lynne Greenwood indicating the state office would be opening up the 8th and 11th grade history standards to ensure the concept of a republic received appropriate treatment in the standards. Since then I have emailed individuals at the state office twice and haven’t heard anything back from them…

Next, a week and a half ago at the legislature’s education interim meeting, a teacher spoke about civics education in Utah and the need to study original sources. He then presented members of the committee with a handout on various quality resources that contain original sources. The state superintendent, Larry Shumway, then got up and was asked if the textbooks used in Utah show respect toward the Founders. He first began by questioning the term “Founders” and how differently the “Founders” thought about the same issues or principles. He told the committee, and he was backed up by a former history teacher on the committee, that the textbooks used in Utah show respect to the Founders. The topic of the Constitution didn’t really come up. He said that though the Making of America is a good book, it is biased to a certain “Founders'” viewpoint and should be used only as a secondary resource.

When I asked a history teacher in Alpine School District if the textbooks in ASD showed respect to our Founding Fathers, he replied:

“They absolutely do not. In fact the only teaching they even get on history is a packet with questions and little pamphlet books to find answers. There is no teaching of history and certainly not of our Founding Fathers or even our great nation.”

We’ve got a lot of work to do. )

Daily Herald Story Link

It is truly unfortunate that the author of this article spoke with me, and then BYU, and then didn’t tell me any of their reasons for dropping the program. All I heard was they were dropping the program. I can see where some people making comments may think I feel smug just on the way this article is written. I apologize to those of you that think that is the case. It is also unfortunate that Caleb again brings up the “socialist conspiracy” angle like he did a couple months ago. I tried to correct that as widely as I could via my website and emailing people and writing Caleb and the editor of the Herald to make this clear, but it is apparent they want to continue down that road.

Am I grateful BYU has dropped association with the NNER? Absolutely. When I heard was they were dropping the program my comments were based in my belief that many of the people in the McKay School of Education were just ignorant of Goodlad’s more troubling issues and that once they saw what his motives were, they would then see the wisdom in leaving him. I never got a call after Caleb spoke with BYU to learn it was for a financial reason they were leaving the organization so obviously my comments may have been a little different.

This is quite the educational experience dealing with the press and having them insert words in my mouth. This paragraph in particular rehashes what I debunked when Caleb’s previous story came out.

Caleb wrote: “Norton sees BYU and Alpine School District as part of a national conspiracy working to carefully teach the nation’s children to believe that the United States government is based on the power of people, rather than the power of God. This effort, Norton has said, is guided by ‘the motives of those who are trying to change our language and remove the notion that we are a republic with natural rights bestowed upon us by God.’”

No, that’s not what I’ve ever said about ASD or BYU. I’ve never ever said I believe the U.S. Government runs by the power of God. That’s ludicrous. I’ve written that the constitution is divinely inspired, and I wrote that Goodlad’s motives are to transform us into a democracy as a nation and remove moral standards based on God’s law. As an atheist/humanist/socialist, Goodlad believes there is no moral law from God and it’s up to the community to set morals based on democratic methods. This is moral relativism.

If you want to know what type of organization the NNER is, you only have to look at who their Keynote speaker is this at their conference this October…Bill Ayers.  You also need to google the NNER minutes from June 2006 and see that the NNER was trying to push the homosexual movement into BYU. That does not match our community standard.