‘It is essential that all children feel included in the sciences by valuing their experiences’
The U.K.’s progressive Labour Party is looking into “decolonizing” the nation’s “outdated” science curricula in order to “highlight discoveries by other cultures.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson (pictured), who also wants to impose a 20-percent value added tax on private school fees to (allegedly) “drive up standards in state schools,” ordered an “independent review” to “refresh” what students learn and “reflect the issues and diversities of our society,” the Daily Mail reports.
The review is led by University College London professor Becky Francis whose “academic expertise” lies in the realm of “social identities (gender, ‘race’ and social class) in educational contexts, social in/equality, and social identity and educational achievement, and gender theory.”
The Royal Society of Biology supports the effort, saying “It is essential that all children feel included in the sciences by valuing their experiences and through the thoughtful use of contexts, imagery and narratives.”
It added there should be a “no more heroes” approach to teaching science, meaning “avoiding prescriptive lists of historic figures” in the various fields of the discipline.
The Institute for Physics agreed, noting “ideas should be framed in the context of the times in which discoveries were made and accredited within Western science.”
MORE: Meet the universities working to ‘decolonize Thanksgiving’
The Royal Statistical Society also backed the review, calling for “greater use of ‘real-world data’ – such as on gender inequalities or migration – in the teaching of maths and statistics.”
Teaching unions are also among groups to have submitted evidence to the curriculum review.
The Association of School and College Leaders said the current curriculum ‘prioritises a somewhat monocultural worldview, especially with regards to literature and history’.
Ms Phillipson has hailed the review as an ‘important step in this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity, deliver better life chances and enable more young people to get on’. …
Tory MP Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said: ‘Labour’s curriculum changes will drive down educational standards.
‘Instead of continuing with a rich, knowledge-based curriculum which has led to our children being the best readers and mathematicians in the Western world, they are tearing it all up.
‘Pure education vandalism once again.’
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice hit out at ‘a ludicrous proposal from the wokerati’.
For her part, Professor Francis notes on her X feed how she’s been touring schools to, in part, ask students “what they currently enjoy/don’t enjoy, shar[e] interests and changes they’d like to see.”
MORE: Academics: ‘Flourishing forests’ of indigenous scientists can ‘transform’ and ‘decolonize’ science
IMAGES: whaptors/YouTube; Bridget Phillipson/X
Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.