Australia to Start Teaching Idiocy and Dumbfuckery
Intelligent design to be taught in Queensland schools under national curriculum
CREATIONISM and intelligent design will be taught in Queensland state schools for the first time as part of the new national curriculum.
Creationists dismiss the science of evolution, instead believing that living things are best explained by an intelligent being or God, rather than an undirected process such as natural selection.
The issue of creationism being taught in schools has caused huge controversy in the US, where some fundamentalist religious schools teach it as a science subject instead of Darwin’s theory of evolution.
In Queensland schools, creationism will be offered for discussion in the subject of ancient history, under the topic of “controversies”.
Teachers are still formulating a response to the draft national curriculum, scheduled to be introduced next year.
Queensland History Teachers’ Association head Kay Bishop said the curriculum asked students to develop their historical skills in an “investigation of a controversial issue” such as “human origins (eg, Darwin’s theory of evolution and its critics”).
“It’s opening up opportunities for debate and discussion, not to push a particular view,” Ms Bishop said. Classroom debate about issues encouraged critical thinking – an important tool, she said.
Associated Christian Schools executive officer Lynne Doneley welcomed the draft curriculum, saying it cemented the position of a faith-based approach to teaching.
“We talk to students from a faith science basis, but we’re not biased in the delivery of curriculum,” Mrs Doneley said. “We say, ‘This is where we’re coming from’ but allow students to make up their own minds.”
But Griffith University humanities lecturer Paul Williams said it was important to be cautious about such content.
“It’s important that education authorities are vigilant that this is not a blank cheque to push theological barrows,” Mr Williams said.
“I would be loath to see it taught as theory.
“It’s up there with the world being occupied by aliens since Roswell.”
Ms Bishop said there were bigger problems with the national curriculum.
History teachers are planning to object to repetitive subject matter, such as World War I being a major part of the Year 10 course and repeated in Year 11.
Jun 01, 2010 @ 21:23:30
“We talk to students from a faith science basis”
Game over, this an oxymoron.
Jun 01, 2010 @ 22:13:21
Yes, this is quite embarrassing being an Australian (but not a Queenslander)
““We talk to students from a faith science basis, but we’re not biased in the delivery of curriculum,” Mrs Doneley said. “We say, ‘This is where we’re coming from’ but allow students to make up their own minds.””
Well that is entirely a lie. As Andre pointed out, faith science basis is an oxymoron. They are biased in the curriculum (if you dismiss real science for religious superstition, it is definitely bias). Finally, they don’t want kids to “make up their own mind”, they want to indoctrinate them religious garbage. There is no such thing as making up your own mind when religion is involved. Teaching this nonsense is an attempt to sneak theology into science classes and into state schools.
I really do wonder who is creating the national curriculum…and why they haven’t been fired for gross ignorance.
Jun 15, 2010 @ 17:56:12
This utterance is a complete failure to comprehend their failure to educate.
You don’t just “let the student make up their mind”.
Do you put two hash marks on the board and then ask the student to make up their own mind whether or not it’s one, two, or three?
No for fucks sake! IT’S TWO FUCKING HASH MARKS! Science doesn’t have *much* margin for subjective determinism or belief, and history only slightly more so.
You throw a dummy like Kay Bishop off a cliff and she falls down and goes splat. That’s just the law of gravity (only a theory btw) at work, AND SHE DOESN’T GET TO MAKE UP HER MIND! There’s no controversy, THAT’S HOW IT IS!
I’m scared to be a father-to-be considering that here in California, our education system is on par with that lunacy. I REALLY don’t want my child’s mind polluted with this sort of nonsense.
Jun 18, 2010 @ 07:45:35
Wow, I could (almost) expect this from a Southern US state, but Australia?
To any Aussies out there, when did the idiots take over the asylum?
And as Andre pointed out ‘faith science basis’ WTF?
It appears some people think that just because words exist it is OK to just assemble some of them along side of some others without any thought as to what that should mean…