The Texas Republican Party platform for 2012 is out (
pdf). I've complained about previous incarnations
before. This time they include this gem:
We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority. [Emphasis mine - DN]
Wow. They explicitly oppose teaching students to think critically, because that might be a threat to their fixed beliefs. Wow. And somehow these people keep winning statewide office. Boggles the mind. As a bonus, they also say:
We support objective teaching and equal treatment of all sides of scientific theories. We believe theories such as life origins and environmental change should be taught as challengeable scientific theories subject to change as new data is produced. Teachers and students should be able to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these theories openly and without fear of retribution or discrimination of any kind.
So, they like the idea of challenging scientific theories with new data, but they don't like critical thinking. Right.
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