Actual Class Notes on Islam vs Christianity for World Cultures Class at PRHS

Unit Plan: Christianity and Islam

The Roots of Christianity

The Formation of the Church to the 6^th Century

The Roots of Islam

Mohammed and the Holy Jihad

The Islamic World vs. The Christian World: The Crusades

Contrast life on the Manor and life in Arabia

 

Project Questions…Collect ideas

1. Contrast the role of women in Christian society and Muslim society both today and in 500 AD.
   
2. What beliefs of Islam and Christianity came into conflict? Was it religious or political? Why can't we all just get along?
   
3. (Your question)
   

 

 

 

Review the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire

• Invasions from the Huns
  
• Invasions from Germanic tribes
  
• Rebellion from within (Christianity)
  
• Laziness, decadence
  
• Self government among the people of the Empire (the conquered)
  
• Expense of running the bureaucracy of the empire
  

  
   

  
   

  
   

  Perceptions of Islam and Christianity
  

(a venn might be nice)

 

The Roots of Christianity

 

Judaism

• Monotheistic
  
• History of struggle, persecution
  
• Account of creation, Adam and Eve, 10 Commandments, Old Testament
  
• Ethics
  
• Belief in a Messiah (deliverer)
  

 

Zoroastrianism

• One god: author of good and evil-Final Judgment
  
• Golden Rule
  
• Mithraism-offshoot
  

  Sunday, Lord's Day, Dec 25, bread and wine rituals, baptism by water "re-birth
  

 

Greek Philosophy

• Stoicism (justice, compassion, restraint)
  
• Plato idea of perfection ,
  
• spiritual order and the eternal soul
  

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

Christianity

The uniqueness comes from the teachings of a real man (Jesus) as opposed to a mythical character. Historians believe that the gospel of Mark was the most authentic and was used by the other author's later. However, the testimony was written by "believers" (not fact) and even they disagree.

What are the ethical teachings of Jesus? How did they differ from what Jews believed. Remember, the Christians were Jews.

What was attractive about Christianity

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

The Church

Missionaries converted Gentiles and made them follow Jewish law. Eventually Christian traditions replaced Jewish ones. For example the Sabbath became Sunday (day of rest), Easter replaced Passover

Early Christians organized into a formal church with priests running communities and bishops overseeing priests

Eventually…the Western church accepted a Pope as their leader even as the eastern church (Greek speaking) moved away to follow their own leaders

Canon Law was established to create order and discipline, fight heresies

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity inherited many of its functions.

 

 

Persecution of the Christians

• Rome's tolerance of other cultures (self government) and religions did not extend to Christians. why?
  
• Christians were used as scapegoats in hard times.
  
• Persecutions ended in 313 AD with the Edict of Milan (Constantine)
  

Augustine and early monasticism (the ascetic ideal)

Describe.

The Roots of Islam

Pages 256-280 World History textbook.

Answer the following questions.

1. Talk about Mohammed, his message, popularity
   
2. What are the basic teachings of Islam?
   
3. How did the teachings of Islam both reflect and influence life in Arabia?
   
4. Describe the route from the spread of Islam to its decline. What caused it to spread so far and then decline? How far did the empire spread?
   
5. What are the contributions of the Islamic world?
   

 

Mohammed (the Prophet)

• Born in 570 AD in Mecca a trading center, not formally educated
  
• At 40 he turned from a life as a merchant to a religious ascetic, meditating , visions, believed his revelations were directly from god
  
• He became offensive in Mecca because the Arabs were polytheistic and he preached that there was only one, true god (Allah)
  
• He fled Mecca for Medina (the Hegira)
  
• Purpose-to wipe out primitive superstitions, end tribal feuds, unite Arabs under a single faith
  
• Arabs would surrender to the will of Allah (Islam means submission)
  
• Soon Mohammed had many followers who raided Meccan caravans (profitable)
  

  Rationalizing the stealing as "holy war" against the infidel (Jihad)
  

  By the time her dies in 632, he had united much of Arabia
  

• Islam spread like wild fire
  

  Islam was popular because it united tribes, used militant methods
  

  Mohammed had no son so caliph (title) was passed on to one of his relatives
  

  At the end of 2 generations Islam had spread from Gibraltar to India
  

  By 720 AD, they took SPAIN and raided France over the Pyrenees
  

How can we explain the phenomenal success of Islam?

• Zeal
  
• Booty
  
• Belief that if you were killed in battle your soul went straight to paradise
  
• Other areas offered no real resistance
  
• Many welcomed the Moslems as liberators
  
• Tolerance of Jews and Christians (many Christians converted)
  

 

 

Islam and Christianity

Mohammed never claimed divinity but followers believed he was divine. Mohammed's revelations were set in the context of Judaism and Christianity identifying one god AND ACCEPTING THE LINE OF Jewish prophets from Abraham to Jesus. Like Jesus, he claimed Islam was built on the earlier traditions of Judaism (and in his case, Christianity). The Koran might be viewed as a sequel to the Bible. (MOST READ BOOK)

 

The teachings stress love, kindness, brotherhood

He tried to moderate polygamy which had developed to redress the imbalances left by wars between tribes (more women than men) A man was supposed to have no more than 4 wives, although Mohammed had more.

Believed business was good as long as it was honest.

There was no priesthood. Each Moslem stands as equal before Allah, statues and images banned, the Mosque is without idols. (more democratic and spiritual than Chroistianity)

Obligations

• Five Pillars of Faith
  
• Daily prayers-from atop of minarets, muezzins (criers) call upon the faithful to kneel in the direction of Mecca Noon prayer on Friday must be attended by all adult males
  
• Giving to the poor (1/14 th of an individual's income)
  
• Fasting (Ramadan-month month of Moslem calendar)
  
• Every Moslem who can afford it, must make a pilgrimage to Mecca
  

Judgment, Paradise (Persian sources), heaven and hell (fire)

 

 

General

• Politics and religious are inseparable
  
• Leaders were both secular and religious
  
• 1^st century after Mohammed…sects appeared: Sunni-believed in leaders must be direct descendants of Mohammed
  

  Shia- line of succession from Mohammed's cousin Ali (Persians), abided the Koran strictly
  

  
   

  
   

Legacy

Advances in agriculture and commerce; routes of travel secured

Mathematics, university study in general

Unity among Arabs(language, culture, stability)

Translated Greek works and circulated then

Architecture, prosperity (height around the 10^th century)

 

 

Mohammed and the Holy Jihad

Use the internet to research the ancient use of the word "jihad" and its application by Muslims today. Do all Muslims agree on the use of this word? How does the jihad present a problem for the non-Muslim World?

 

 

 

The Crusades occurred over a vast geographic region in the Middle East - and they were heavily influenced by geographic and political issues back home in Europe. Although it is common and reasonable to talk about the Crusades as Christians fighting Muslims, the reality was that the Christians were comprised of many different nationalities who didn't always like each other - and the Muslims could be similarly divided.

Thus while the Crusades were principally driven by religion, especially in the minds of those who went off to kill adherents of other religions, there were significant ethnic factors involved as well. Although European nationalism had not yet fully developed, nascent nationalism was also a factor. English, French, and German Christians were not all united into a single, happy religious family to kill Muslims.

Sometimes Christians allied with Muslims and vice-versa in order to fight their own co-religionists. As important as religion was in separating friend from foe, there were cases where national and personal rivalries from back home intruded to overcome religious bigotry. While it could be difficult to keep the various groups organized and together, when faced with the infidel enemies it was still usually easier to set aside home-grown political differences in favor of killing non-Christians.

How and why these shifting feelings occurred is important to better understand how the Crusades developed both militarily and politically. Real understanding of the Crusades in both their religious and secular aspects thus requires some geographic understanding of what happened where and when.

Debate vs. Dialogue: how dare you have an opinion and stand by it!

These are the instructions given in Pine-Richland classes on how to conduct a Socratic Circle. You will see the judgment against the evil DEBATE, how dare anyone stand by their own beliefs. I wonder what happens to the shy, introverted kids when a significant part of their grades are from their participation in Socratic Circles in the pre-AP and AP English and Social Studies classes – enough part to drop you a letter grade (or more) and enough to make I kid dread taking a class? Is it fair to impact the introvert's chances at getting into the college of their choice because Pine-Richland must follow every Progressive liberal paradigm of education? Why is it ok to just exclude the left-brain, socially awkward students as a permissible form of discrimination, when we all know that some people are BORN THAT WAY? No tolerance for left brainers since "Right-Brain" ala Dan Pink is the flavor of the day.

Adapted from a paper prepared by Shelley Berman, which was based on discussions of the Dialogue Group of the Boston Chapter of Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR).

• Dialogue is collaborative: two or more sides work together toward common understanding.
  
  • Debate is oppositional: two sides oppose each other and
    attempt to prove each other wrong.
    
• In dialogue, finding common ground is the goal.
  
  • In debate, winning is the goal.
    
• In dialogue, one listens to the other side(s) in order to understand, find meaning and find agreement.
  
  • In debate, one listens to the other side in order to find flaws and to counter its arguments.
    
• Dialogue enlarges and possibly changes a participants point of view.
  
  • Debate affirms a participant's own point of view.
    
• Dialogue reveals assumptions for re-evaluation.
  
  • Debate defends assumptions as truth.
    
• Dialogue causes introspection on ones own position.
  
  • Debate causes critique of the other position.
    
• Dialogue opens the possibility of reaching a better solution than any of the original solutions.
  
  • Debate defends one's own positions as the best solution
    and excludes other solutions.
    
• Dialogue creates an open-minded attitude: an openness to being wrong and an openness to change.
  
  • Debate creates a close-minded attitude, a determination
    to be right.
    
• In dialogue, one submits ones best thinking, knowing that other people's reflections will help improve it rather than destroy it.
  
  • In debate, one submits one's best thinking and defends
    it against challenge to show that it is right.
    
• Dialogue calls for temporarily suspending one's beliefs.
  
  • Debate calls for investing wholeheartedly in one's beliefs.
    
• In dialogue, one searches for basic agreements.
  
  • In debate, one searches for glaring differences.
    
• In dialogue one searches for strengths in the other positions.
  
  • In debate one searches for flaws and weaknesses in the other position.
    
• Dialogue involves a real concern for the other person and seeks to not alienate or offend.
  
  • Debate involves a countering of the other position without focusing on feelings or relationship and often belittles or deprecates the other person.
    
• Dialogue assumes that many people have pieces of the answer and that together they can put them into a workable solution.
  
  • Debate assumes that there is a right answer and that
    someone has it.
    
• Dialogue remains open-ended.
  
  • Debate implies a conclusion.
    

Good Commentary on "Reform Math" by Katharine Beals

Source: http://oilf.blogspot.com/search/label/math%20wars

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The conspirators that keep Reform Math in place

1. The education schools, of course. Nearly all of them have Progressive Education pedigrees, and the theory behind Reform Math, Constructivism, is the latest incarnation of educational progressivism.

2. Their student indoctrinees who become teachers, principals, curriculum consultants, curriculum developers, and grant readers for the deep-pocketed education division of the National Science Foundation.

3. The media, for whom classrooms of students in groups doing hands-on projects (and people who talk about what a great new idea this is), make for more attention-grabbing news than classrooms of students in rows doing pen and paper exercises.

4. Postmodernists and Critical Theorists, suspicious of the rigid truth and authority of traditional mathematics (and the idea that 2 + 2 necessarily equals 4), and seduced by Reform Math's open-ended problems, multiple strategies, meta-cognitive reflections, and resistance to single correct answers.

5. The many mathematicians who haven't looked closely at the curriculum but tend to like (and trust) what they hear about it. Here a whole separate paragraph is necessary:

More than others, mathematicians tend to remember traditional math as gratuitously tedious: perhaps for them the drills and algorithmic practice were especially tedious, and perhaps they weren't as dependent on others are on doing these things in order to obtain mastery, making drills seem pointless to boot. As teachers of college students, mathematicians are also constantly looking at the end of the pipeline, where what emerges are college freshman who increasingly lack conceptual understanding. Told by "education experts" that Reform Math emphasizes conceptual understanding over meaningless rote learning, they conclude that Reform Math is the remedy, rather than being part of the problem.

6. Those at the opposite end of the mathematical spectrum: mathphobes and their parents. People, that is, who don't value rigorous math and who themselves, and/or whose children, are not mathematically inclined and do "better" with Reform Math's version of mathematics.

7. Lay people who either know little (or care little) about mathematics, or don't have children in school, or don't examine their children's homework assignments and compare it to what they were doing in math at the same age--and who subscribe to current middle class cultural truisms. Such people tend to love buzzwords like "hands-on", "conceptual understanding," "no one right answer," "multiple intelligences and learning styles," "child-centered," "taking ownership," and "making math relevant," as much as they flinch at "worksheets," "drill and kill," "mere calculation," "teacher-centered," "one right answer," and "dry abstraction."

8. Liberals of the knee-jerk variety who find anything traditional and authority-centered to be politically suspect; and/or who believe that traditional math instruction doesn't work for disadvantaged and/or nonwhite and/or non-Western children, and/or privileges privileged white children, thus widening the achievement gap .

On the other side? Nearly everyone who understands math deeply (at least through arithmetic, algebra, and geometry), cares about math, has taken a close look at the Reform Math curriculum, and has school-aged children.

Unfortunately, however much more qualified members of this second group are to assess Reform Math, they're far outnumbered--and out-buzzed--by those populating the educationist / postmodernist / out-of-touch mathphilic / in-touch mathphobic / middle class populist / knee-jerk liberal fronts.

Katharine Beals' blog "Out in Left Field" is always excellent and always a great source of information for those with a desire to learn about the non-trendy side of education.

Sneaky Tax Increase Proposed By Pine-Richland Board Director & New Global Studies Center

It is unclear whether the budget under consideration with NO tax increase will be approved at tonight's (June 13, 2011) school board meeting, or if a tax-increase budget will win. I sent in my email protesting the new idea of a tax increase in time for the June 6, 2011 special finance committee meeting, but it did not show up on the list of correspondence for the meeting agenda. Here is a link to that agenda. http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/prsd/Board.nsf/Public%20%20%20

(I hate the Boarddocs program. Everything is embedded. When there is a new and improved PR website I cannot understand why this is used.)

Several Board Directors were either surprised at the lack of people at the May 23 meeting or said that no one was telling them that they didn't want a tax increase, but the final budget version had already been put forward after two months of discussion and compromise. This whole time there was a theme that taxes would not increase this year, so why would people start writing in about it? Hopefully people will show up and complain, as miraculously only people in favor of a tax increase in the district seem to know that it is even being considered. Here is a link to an article about this: http://pine-richland.patch.com/articles/school-budget-decisions-come-down-to-next-mondays-vote

Patch isn't bad for local news, better than Post-Gazette or Tribune-Review (Pine Creek Journal) for school info so far, but it is owned by AOL and started censoring the comments that were critical of Pine-Richland.

I also wondered how many parents really thought about the meaning behind this "Global Studies Center" and how a whole bunch of classrooms (maybe 40 if I read the drawing right – and there's even a PLANETARIUM room which seems excessive) are devoted to this effort. Our kids turning into Global Citizens transferring the wealth from the evil United States from themselves and their future children to other countries who still treat their own citizens like crap. How noble. Here is the link to the presentation. http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/prsd/Board.nsf/files/8G9H8J4742CE/$file/Proposal_for_Pine_Richland_High_SchoolGlobal_S.ppt

I do have more on elementary level issues – the Muslim prayer rugs being made by kids during the so-called "Seasons of Celebrations", new constructivist enVisonMATH, whole language program of Guided Reading) and some thoughts about COEXIST – you see how well Anonymous bitter progressive liberal wants to get along with Christians and how fair her views are – and how it is meant to compromise the Christian faith which does not consider other faiths equal to itself (one God, one way to heaven through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord), although we support the right of others to follow whatever religion they choose.

What’s Up with the HS Summer Reading List?

Well, it is out – the 2011-2012 Pine Richland High School Summer Reading List. It looks the same as the 2010-2011 list.

 

http://www.pinerichland.org/hs/Summer%20Reading%20Handout%202010-2011.pdf

 

 
 

"The House on Mango Street" for 9th grade: I do NOT want my 14 year old discussing - with a mixed sex pre-AP/honors English class and a teacher who may not share my values - a book that involves: a 13 year old having sex with multiple boys, the rape of the 13 year old main character, the widespread beatings of girls and women by their fathers or husbands, the generally anti-man/husband viewpoint, the negative view of a poor Hispanic community, and the shots taken at Catholicism - at least as I interpret the book.  It is a feminist book.  It also has girls behaving inappropriately toward older men and older men who also behave inappropriately toward the girls (e.g. old man gives 13 yr old a hard kiss on mouth).  A friend thought her daughter didn't understand this, but it turns out she did and said she "thought it was gross". 

 
 

"Alas, Babylon" (9th) is about the aftermath of nuclear war, also for 9th grade honors/pre-AP; apocalyptical, some consider this topic to be pro-environmental, anti-war indoctrination.  Book itself seems ok. 

  
 

THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin (pre-AP 11).

I read "The Awakening" and can find no redeeming literature value in this book where the main character commits adultery, abandons her children, and finally commits suicide when her preferred lover who is not her husband  leaves her, which is her final freedom from the oppressive 1900s society.  She says she could never sacrifice her own desires for her children, and the author portrays this as ok.  It's a feminist book, clearly known as a book about SEXUAL Awakening and freedom.  Is also puts a POSITIVE spin on the main character's SUICIDE.  My edition, 2003 Barnes & Noble Classics: The Awakening and Selected Short Fiction, mentions the lack of birth control for author Chopin when telling she had 6 children, notes Chopin had an affair with a married man after her husband died, and mentions how poor Margaret Sanger was imprisoned for a month for starting a birth control clinic (recall she is founder of Planned Parenthood and advocated eugenics of blacks thru abortion). It's not a good read, either.

 
 

THE BEAN TREES by Kingsolver, Barbara (12th)

Book includes the rape of a baby girl, very feminist, uses Christ's name in vain, uses profanity, single motherhood is the norm, pro-illegal immigration, pre-marital sex is a given-main character avoids getting pregnant not for morality but for freedom, see www.books.google.com to read parts for yourself, e.g. pg 36.  Some examples:

Chap 1: "I knew what a p--ker looked like."

    Bloody post-crime ER scene

    "Why not, my daddy's been calling me a slut practically since I was thirteen, so why the h-ll not?"

    "Sh--t" I said.  "Sh-- fire son of a b-tch!"

    When bathing the baby Native American girl someone gave the main character in a parking lot: "There was a bruise twice the size of my thumb on its inner arm....When I pulled off the pants and the diapers there were more bruises.  Bruises and worse.  The Indian child was a girl.  A girl, poor thing.  The fact had already burdened her short life with a kind of misery I could not imagine.  I thought I knew about every ugly thing that one person does to another, but I had never even thought such things being done to a baby girl."

 
 

 Chap 2: "[The amputated limb] had a smooth defenseless look to it that reminded her of a penis..."

    "[Mexicans] were trying to take over the world like the Catholics."

 
 

Chap 8: Missy/Taylor and LuAnn speculate whether God has a "pee-pee" - most of the religious discussions are irreverent, signal familiarity with Christianity but no characters exhibit having real faith.  LuAnn's family has anti-Catholic bias, and anti-Hispanic as well.

 
 

Chap 9: A character tries to kill herself.  Describes terrible murder and kidnapping by folks opposing the teachers union in Guatemala.  Taylor is tempted to sleep with married man but resists. 

 
 

chap 12: baby gets raped/molested again

 
 

It's actually a good read, something you could read with your kids (or not!) because the many, many sensitive topics would get mangled by the wrong (i.e. secular humanist) group leader.  

 
 

--following review excerpt is from "The Slate" on THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy (honors 12th)

 
 

"We see it first I believe in an equally horrific scene in the first great work of the new nuclear genre: Cormac McCarthy's The Road. McCarthy's 2006 novel is not the airport type. It's an uncompromising achievement that transcends the nuke porn genre and yet, despite the horror at the heart of it, broke through to become an Oprah's Book Club selection—and of course, now, the soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture version can be found featured in stacks at airport bookstores. The Road is the high-culture incarnation of the nuke porn nightmare, and more power to it.

 
 

In case you missed it, The Road takes place in an unspecified future several years into what seems like a final fatal nuclear winter that will extinguish the survivors of the human race, left stumbling through ash-choked roads looking for canned goods in gutted supermarkets to stave off starvation because nothing will ever grow again. (Or will it? I'll get to the mystery, or deliberate ambiguity of the ending later.) As far as I recall, the word nuclear is never used in the novel; there is just one memory, a quiet horror, of some dim flashes and thumps in the far-off night to indicate that this hellish wasteland is the product of nuclear war.

No causes or triggering incidents are discussed. No Islamic or Serbian villains. It is a charred On the Beach for our time with that film's romanticizing of doom stripped away. It focuses on a man and his son wearily pushing a shopping basket along a road south, hoping to escape the pursuing winter and the hungry rivals for the last remaining edibles.

 
 

One of the things they come upon—and you know it's coming and dread its coming; there's almost a kind of pornographic buildup to this unbearable money shot—is an act of cannibalism so horrific I refuse to describe it further. (I wonder if the movie will depict it.)

Take my word for it: You'll never be the same after reading this scene. I've been trying for two years to erase it from my memory without success. It may be the ultimate anti-nuke statement; the demonic version of the insipid "War is not healthy for children and other living things." (Once you read it you'll see the precise inversion of this slogan it represents.)"

 
 

I have actually read this book, the act above starts with the characters observing 3 men and a pregnant woman walking together.  Later, they come across their abandoned camp and find the headless newborn's remains from being roasted and eaten.   The book includes many gruesome scenes of burnt bodies, headless corpses, ongoing threat of cannibalism, suicide, violence, spirituality - the boy does not pray to God but to his deceased father.  This book is considered a great work, an important work in advancing the radical environmental agenda, even though the source of the worldwide catastrophe is unidentified. The movie was R rated.

 
 

Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" is considered somewhat controversial, another apocalypse theme. 

 
 

And finally, "Brave New World" is for all 12th graders and is written by Aldous Huxley, whose brother helped start the UN.  This book involves mass promiscuity.  It seems to be a staple of HS reading lists.  It's not clear to me if it's a warning or a promotion of the idea that humanity will be so distracted that when changes come to the system they will be accepted or ignored (sounds like the public school system).

 

And here is what the Academic Achievement Committee's response was to a revised list by the HS English Dept: from January 24, 2011 meeting: http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/prsd/Board.nsf/files/8EG2XJ04513A/$file/Minutes%20Academic%20Ach%20Com%201%2024%2011.pdf

Summer Reading Change

The English Department proposed changes to the summer reading list for 2011.

 

Committee Recommendation

The committee questioned the rationale for the proposed change and recommended that the reading list remain the same.

 

The following persons were present; Board Members: Banyas, Dawson (chairman), Herko, Nigh, and Sundo; Administrators: Bucci,

Foley, Davis, Davis, Welter, Delp and Pietrusinski.

With the retirement of Ms. Boice, I am not sure how we will get such informative and complete details of the Board meetings…

The Transformation of Pine-Richland

The "Transformation Blueprint" listed under heading STAFF on the PRSD home page describes the desire of school officials for whole school reform and change: http://www.pinerichland.org/blueprintfinal011209.pdf.  This is from 2008 and I doubt the majority of parents realize that a transformation is already in the works, as described in this document.  Change to what, that is not exactly clear.  Here are some excerpts (some emphasis added in bold, comments in italics):

 
 

    Pg 4 The goal is to transform the Pine-Richland School District to give its graduates a sustained competitive advantage in our global society.

     John P. Kotter, noted author and Harvard professor, suggests in his book Leading Change that establishing a sense of urgency is critical in gaining needed cooperation

Pg 18 The content of our core subjects in the 21st century includes global awareness; financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy; and health and wellness awareness.  (Sounds like a United Nations document promoting global oneness - or Center for American Progress, no mention of academics esp. MATH-Science-TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY! Math is only mentioned 4 times in this Blueprint. STEM is NOT mentioned at all in this document or the 2006 Strategic Plan, but seems to be a new progressive way of transforming math and science into a creative, small group, right-brained lab class - isn't the $43 million HS expansion called the "STEM Addition" yet we have never as parents reviewed the STEM curriculum!)

In addition to 21st century content and core subjects are thinking and learning skills that our students must master so that they can keep learning and make good use of what they know throughout their lives. These thinking and learning skills include: critical thinking and problem solving skills, communication skills, creativity and innovation skills, collaboration skills, information and media literacy skills, and contextual learning skills.

 
 

Finally, information and communications technology literacy allows students to use 21st century technology in support of 21st century learning. Ultimately all our students must master essential life skills in order to lead successful lives both in and out of school. The emphasis is on social stewardship where students understand that mean-ing and happiness can be derived by putting "others" over "self" and to provide services to others in need. Opportunities will continue to exist where students are able to give back via services to their school, community and world. These skills include ethics, accountability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal responsibility, people skills, self-direction, positive attitude and social responsibility. These are often referred to as "soft skills" which are essential for future success.   ---Think socialism, SOCIAL JUSTICE, sustainability, no individual freedoms as designed by the Founders

 
 

By reading that you see every new term - all the new jargon - is being employed by our district. This change in direction to focus on globalism and so-called 21st Century Skills (focus on how to know instead of knowing, content is diminished, see http://politics.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/12/15/21st-century-skills-are-not-a-new-education-trend-but-could-be-a-fad.html) seems to have been advanced initially by former Superintendent by Dr. Manley (http://www.pinerichland.org/SP/furtherreading.html).  

 
 

It is important to know that Critical Thinking (as well as the other terms) does not really mean what you think.  Here is the definition from the recently exposed and nixed "Living in the Environment" textbook (http://www.yournorthhills.com/northhillsnews/article/proposed-environmental-science-book-raises-questions) an abomination that got approval at every level up to the Board (i.e. I presume HS principal, superintendent): 

 
 

Pg 1: "Understandably, we are biased, but we strongly believe that environmental science is the single most important course in your education." (emphasis in original)

 
 

Pg 2: Regarding "Critical Thinking" skills:

                "Question everything and everybody"

                "Identify and evaluate your personal biases and beliefs: Each of us has biases and beliefs taught to us by our parents, teachers, friends, role models, and experience.  What are your basic beliefs, values, and biases?  Where did they come from? What assumptions are they based upon?  How sure are you that your beliefs, values and assumptions are right and why?  According to the American psychologist and philosopher William James, 'A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."  --They forgot to mention all the biases our kids got from church and Sunday school and the Bible, the priest, pastor, rabbi, iman and youth group leader. 

 
 

If you have read the guidelines for "Dialog vs. Debate" provided in 8th grade pre-AP English class for the Socratic Circles (I only stumbled upon it in the June post-school clean up; http://www.nald.ca/clr/study/scdvd.htm), you'll see that the group discussions are designed to produce consensus through compromise.  But we work hard to instill our values into our own children, and we do not want the school to teach our kids to compromise their values in the spirit of consensus.  Consensus that is forced by the staging of the classroom and the pressure of being evaluated by your peers and teachers is coercion.  We used to admire those who stood up for their convictions; now we vilify them for being "intolerant."

Top 10 Reasons to Support PA Senate Bill 1 School Choice

Things I Learned from my Pine-Richland Student:

We have found that in some significant areas, the teaching at Pine-Richland is systematically tearing apart the values and morals we parents are giving to our children, and this teaching is intended to re-shape their worldviews into Socialists-Marxists.

Teaching is slanted to undermining the belief that the United States is good and special and unique in its founding and its system of government, that there is a good reason so many immigrants have been coming here since our founding, through today in spite of our flaws.

Parents need to remember that their kids don't have a knowledge base to be able to tell facts from errors, and that the kids do not tell them much! Some examples:

• William Shakespeare was a homosexual.
  
• Benjamin Franklin had over 80 illegitimate children.
• In Christianity Easter replaced Passover and Christian missionaries "converted Gentiles and forced them to follow Jewish law".
• During World War II, it was an atrocity that the Americans destroyed the beautiful architecture in Germany.
• Early colonists tried to make Native Americans slaves, but they were too weak to work.
• Colonists gave the Native Americans blankets that were infected with small pox on purpose, killing – that is, genocide! (theory originates with the controversial Ward Churchill who has expressed hatred toward America and believes the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center were justified).

• The colonists fighting in the Revolutionary War were radical terrorists (not an exaggeration - this was from my own kid).
• John Hancock tarred and feathered British postal workers and the colonists in general were murderous, burning down houses etc (teacher may have gotten this in error from the John Adams HBO miniseries).

• George Washington was a terrible failure as a soldier.

• The French and Indian War was all the colonists' fault.  The British had to impose high taxes because they bailed us out.  Therefore, we should have just paid the taxes, the Revolutionary War was unethical, and thus the United States should not even exist.

• The Afghanistan war is like the Revolutionary War, only the Taliban are like the colonists and the US soldiers are like the British.

• the colonists at Jamestown became cannibals and so did Roanoke (only evidence is possibly one mentally ill man at Jamestown; only one oddball "historian" thinks Roanoke did this).

• Islam is more democratic and spiritual than Christianity (teacher notes).
  

• Islam teachings stress love, kindness, brotherhood (teacher notes).

• The Koran might be viewed as a sequel to the Bible (teacher notes).
  

• On Christianity: "Historians believe that the gospel of Mark was the most authentic and was used by other authors later.  However, the testimony was written by "believers" not the apostles (not fact) and even they disagree".  This is from a PR HS teacher's class notes!!!!

For Current Global Issues HS course, questions included: "What motivates religious people to turn to violence? Do religious beliefs justify terror?  Why can't we all get along (if religions are basically the same)?  Would the world be better without religion?"  (This course also uses the UN Cyber School Bus curriculum).

• The HS started having a spring Symposium on Education: in 2010 it was on "Ethics in Education" but it could just as easily be called "A Tribute to Brazilian Marxist Education Reformer Paulo Freire"; and in 2009 it was on "Democracy in Education" but could be  re-named "An Ode to Progressive Leader John Dewey".  These events were the pinnacle of Marxist, Progressive, secular humanistic indoctrination; It can be found in reading 30+ essays that they all projected anti-Christian, un-American, anti-capitalistic, pro-abortion, liberal views.
• Our children are being taught to get into Socratic Circles and dialogue (not debate) until they reach a consensus (compromise). There are certain values and principles that we teach our children in which there is not room for compromise. Such categories are faith, morals and values.

• Our children are also being taught that they are being brought up with biases, biases that they get from their parents, pastors, etc. and that they should question everyone and everything.

Regardless of what anyone is saying Pine Richland is about as far from a conservative district that you could find. Actions speak louder than words and the majority of teachers, the curriculum, and the district would be considered, on the facts alone, very progressive.

 

Pine-Richland Principal Ignores Parent Concerns (email sent April 2010)

Dear Mr. Pietrusinski,
I am bringing these concerns to you since they relate to the high school directly, although they do ultimately question the direction of the district as a whole. About a month ago, I cc-ed you on an email I sent to John Dolphin regarding concerns about the nature of the Symposium on Ethics in Education (I met with him and Ms. Poulakos, it was not uplifting). Since then my discussions with parents have been relayed to current and former school board directors and to Dr. Bucci. She did advise that more balance was needed and that in the future approval by the Academic Achievement Committee would be required for the readings. This is not considered adequate and more areas of concerns have developed. I have a director asking to have a meeting next week with Dr Foley to discuss curriculum concerns (including the STEM for HS) and I thought you should be informed of these things.
While the individual required symposium readings of themselves would probably be typical in a HS education, with the notable exception of Paulo Freire, it was the humanist worldview shining through the students' essays, and the total lack of contrasting/opposing sources, that was most troubling. Many of the voluntary (chosen by students) sources could be considered Marxist, Progressive and/or Socialist (e.g. Georg Hegel, John Dewey, Aldous Huxley, David Hume, Friedrich Nietzsche) and all display a secular humanist viewpoint. One student was pro-abortion and even said it was the "non-life" of the fetus as opposed to an actual death. Several expressed strong anti-Christian sentiments, and several were anti-capitalist (including a student who used Adam Smith as his primary source). In addition, the 2009 Symposium also promoted Socialism through the use of John Dewey, one of the leaders of the Progressive movement. The Dan Pink (aide to Al Gore and known for Marxist views) book contains a lot of spirituality (meditation, labyrinths, new age) which is inappropriate for a school setting (perhaps not in the required chapter on Symphony, but promoting even a part of the book is an approval of the whole; I didn't see a part of the Bible being used even though it has been a standard for ethics for thousands of years). The Gary Marx (globalist promoting change through socialist consensual thinking) book is intended to impress on the needs of schools to change to meet a globalist future. All three saw the need for everyone to have the same right-brain emphasis and skill set to succeed.

But there is another theme shared by the two events: "direct instruction (traditional classroom teaching) is oppression of students" and for education to be "democratic" and nonoppressive, per Freire, teachers must not be inflicting their views and opinions on their students, but must be flexible and prepared to learn from their charges. There is no truth and no facts at all (postmodern), just opinions, and even basic facts like dates and events can be obtained from the internet and should not be learned, since regurgitating facts is not important to the critical thinking skills these students must experience. Its too bad neither symposium gave the students any data, research, or evidence of what teaching methods really work and the relationship to the different learning styles of students (one kid complained that classes were not available to re-wire left brain students). Many parents do not agree that imposing teachers' (and perhaps the district's) views of the how our existing educational system must change is appropriate or fair.

Even if these children were expressing their families' worldviews, this event involved 150-200 students and many teachers, and was attended by the highest levels of PR adminsitration. To have our tax dollars spent to advocate such views is a significant problem that cannot be resolved simply by having the Academic Achievement Committee review next year's readings, especially considering most of them have been used in classes (and thus approved explicitly or tacitly) or were used by the district itself in its Strategic Plan and Transformational Blueprint.

The next issue relates to teachers imposing their personal biases on students; I obtained some class notes for Honors World Cultures. I have attached the file. It contains many factual errors about Christianity (3 gospels do not agree, 3 were based upon Mark, Easter replaced Passover, developed from Greek paganism and Zoroastrianism), had a clear bias aganst Christianity (could not list any attractive qualities but had plenty for Islam), was insulting with the "COEXIST" bumper sticker in the middle of the presentation, says Islam is more democratic and spiritual than Christianity, bias in Crusades presentation. It is not appropriate to denigrate one religion in this manner, and this was used in more than one class.

Finally, can you explain what is planned with the STEM/PLTW curriculum? I finally found a little mention of it in the Academic Achivement Committee meeting minutes and agendas, but no details and nothing in the HS monthly newsletters, nor did any HS parents I found know anything about it. As a mechanical engineer, the curriculum philosophy of PLTW troubles me (this is from the PLTW website):
All PLTW high school courses have several underlying content areas in common. As students progress through the sequence they will become proficient in:

• working as a contributing member of a team
• leading a team
• using appropriate written and/or visual mediums to communicate with a wide variety of audiences
• public speaking
• listening to the needs and ideas of others
• understanding the potential impact their ideas and products may have on society
• thinking
• problem solving
• managing time, resources and projects
• researching
• going beyond the classroom for answers
• data collection and analysis
• preparing for two- and four-year college programs

PLTW's curriculum makes math and science relevant for students. By engaging in hands-on, real-world projects, students understand how the skills they are learning in the classroom can be applied in everyday life. This approach is called activities-based learning, project-based learning, and problem-based learning or APPB-learning.

Research shows that schools practicing APPB-learning experience an increase in student motivation, an increase in cooperative learning skills and higher-order thinking, and an improvement in student achievement.

Activities are a method of instruction that involves directed teaching of a particular process or procedure. Activities engage students in learning skills that are later applied in more complex situations. Activities lead students to higher levels of learning.

Project-based learning is a comprehensive approach to instruction that presents a project or relevant activity that enables students to synthesize knowledge and to individually resolve problems in a curricular context.

Problem-based learning is both a curriculum organizer and an instructional strategy that presents a problem, which is relevant and related to the context where students are the stakeholders. Students synthesize and construct knowledge to help them actively grapple with the complexities of the problem and develop strategies to direct their own learning. When students experience a problem in context, they are more likely to make connections and thus see the value in what they are learning.

This could be great for some students, but it sounds like an ongoing group lab project with an intent to make future engineering managers out of everyone. WIll all classes in science and math be impacted by this? If not, will honors, pre-AP and AP non-PLTW classes still be offered? Will parents have the opportunity to review the plans for change in these areas?

Is there a way to avoid teachers whose worldviews are openly contrary to my own Christian values (e.g though the scheduling process or with help of Guidance)?

Is there a plan to encourage teachers to consider the community's values when presenting material that could be controversial, like religion and philosophy? It is important that everyone respect the religious and political viewpoints of one another. It would be impractical if not impossible to opt-out of all the courses involved in the Symposiums.

Will the quality of my kids' educations be impacted if they are wired as left-brain learners and do not thrive in the group/constructivist student-centered learning models that seem to be preferred? Will they be denied opportunities that are afforded to right-brain children, the outgoing popular kids who like doing group work and projects, such as pre-AP, honors and AP classes (I know of children who tested well but were denied the GATE program because they were not outgoing enough)? We were advised by MS guidance that the pre-AP social studies are primarily Socratic circles and that much of the grade is based upon class participation, which excludes my smart but shy 8th grader. Occasional group work and public speaking are good opportunities, but I know I always preferred to work solo. Of course I have seen the right-brain emphasis in the Strategic plan and particularly in the Transformational Blueprint. Being a left brain person is not a deficit that needs to be corrected (e.g. Bill Gates)! I have done much research on this since the new constructivist elementary math program pushed my 3rd grader - and many others - into a ditch this year with its real world problem conceptual emphasis; it would sting less if due process to implement this new curriculum had been followed. Being excluded from AP classes has a significant impact on college, both cost and admissions, as I am sure you are aware.

I appreciate your time and hope that we can discuss these matters soon.

Top 10 Reasons to Support School Choice PA Senate Bill 1

Sorry for the delay, I was planning to post this earlier but with the EASTER - not spring - break I was busy.  This is by Matt Kibbe of Freedomworks:

1. It Allows Parents to Choose Their Child’s School.

During the first year of implementation, SB1 will give low-income students trapped in failing schools the opportunity to enroll in a better school that fits their individual needs. The voucher program is phased in over three years. By the third year, the bill would allow all low-income children whose family’s income is at or below 1.30 percent of the federal poverty level. Using income data from 2009, more than 547,000 or 32 percent of Pennsylvania public school students are eligible to receive a voucher to attend the choice of their choice.

2. It Will Save Taxpayers Money.

In reality, SB1 will actually help the state balance its budget. School vouchers will cost taxpayers a fraction of what they are paying now. In Harrisburg, taxpayers currently pay $17,675 per student annually. SB1 would give low-income students a voucher for $8,498 which is enough money to pay tuition at many Pennsylvania schools. Therefore, taxpayers are paying less than half the money so that a child can attend a better school of his or her choice.

3. It Will Not Raise Property Taxes.

SB1 will not raise anyone’s taxes. The bill does not involve any district property taxes. Instead of local taxes, the scholarships are fully financed through state funding. Property taxes should not be directly affected by the voucher program.

4. The Bill is Constitutional.

The Pennsylvania Constitution reads “no money raised for the support of public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school.” 4 Since the money to fund the vouchers is taken out of the General Fund, it was not raised to support public schools. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld similar school voucher programs across the nation since the money is not directly given to religious private schools. The scholarship is given to parents who have the choice whether to send their child to a non-religious or religious school.

5. It Will Boost Student Test Scores.

Pennsylvania school spending per pupil has skyrocketed with no signs of improvement. Just as competition and choice has improved every day products, it can have a positive effect on schools. As it currently stands, Pennsylvania has one of the worst SAT scores in the nation. On the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment only about half of 11th graders are proficient in math and reading. 5 Studies have confirmed that various school voucher programs similar to SB1 across the nation have
noticeably boosted test scores. 6

****6. The Bill is a First Step towards Ensuring School Choice for All.*****

SB1 would expand opportunities to needy families that lack access to educational alternatives. This is just the first step to allowing all Pennsylvania families to have the same opportunities regardless of income and zip code. Sadly, there’s a lot of resistance against any school choice bill from powerful teachers unions that are well-funded. After we win this crucial battle to break the current education monopoly, we hope to see more comprehensive school choice bills. (emphasis added)

7. It Increases Funding for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit.

SB1 will increase funding for the successful Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) to $100 million which grants companies a 75 to 90 percent tax credits if they donate to a non-profit educational scholarship program. 7 These tax credits will encourage companies to give to a good cause. In 2010, the EITC saved Pennsylvania taxpayers $500 million since student recipients left high-cost district schools. According to the Commonwealth Foundation, the average EITC scholarship educates students for $12,160 less than school districts spend per pupil. 8

8. It Will Help Children Rise From Poverty.

In Pennsylvania’s inner-cities, poverty is becoming a never-ending vicious cycle as local public schools fail to provide students with a quality education. School vouchers across the nation have allowed thousands of poor children to obtain a better education helping them become self-sufficient adults. A student who receives a voucher will be less likely to become dependent on government welfare programs.

9. It Does Not Regulate Private Schools.

The bill does not force private schools to do anything. As the bill summary says “school districts will not be required to accept scholarship students, but instead will develop their own admission policies.” Private schools are fully allowed to reject students if they wish. SB1 does not force private schools to
adopt a certain curriculum.

10. It Helps Remove the Teacher Unions Grip on Our Schools.

Special interest lobbyists are spending millions to defeat SB1. 9 Teachers unions oppose school vouchers mainly because they do not want to compete with other education options. This bill will move us in the right direction to break the teacher unions’ monopoly of public school, teachers and students. With the
vast amount of wealth and power that the unions have, it will be virtually impossible to this overnight. The most realistic way of achieving our ideal goal is to pass SB1 which will help to remove some of the teacher unions grip on our schools.

Go to the link above for the footnote references. I see SB1 as a first step toward educational freedom. It is extremely offensive and oppressive that my hard-earned tax dollars are going to indoctrinate local students - our future voters, future teachers, future managers, future politicians - in their Progressive liberal worldview. In addition, parents are not informed, to our own shame, in the impact of the "standards-based education" our kids are getting here in Pine-Richland and in, I expect, most public schools. Giving in to the state-developed standards which the almighty PSSAs are based upon has resulted in 21% of PR kids going to state or community colleges requiring remedial math and/or English (WTAE report).  The national standards will be worse (Common Core Standards).  While everyone is quick to blame teachers, I believe this is a red herring, a distraction - teachers are stuck teaching to the state standards and to the state tests, using curriculum that is based upon the state tests (e.g. enVisionMATH which brags thta it is paced to the PSSAs) and are forced to adopt new methods which are unproven and ineffective (e.g. student centered instruction).

PETA at Pine-Richland 3rd Annual Marxist Symposium

Here is exactly why we desperately need a voucher system and Senate Bill 1 to pass! I have tried to alert parents about the obvious and extreme liberal Progressive indoctrination in this district, and this is more of the same. The symposium is a "scholarly" event held at Pine-Richland High School for the advanced students across all grades and subjects, for some voluntary and for some required participation for a grade, introduced 3 years ago with our new "conservative Christian" superintendent Mary Bucci. In 2009, John Dewey and his Progressive education ideas were featured. In 2010, Brazilian Marxist Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" was the central theme. This year the topic is "Global Issues and Awareness" and it is April 19 and 20, 2011 and open to the public (see PRHS 2011 Symposium - the schedule lists topics and guests).

Tomorrow (April 19) Caleb Wheeldon of PETA, director of youth outreach, will lead a roundtable discussion. When I googled him, a photo came up that I had to share. This guy dressed up in a KKK outfit to protest outside the 2009 Westminster Kennel Club show, indicating that PETA believes that the oppression of the AKC (American Kennel Club) in breeding dogs is equivalent to the KKK's violence against African Americans. This seems like a slap in the face of former PR Middle School principal Kathy Harrington, who breeds and shows dogs (unfortunately Dr. H like most experienced sensible teachers and adminsitrators these days retired at the end of last year; she was awesome, really cared about the students, not their test scores and their impact on her career).

Here is the article: USA Today PETA KKK Protest http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2009-02-09-peta-westminster-kkk-protest_N.htm

This Caleb was also arrested for dressing up like Jesus outside a church's pig roast several years ago, but I couldn't find a photo. What we need is an organization to protest these events at schools - the Tribune Review is useless and biased and will not report anything negative about this district (I have tried) and these events will only be covered in the news if it is covered in the news...which is a bit of a problem. People can call PETA about animal issues and get them to issue press releases and protest, but thus far, there is no help for parents with this kind of concern.

I have more info about the other speakers/topics at the PR symposium - fair trade (as opposed to free trade?), collectivism vs individualism (gee whiz, I wonder which one will win?), roundtable with Citizens for Global Solutions (Dan Giovanelli)whose mission is to:

"We are a membership organization working to build political will in the United States to achieve our vision. We do this by educating Americans about our global interdependence, communicating global concerns to public officials, and developing proposals to create, reform, and strengthen international institutions such as the United Nations."

And roundtable with Global Education Motivators (GEM Bartolomeo Misana) which "was founded by educators in 1981 to help meet the complex needs of bringing the world into the classroom. GEM has consistently worked with students, teachers and administrators through on-site and distant learning workshops and classroom program support to promote a better understanding of the world and its people.

Believing that international communication exchange is a key to future world peace, the inclusion of cross cultural perspectives has become an integral part of GEM's global learning programs. Global awareness is closely tied to global responsibility.

An integral part of GEM's mission is to support the work and mission of the United Nations and the important role of civil society in today's world. "

And having a couple of speakers who do not seem to be completely Progressive one world order types does not make up for all this. I fear parents here would rather bury their heads in the sand and tell themselves the continual brainwashing of their children will not work.