The Truth about Progressivist Education | Katharine Birbalsingh

Katharine Birbalsingh on the issues of progressivist education and why it limits student development. Birbalsingh asserts that progressive education can be seductive in its vision, yet in practice it yields an unguided education experience.
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/ miss_snuffy

[@ShovelMonkey]

Boom! This lady nails it. Children need structure and predictability and security in their lives. They need a strong father figure. Single moms and communist teachers all teach irresponsible behavior by their marriage to the state, from which free things just rain down. I just won a seat on my local school board here in northern California and having already sat in on four school board meetings, I have been shocked and disgusted at some of the things that the district superintendent is *enthusiastically interested in.*

[@kayleneemery8217]

@@ShovelMonkey its ok....blessings from Sydney Australia.

[@jf7243]

Stand fast please. So good to hear good parents are now standing against the woke progressivist zeitgeist.

[@andrewtucker94]

I think 'communist' might be overselling it slightly...

[@kaylenehousego8929]

So refreshing and hopeful to listen to someone who clearly respects and likes children - without the agenda of conditioning them to be more like adults - who are hyper sexualised . Thank you .

[@HigherInfluence]

English, history, math, science and physical education have to be foundational. Without a solid foundational grounding in these areas a child hasn’t the tools to move forward.

[@estelja]

Kids can "find themselves" just fine at recess and after school. In class, they need to be learning the topic, nothing else.

[@lavienestpasunlongfleuvetr2559]

This woman has so much more confidence and sense than most school principals.

[@cnyphotovideo]

This looks like an absolutely fascinating conversation. Definitely going to look for the entire chat.

[@Pareshbpatel]

Old-School schooling must be brought back.

[@lavienestpasunlongfleuvetr2559]

- minus the corporal punishment.

[@bluexboxgamer2613]

No, greedy governments and exam boards, far right barbarians (like her), and Communist degenerates must thrown out of society. Only then education will recover.

[@t.e.1189]

Never heard of this woman before today. I've watched several videos of her now and must say she has more common sense than most people. Very logical and wise.

[@patriciocordova449]

I’m absolutely fixed on homeschooling my son when the time comes, unless I find a school like this.

[@noshirm6285]

Katharine is right! 👏🏻

[@TimBitts649]

Progressives vs. traditionalists. Sounds like Jordan Peterson's many comments on chaos vs. order, conservative temperament vs. liberal temperament. A lot of this is genetic. Jonathan Haidt has done work on innate political differences. It's influenced by genes. Why are some people more open, like to explore? Born that way. Why do some people like orderliness? Born that way. Especially people who end up being accountants. The trouble with progressives is they are bigots. But it's a new sort of bigotry, they don't even recognize in themselves. It's the sort that assumes every child comes out the same, every child is born close to their ideals. Every child is a future progressive, if we can only brainwash, err I mean educate him or her, along those lines, getting rid of tradition, family, religion and have drag queens educate them all. Jordan Peterson once gave a lecture at Cambridge. Someone once asked him if a lot of what he was saying as a psychologist, was just the conservative psychologists reacting to liberal psychologists. Dr. Peterson responded: "There are no conservative psychologists. The profession is entirely dominated by the progressive types, just like the overwhelming majority of academia. The only conservative psychologist, is in this room. He's sitting in my chair." Of course their progressive view is rubbish. For some reason, scholarly work and some professions tend to attract people who are quite progressive and liberal in temperament. This leads them to a massive philosophical blind spot in education. Their theories are inaccurate, they don't take into account, people are born with all sorts of innate tendencies, and the children who weren't born the way they are "supposed" to be born, will suffer.

[@robertholland7558]

I love my chaos, in an ordered way! Just not a fan f all these dichotomies

[@nowhereman6540]

Really interesting accent. I think that I detect English alongside some North American and Australian

[@thomasdavis805]

3:23 *children need guidance* - you’re not guiding, you’re coercing/incentivising them through punishment, rewards, and conditional regard.

[@ronaldfreeman4532]

The ole fashion way is always the best! Tea & water, as I used to say as a teenager, late 70s - 80s, in the Land of Many waters!

[@timwannell6477]

100% on the button

[@michaelferri6790]

It’s a narcissistic ideology telling someone to go find themselves is to basically tell you to become a narcissist to wrap yourself in your own existence and don’t forget your your sense of reality what you need to do is fine Christ

[@peterclark6290]

The only truly valuable attribute a mind can have is common sense. The capacity to work in the realm of making things and making things work: the adult contribution. It cannot be taught. It is the result of frustration in free play when working unassisted with materials to produce an outcome. The more frustrated and the less help the better. Adding literacy and math to their skill set can predate 'school age' with simple tricks like the finger tracing the words beginning with the transition to theory of mind and rationality (3+). 'Dad' jokes are a lesson in the flaws of the human mind. Now fully armed to answer their own questions, which will occur, 'education' could be reduced to progressive benchmark testing on any subject. The child drives the process. Socialisation is reduced to acquiring adult attitudes, thereby skipping the mob environment of school. Generous supplies of materials, mentors, libraries, multiple syllabuses (for each topic) replace the entire infrastructure of 'education'. The slowness of it bored me to tears. Even today I am unlearning things I was told by a teacher (which they should have known).

[@ktex4873]

I agree with the title here and believe her intentions are good. As a traditional homeschooling mother, I know that there is value in structure. However, we must not be blinded by absolutism and closed mindedness. This is simply a reversal of the progressive mindset in an extreme (but unnecessary) opposite reaction. Compulsory traditional schooling (as we understand it) was devised and imported as a Prussian model. John Taylor Gatto wrote extensively on the history of our traditional public school system. The reality is that it never was *great*. From the very creation of the Department of Education, the school system was set up to 'dumb us down'. While many ideas from classical education are appealing, it is idealistic (at best). Too much structure and appealing to authority leads us to many of the problems that we are experiencing today. For example, how many doctors spoke out during c*vid? An EMBARRASSINGLY small amount of physicians actually approached authority and spoke up. Even respectful disagreement is an act of rebellion. Over the last 40 years (with the exception of perhaps the last decade), medical students have been taught using exactly the methods endorsed in your definition of classical (structured, professional lectures by respected academics, demanding and rigorous). The *art* of practicing medicine has been lost (at our expense). The good little students grow up to be good little doctors that are afraid to practice outside of the box, afraid to confront their mentors, hospital administrators or even to quietly question colleagues. And many, MANY people died due to their fears. Balance is our true friend. Project based learning is more natural (over memorizing facts they'll never use). Rigorous grades create psychological harm. Pushing all kids to 4yr colleges has damaged society and countless lives. Holding children to some arbitrary 'level' is not natural. Expecting all children to perform similarly in each subject is not natural. For some, it is akin to asking a fish to climb a tree. Why do we do this? The ENTIRE model is broken (public, private, charter). We can't even begin to pretend that any of us have the answers. We need to revisit the past in order to plan for the future. I believe that begins with reading everything from John Taylor Gatto and Charlotte Iserbyt. Learn the history and start there.

[@thomasdavis805]

0:47 *you have to throw out what everyone’s telling you to do* - but if you do that at Michaela, we’ll detain you 🤣🤣

[@carrietide]

It is OK for young kids.Not for 17 years old.

[@venividivici1982]

I partially agree. It doesn't mean one thing exclude the other. I can still teach to my child "how to cross the road" and at the same time let him express himself. Tradition is not all good,progressivism also is too progressive,both things can coexist and merge together. In my humble opinion the traditional teaching principals are wrong overall because they create manufacturing society, people not able to think with their head,they have created the so called functionally illiterate society, conformist and good yesman people. The concept of Freedom (specially of the thinking )must be implemented from birth, otherwise we will have repressed and suppressed and ignorant society

[@saltburner2]

It is a matter of priorities: you don't start to build the house until you have laid the foundations. The progressive approach ignores this fundamental principle. It is the same if one is learning to play the piano, or carpentry, or another worthwhile pursuit. Discipline must come first.

[@joblakelisbon]

Your creativity won't amount to much unless you can read and write accurately.

[@PennySmart]

This lady is amazing. However John Anderson's last comment is naive: pupils everywhere a

[@natalieg2]

Progressivism = the blind leading the blind

[@robertmarlow255]

Having been in and around London education for over 30 years, I do not recognise this woman's negative description of what is going on in the classroom.

[@kaybrown7733]

I have kids in school and this woman is lying. In fact I've never seen nor heard any of what she's claiming in any school. This is conservatives coping with your own unpopularity. It's pathetic!

[@Hulks92]

What claims are you referring to?

[@kaybrown7733]

@@Hulks92 The ones in the video duh!

[@Hulks92]

@@kaybrown7733 please be specific. Just state one.

[@kaybrown7733]

@@Hulks92 It's pretty much all lies. pick anything she said, and it's most likely a lie.

[@Hulks92]

@@kaybrown7733 say one please, I’ve been a teacher for 9 years across the UK, and I didn’t hear any major ‘lies’ or falsehoods. I am interested to hear your point of view, please give me one or two examples 🙏