According to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, Oklahoma’s biggest university may be going against the state’s governor by making future teachers take courses that are racist.
That same year, Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed an order saying that colleges and universities can’t “force anyone to take part in, listen to, or receive any education.
Training, activities, procedures, or programming that gives preference based on one person’s particular race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin over another’s.”
A class syllabus obtained by the DCNF shows that the University of Oklahoma requires education majors to take a course that sees white people as part of institutional racism and teaches them to treat black students differently.
A spokesperson for the governor’s office told the DCNF, “Our universities should be getting students ready for work, not teaching them liberal ideas.
It’s crazy that this class is required.” The groups that approve these classes need to be looked at, and common sense needs to be brought back to the classroom.
Students in the harmless-sounding “Schools and American Culture” course are given about a third of their total grade to work on creating a “social justice curriculum.
The syllabus tells them to think about how they can “center the needs, histories, and realities of marginalized and minority populations.”
Critical race theory and “critical whiteness in education” are things that students have to learn during the fourth week of that class.
According to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia, critical whiteness is a field of study that looks into “what white privilege means and how it can be taught, as well as how white privilege is linked to racism” and “reveals the invisible structures that produce and reproduce white supremacy and privilege.”
Students have to read the “Handbook of Critical Race Theory in Education” for that week. It says, “White people will only seek racial justice to the extent that there is something in it for them.”
Oklahoma state law, along with Stitt’s order, also says that schools can’t require “any orientation or requirement that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping.”
It is the fifth week of class, and students learn how to use critical race theory in the classroom. To help them with this, they have to read an academic paper from 2017 called “Critical Race Theory and the Whiteness of Teacher Education.
This paper makes the case against “color blindness” by saying that “neutral” structures” like teacher tests “reinforce whiteness and white interests.”
Oklahoma law says that public school teachers can’t teach that “people of one race or sex cannot and should not try to treat others without respect for race or sex.
That is, teachers must follow the law and not tell their kids that policies that don’t care about race are bad.
Teachers-to-be are told in the course syllabus that they must follow “state-mandated content standards,” but they are also told to “center” the needs of minority students above those of white students.
According to a copy received by the DCNF, one of the textbooks for the class, “Teaching When the World is on Fire,” also has information that might be against Oklahoma law when it comes to required coursework.
One of the pieces in the book is called “Indigenous Children’s Survivance in Public Schools.” It is a collection of essays on how to teach about race and sexuality.
The specific part of the text used in the compilations criticizes “Little House on the Prairie” for showing white people in a positive light and tells future teachers to think about how they can teach history in a way that puts Native American points of view first, not just any way.
Another part of the textbook, called “Teaching Politics in the Age of Trump,” doesn’t seem to break any state laws, but it does tell future teachers to tell their students to question the president-elect’s words.
A university spokesperson told the DCNF, “The University of Oklahoma is committed to making sure its courses meet and follow all applicable laws.
OU never runs away from tough or complicated subjects.” We promise to only show materials that don’t favor any one point of view and don’t discriminate.
We also promise to keep teaching our kids how to think, not what to think. It makes sense that American history is difficult and unique, and that should show in your coursework.
“This education studies course is designed for professional teachers and teacher candidates. It gives a full picture of the complicated history of American education, including important court cases and educational theories,” the spokesperson said.
It was designed to prepare teachers to work with students who are like that of Oklahoma’s citizens in public schools, both in rural and urban areas.
That means giving these teachers first-hand accounts, facts, a wide range of points of view and experiences, and the background information they need to deal with controversial ideas. This will give them all the tools and resources they need to be successful in their future classes.
When Stitt’s order was first made public, the University of Oklahoma let staff and teachers know that it didn’t agree with it by sending an email that said it “evokes deep concern and uncertainty about the future.”
As the state’s flagship university, we will continue to be successful because of our core values, which have been our guiding light for a long time: providing access and opportunities for all those who are talented and determined to succeed.
Making sure that everyone who comes feels like they belong; supporting free speech and inquiry; and being polite to each other. “These values go beyond political beliefs, and we will never change our minds about them.”
At the time, Stitt supported his order by saying, “Oklahomans deserve a merit-based system that makes sure everyone has the same chances.”