A fact is a piece of information that can be proved with concrete evidence. An opinion is a view or judgment about something and can change often. Education is supposed to immerse the individual in facts so that whenever a decision is needed, the individual can make the most logical, common-sense decision.
Historical Facts: Thousands of white people died in the Civil War trying to end slavery. The voting rights act was passed in 1965. The Great Society Legislation passed in 1964-65, spending millions on urban renewal, medical care, housing, and transportation for rural and inner-city blacks.
Sensible conclusion: Discrimination/oppression of black people ended a long time ago.
While a fact refers to something true or real, which is backed by evidence, documentation, etc. Example: the moon’s temperature ranges from -298F at night to 224F during the day, which has been determined and confirmed by astronomers, scientists, and lunar landings.
On the other hand, opinion is what a person believes or thinks about something. Example: I think the moon is made of green cheese; it sure looks like it on a cloudy night, don’t you agree?
Facts make use of the left brain, and by using proper skills, the individual can reason, prioritize, and come to a logical conclusion. Once these skills are realized, the individual can make quick, common-sense decisions. Example: If in multiplication 5 x 3=15, then in division 15 divided by 3=5.
Facts are universal and only change when solid, verifiable evidence is found that refutes the fact. Example: For centuries, wise men believed the earth was flat. When explorers returned with evidence there is no end-point, the earth is round, and you can circumnavigate it, the fact was changed.
Opinions use the right brain where emotion will guide the decision, often making judgments without basis. Emotion is a learned response to a particular situation. Emotions are abstract and often personal, so they are easily changed.
A person can only think of one thought at a time. If only the left brain is developed, then the individual has little time for issues that involve emotional responses, i.e., art, movies. If only the right brain is developed, the individual can not reason, lacks common sense, and will often make decisions based on how things look rather than how they operate.
It’s very difficult to understand the relationship between SEL, CRT, and CRT because they are three different approaches to the same thing, Emotionally controlling the people.
Critical Race Theory: CRT is a Theory, a system of rules, procedures, and assumptions used to produce a result. Who’s opinion, who’s assumption, what if I disagree? Many common tactics in CRT training, including segregating people by race, race-shaming, ascribing certain attributes to people based on race, and ” claims that by virtue of race, a person is inherently racist or inclined to oppress others.” You must assume things to be true.
Social-Emotional Learning: SEL forces the child to see all issues under an emotional lens, often shutting down the right brain to logic and reason. Too often, the child gets so emotionally charged that they become unruly (so involved in their emotion) and no longer have the ability to express themselves. They no longer have the ability to listen to an opposing viewpoint because it doesn’t make them “feel better.” So Johnny, who had a bad feeling from reading about the boy who lost his life getting hit by a train, gets mad at the engineer instead of asking why the boy was on the track to begin with. Emotion overplays logic.
The purpose of school is to disseminate factual information for a person to store in their brain and use at a later time when needed to make informed decisions, i.e., common sense. However, a person thinking through emotion will never have a firm footing. They will constantly be thinking, how do I feel about that? How am I making others feel? Decision-making becomes a horror. Emotion changes constantly. Because Facts rarely change once the individual knows facts, they become more secure in their decisions.
A student taught to think of everything in terms of SEL will become an emotional person incapable of having a conversation with an opposing perspective. They lack common sense and don’t have the ability to draw conclusions logically. They allow others to make decisions for them rather than risk hurting someone else.
Johnny White, Suzie Black, Jose Brown were in class. The teacher asked what 2 plus 2 is. Johnny knows the answer but is afraid to raise his hand because the rest of the students will think he has white privilege. Suzie thinks she knows the answer but won’t say anything because what if she is wrong and the others laugh at her and hurt her feelings⏤she will just want to die. Jose knows the answer but won’t talk because he will get a passing grade for coming to school. How does this create excellence?
And the answer is…IT DOESN’T.
But the goal is not excellence, the goal is division. The ruling class of Globalists doesn’t want people to come together as Americans. They don’t want the populace to think logically or to think factually. They don’t want people to communicate because they might have an opposing view. They don’t care about the truth because the ends justify the means. They want the populace to be trained to think about how they have designed the world to think emotionally. Emotional people are easier to control – no opposition. They want the people to “stay in their lane.”
Culturally Responsive Teaching is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning. CRT is a fancy term for multiculturalism (dividing people by ethnicity) which means stay in your tribe. No exploring America or American values of being the best you can be, you must be the same as everyone else in your tribe. Instead of students learning the “new ” ways of American exceptionalism where they can make their own choices, they must choose from what the rulers have offered. Instead of people coming together as Americans, they stay apart based on ethnicity. CRT will constantly divide the population. Culturally Responsive Teaching | Teaching Diverse Learners
The inability to make clear decisions based on facts too often pushes the person into an emotional dilemma. I am stuck, they think. I can’t make a decision. I am an emotional mess. Where are my pills? If I give the right answer, will my compatriots think I am a racist? I’ll kill myself rather than be called a racist. There is a reason why the suicide rate is climbing.
By eliminating facts, skills, and morality, the person never has a firm footing. Things change all the time. Not being on a secure footing destroys confidence and self-esteem. This type of training is now filtered throughout all disciplines. ELA, MATH, SS, Science are all seen through an emotional racial lens called diversity, inclusion, reparations, equity, social justice and etc.
They can’t eat, sleep. Can’t cope? Not to worry, there is a syndrome, psychiatrist, and drug for that. Must be something wrong with you⏤need a sex change?
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is the vehicle used to guide CRT into the conversation. By claiming everything in life is dictated by racism CRT, students are inhibited from speaking, expressing their true feelings. Maybe Suzie Black gets the answer wrong because she didn’t do her homework, which is nothing to do with race. Johnny White is stuck because he will be called a racist exercising his white privilege if he gives the right answer. Everyone will think I am a racist. So rather than giving the right answer, the student is prompted to think⏤is this answer going to offend someone else?
(OR) The teacher asks the question, who knows what two and two are? Johnny thinks, why bother answering⏤they will just call me a racist. I’ll just play with my blocks; besides, if I don’t answer anything, I’ll pass anyway, and that is safer.
Rather than answer #4, learning the fact and moving to the next fact, children are now fearful of giving the wrong socially acceptable emotional response that someone they don’t know decided they should have. They are inhibited and are learning to keep quiet even when they are right. So if they can’t be right when they know they are, they will do something else to get attention – drugs, sex, pink hair, body piercing, drinking, etc. Children will do anything to get the attention they lack from being right in school in front of their peers.
SEL and CRT are just fancy names for behavior modification. A psychological trick used to elicit the appropriate required response for an action. All the child does is learn the responses approved by the textbook company. If you follow procedure, you will get the correct OUTCOME. No innovation, no creation, no competition, no thinking outside the box. Now every child must think inside the box. There is no room for individuality which is its purpose. No wonder why the STEM attendance is so poor. No thought, just stimulus, response, stimulus, response, training for Pavlov’s dogs, not people.
We are not graduating individuals. We are graduating clones who, given the right stimulus, will give the right response. No reading, writing, or math is needed. Just respond the way you were taught. White people are bad and the cause of your problems. If you are a minority, you are the victim and can blame someone else for your problems. You can riot without consequences.
There is a reason why Collier Co Schools are failing and graduating students who are only 34% college-ready. Focusing on emotion, not facts, does not prepare an individual for worldwide competition. Focusing on emotion does not enable a child to learn to read, write and do math which is the purpose of education. Every text regardless of subject contains CRT. Please do not adopt these texts. We need a real pause to find great texts and curricula for Florida’s students.
Thank you Susan M for contributing to the article.
©Karen Schoen. All rights reserved.
