Exploring Critical Theory in Canada
An essay series from C2C Journal
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Last Sunday, Canada’s preeminent “ideas” journal published an essay I wrote on the topic of Critical Theory in Canadian education. My piece is called Transforming Children: Critical Theory Takes Over Canadian Schools.
The slogan for C2C Journal being “Ideas That Lead,” and the impressive roster of past authors, along with my own fandom of the platform, made it an honour and a milestone to have something I wrote published with them.
But it gets better. Apparently C2C Journal is doing an entire series on Critical Theory - my essay was just the first one! I tried to get some inside info from editor-in-Chief George Koch (seeing as how I’m a fancy C2C author now), however, George declined to comment telling me the details must remain top secret for a variety of editorial reasons. Does that not pique your interest even more? It does mine (big time!).
C2C always provides a cool intro narration to the essays they publish. Below is what appears at the beginning of mine:
“Amidst the jostling theories about the nature of education, the philosopher G.K. Chesterton once succinctly summarized it as ‘simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.’ But what if that soul is being torn apart from within? What if today’s kids are told to despise almost everything about yesterday, in order to prepare them to overturn society tomorrow? James Pew traces the path of so-called ‘critical pedagogy’ from the fever-dream of a Brazilian communist, to the guiding doctrine of an internationally celebrated Canadian teacher-training institute, and onward to the classroom activities in a growing number of Canadian schools. Part I of an extended series on the state of education in Canada.”
The Brazilian communist is of course Paulo Freire, the teacher training institute is of course Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), and, of course, Henry Giroux makes an appearance.
Yesterday I went on the Andrew Lawton show to discuss the piece. A video is embedded below of the interview. On a side note, Andrew announced yesterday that he will be running to be the Conservative member of Parliament for Elgin-St. Thomas-London South! I think he announced it right after my interview (I would have congratulated him on air otherwise). Anyway, I’m a huge fan of Andrew, and I think he will make an excellent addition to the Conservative party, and be a great leader for Canadians!
Here is the discussion on Critical Theory with Andrew Lawton (the segment begins at the 15 minute mark):
Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read How Long Will We Put Up With Leah Gazan’s Relentless Assault on Canada?
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A friend who is a subscriber to C2C Journal sent me this James Pew essay 4 days ago. I not only read it, I printed it out and have come back to it with red pencil many times. I was struck by the depth and significance of the research assembled to show just how embedded is this invasion into the public education systems. That is, in Pew’s words: “The job of children, then, is no longer to absorb knowledge and wisdom accumulated through the ages, but to upend the civilization bequeathed to them.” That is, “Transforming Children” as in the title of his essay!
What struck me further — as I kept gardening and pondering (I’m in my slow 80s) — is just how oblivious (unaware, unconcerned) is the general public to this ominous future. We had the Million Marches 4 Children last fall, which on a small scale indicated some small sensitivity to the issues, but how will there ever be a correction to this ongoing, calculated incursion?
This piece by James Pew, while profound, is not constructed to speak to the sensitivities of the general public. We do have three provincial elections this Fall (BC, NB, SK) and I’m aware that the BC Conserevative Party Platform has this on education: Remove Ideology from the Classroom. Politicians, as in Florida, can make a big difference and need to get to know the issues.
Meanwhile, I’m reading this excellent book, NextGen Marxism, and bring forward this quote to show some flavor of how just how long these goals to upend society have prevailed. About Hungary, 1919 . . .
Pg 80-81 — “As culture and education commissar, Lukacs realized that the best way to destroy society — so communists could implement the change they lusted after — was to destroy the family. He therefore ordered that young schoolchildren in the new Hungary be taught sexual perversions. According to his biographer,
'special lectures were organized in schools and literature printed and distributed to 'instruct' children about free love, about the nature of sexual intercourse, about the archaic nature of bourgeois family codes, about the outdatedness of monogamy, and the irrelevance of religions, which deprives man of all pleasure. Children were urged thus to reject and deride paternal authority and the authority of the church, and to ignore precepts of morality.' “
Looking forward to more in the series . . .