1. World problems
  2. Politicization of education

Politicization of education

  • Ideological domination of the humanities
  • Politicization of the curriculum

Nature

The politicization of education refers to the influence of political ideologies and agendas on educational policies, curricula, and practices. This phenomenon can lead to the manipulation of educational content to serve specific political goals, often undermining academic integrity and critical thinking. It may manifest in the censorship of certain topics, the promotion of biased perspectives, or the prioritization of political loyalty over educational merit. As a result, the politicization of education can hinder students' ability to engage with diverse viewpoints, stifle intellectual freedom, and contribute to societal polarization, ultimately compromising the foundational purpose of education.This information has been generated by artificial intelligence.

Claim

The notion that any course in Western culture can be enriched by adding to its core list of readings, books by women and persons of colour, not because they are the best or most appropriate for the subject at hand, but because of the race or sex or class of the author (a kind of affirmative action programme in scholarship) is both patronizing and ludicrous from the standpoint of honest scholarship. The folly is compounded by the obligation to recruit women and people of colour to teach the ideas and aspects of culture that involve them. This is nothing more than a sophisticated revival of the old folk fantasy that only like can understand like.

Counter-claim

Existing educational curricula are already politicized in that basic texts tend to have been composed by Western white males and that, in consequence, the required courses are intrinsically infected with racism, sexism and imperialism. This can be corrected by replacing, or supplementing, the relevant traditional texts by books composed by women and people of colour and by representatives of the oppressed classes of the past and of the present, as well as by encouraging the study of foreign cultures in greater depth. To ensure that courses are appropriately taught, personnel should be recruited from minorities and women, wherever possible.

Broader

Narrower

Aggravates

Aggravated by

Wrong thinking
Presentable

Reduces

Related

Strategy

Value

Politicization
Yet to rate
Overeducation
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Education
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Dominance [D]
Yet to rate

Reference

SDG

Sustainable Development Goal #4: Quality EducationSustainable Development Goal #16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

Metadata

Database
World problems
Type
(D) Detailed problems
Biological classification
N/A
Subject
  • Culture » Literature
  • Education » Education
  • Education » Educational content » Educational content
  • Government » Political
  • Societal problems » Imbalances
  • Content quality
    Yet to rate
     Yet to rate
    Language
    English
    1A4N
    D6298
    DOCID
    11462980
    D7NID
    148377
    Last update
    Nov 28, 2022