18 Jul 2019 Preventing Classroom Climate Change Indoctrination

Although some schoolteachers proudly wear buttons proclaiming, “I teach climate change,” many also don’t feel they actually possess the skills to properly inform their students on the subject. The National Center’s Dr. Bonner Cohen says this could be a slippery slope toward indoctrinating students – advancing political goals over actual learning.

In an article published by The Hechinger Report on how schools “incorporate the study of climate change into the classroom,” it was noted that a 2016 survey of teachers found an “array of obstacles” –including the lack of a clear understanding of the topic — that minimized the topic in classrooms, or kept the topic out altogether. Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, said: “Lots of teachers feel they don’t have the content knowledge or pedagogical know-how to teach climate change effectively.”

The article also reports that teachers feel the pressure of political interests to present only part of the story on climate change.

Noting that there are those who insist climate change is a settled issue blaming mankind and business as the culprits, and that even some governments have taken to calling those who say the issue isn’t settled “deniers,” Bonner urged an unbiased approach to the issue to prevent the unfair indoctrination of students. He told American Family Radio’s OneNewsNow:

So we need to make sure that what is taught is a relatively balanced approach to scientific issues that are by nature complicated rather than sheer indoctrination…

As for the teachers, Bonner added:

They are under an enormous amount of pressure through teachers organizations, through the publishers of textbooks, to indoctrinate students.

To read the entire OneNewsNow article – “Teachers Feel the Heat re: Climate Change Indoctrination” – click here.