The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) wants states to discard literacy standards and incorporate teachings of “race, antiracism, anti-Blackness, and LGBTQIA+” in K-12 classrooms.
The influential K-12 organization, with more than 25,000 members, released a report in May to promote “Culturally and Historically Responsive Education” as an alternative curriculum to current English instruction in the pursuit of anti-racism and anti-oppression.
Gholnecsar Muhammad, a University of Illinois professor and the author of the report, wrote that having education standards enforces projections that “come from those who design curriculum absent of Black and Brown lives,” and therefore suggested a new form of learning be incorporated into schools.
Culturally Responsive Education would focus on teaching “pursuits,” one of which is to encourage America’s youth to “understand power, oppression, antiracism, and other anti-oppressions,” in classrooms as young as pre-kindergarten.
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The NCTE report claims educators have taught literacy from a “white male perspective” since the 1600s, pointing to the “New England Primer,” one of the first literacy textbooks written in the 17th century, that the organization says included “centered whiteness and white representation, including white characters and white culture, neglecting to offer diversity.”
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NCTE also claimed the famous textbook was “apolitical” and “did not offer opportunities for children to understand race, gender, class, sexuality, or diverse religions.”
The report attempts to shift gears toward a new way of teaching in K-12 schools by encouraging English teachers to take a number of classes aimed at “unpacking their ideologies, bias, and internalized oppression.”
The NCTE claimed teachers should show their understanding of people of color by teaching “equity, power, control, justice, freedom, (mis)representation, oppression, exploitation, marginalization, empowerment.”
“As long as inequities and oppressions exist in the world and society, we need literacy instruction that nurtures students’ identities and criticality in equal value to the teaching of skills,” Muhammad wrote. “Our violent, oppressive, and tumultuous times demand that we teach students in equitable ways.”
While many observers suggest critical race theory is not being taught in many American classrooms, researchers at the Manhattan Institute conducted a study that found that 90% of students ages 18 to 20 have heard at least one CRT concept from a teacher or adult at school.
About 57% of students reported being taught or hearing that “white people have unconscious biases that negatively affect nonwhite people,” 67% that “America is built on stolen land,” and 69% that “white people have privilege.”
The NCTE did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment regarding the report.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
