I've not expounded on Jefferson and Locke recently here, but Brigid nails it over at Home on the Range:
Jefferson and Locke Reviewed
That's pretty much the way I've been talking about it in classes for about twelve years now. Somehow there aren't many other folks who examine the words that way. Maybe one component of this failure to understand our freedoms and liberty comes from this background:
In Texas, where I now live and teach, to graduate from high school you must have had a course in American Government. Since my students are largely college freshmen, they've already had what I'm teaching yet they apparently know little or nothing. When asked about their previous exposure to American government and political process, they often will admit that they didn't learn much and hated the high school course.
My follow up question is simple, "Was the course taught by a coach?"
The answer is inevitably yes. Which tells us much about the emphasis in TX schools.
3 comments:
It's not just Texas! I live in California and in what is touted as one of the better school districts - God help the lower rated ones! My wife would not go to Parent's Night with me becaue I would explode when teacher after teacher would tell me that C's are a good grade - '..after all it means average.' They would give students the answers to standardized tests so the school would finish higher in state and national standings! This in a state that pays its teachers higher than most and gives them all kinds of 'student free' days.
Ed, thank you for the link to Bridget's blog. That is a great statement. Wish I could audit your class. Jack M
We need more Locke and Jefferson, and like never before.
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