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As a result, at least eight years of tremendously valuable medical research has been irretrievably lost to federal regulations that prohibited federal funding to the most important applications of stem cell research. During that time, many thousands of ailing
Americans suffered unnecessarily or died from ailments whose effective treatment are clearly capable of being advanced by stem cell research (Feldman, 2005; Mooney, 2005).
Similar applications of conservative thinking during this most recent dark era of American social thought resulted in the introduction of ludicrous notions such as
Intelligent Design motivated very transparently by the conservative approach to religious beliefs and the desire to circumvent Supreme Court decisions prohibiting the commingling of religious beliefs and public education (Feldman, 2005, Mooney, 2005;
Sagan, 1986, in Davidson, 1999).
Conceptually, the principal advantage of liberalism in education is simply that it does not preclude the consideration of alternate viewpoints, values, or strategies, because it prescribes no specific adherence to existing ideas. Conservatism, on the other hand, discourages the evolution of intellectual ideas and values and promotes rigid adherence to the status quo, even in the face of mounting objective evidence that existing perspectives are tremendously flawed and that they require reevaluation. Because the essential purpose of public education beyond elementary school is to teach students how to think more than it is to teach specific substantive information (Einstein, 1936, in Rooney, 2006;
Russell, 1961; Sagan, 1986, in Davidson, 1999), liberalism in education furthers the main purpose of modern education while conservatism in education achieves precisely the opposite.
In that regard, about the only potential disadvantage of the liberal approach to modern education is...
However, because this represents a misapplication of the liberal mindset, it is less a criticism of liberalism than it is a description of the inappropriate focus on criticism and change for their own sake rather than for any valid purpose or objective.
Conclusion:
In principal, liberalism in modern education is consistent with the most essential purposes of education: to teach students how to think critically and use their minds effectively. Conversely, conservatism in education directly undermines this critical goal and promotes the rigid acceptance of existing ideas and values. Continual evaluation and reevaluation of ideas and values is the cornerstone of social development in human societies. Therefore, the most important mission of modern educators is to facilitate rather than inhibit the development of critical thinking in students and only the liberal approach to modern education is consistent with that goal.
References
Davidson, K. (1999). Carl Sagan: A Life. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Dershowitz, a. (2002). Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age. New York:
Simon & Schuster.
Feldman, N. (2005). Divided by God: America's Church and State Problem and What
To put it in simple terms, Mr. James O. Freedman who has written the book "Liberal Education and the Public Interest" (2003) says in an article in the New York Times that "A liberal education is what teaches people how to write and how to think and makes them much more valuable in the job market over a 40-year career than graduates of a preprofessional program." Further, he adds "All
Over the years, the electoral process has changed a lot. As per the original rules, each state legislature selected its electors. The electors would then assemble at a given time and vote for two people. The person with the majority of votes became the president and the runner-up became the vice-president. This system was in practice until the 1800 election. (the Presidential Electoral Process) By 1800, American politics were dominated
If one has been "trained" in the ways of poverty, left no opportunity to do other than react to his or her environment, what is needed is a beginning, not repetition. The humanities teach us to think reflectively, to begin, to deal with the new as it occurs to us, to dare. If the multi-generational poor are to make the leap out of poverty, it will require a new
Kerr's management strategy on campus only emboldened the New Left. In addition to the Free Speech movement, the New Left included other student organizations including Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress on Racial Equality (CORE), and the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The former focused on the antiwar efforts to end the Vietnam conflict, placing the students in direct conflict with many of America's most powerful institutions and organizations.
Political Socialization Almost every individual in today's society has a set of political beliefs or values, but most of us hardly ever pause to think why we have such beliefs and how we have acquired them. Are they our own ideas or have we been influenced by others in our thinking? Most political scientists are of the opinion that people are not born with political ideas, nor do we manufacture them,
Political Bloggers There are no shortage of political bloggers, most of them partisan hacks without any credentials or writing ability. There are many, however, who have lent their voices to election campaigns and daily political life in a positive way, providing arguments for different positions, and keeping their readers informed. In general, political bloggers are by their nature partisan, particularly in a nation where politics are as fractured as in the