Thursday, January 18, 2007
Inconvenient Truths
There's been a lot of back and forth in the blogosphere over whether Al Gore's film is an appropriate teaching aid for use in public schools. Some of the opposition to showing the film in the classroom comes not from the usual suspects, but from thoughtful observers such as Mathew Nisbet who publishes the excellent Framing Science blog.
Nisbet writes:
RSR thinks Nisbet has a point. Still, we can't get over the fact that people who want to use the Bible to proselytize in public schools seem to have a veto over what books can be in the school library and what subjects can be discussed in the classroom.
Nisbet writes:
The film is by no means a stand-alone product, instead serving as the spearhead for a growing social movement of science and environmental advocates, and a major platform for Gore's much-talked-about presidential aspirations. As much as I might think a Gore presidency could put this country on the right track domestically and internationally, the fact that the film remains deeply embedded within a larger activist movement makes it inappropriate for science class.
The last thing we want to do is give students the impression that global warming is a partisan issue. Among adults, given that citizens often use their partisanship as an information short-cut, polls unsurprisingly show that Democrats are significantly more worried about global warming than their Republican counterparts. With Gore as the narrator and presenter, and the comments of angry Republican parents inevitable, partisan perception is exactly what is likely to happen if you screen the film in science class.
RSR thinks Nisbet has a point. Still, we can't get over the fact that people who want to use the Bible to proselytize in public schools seem to have a veto over what books can be in the school library and what subjects can be discussed in the classroom.
