The ‘lefty trad’ claim that socialists should promote traditional teaching methods has resurfaced in two posts. The posts advance four interlinked arguments:
1. Socialists support community order, promote a strong social work ethic, and have high expectations of the working class.
2. The same applies “a thousandfold” to children in schools.
3. Teachers achieve order, hard work, and high expectations in schools through traditional methods of behaviour management, such as SLANT. (Progressive methods lead to chaotic classrooms and cannot, therefore, realise socialists’ aims.)
4. Traditional methods allow working-class and disadvantaged students, including those with SEND and the neurodiverse, to thrive. A very small minority will not cope – but there is always another school for them!
Continue reading “A reply to a ‘lefty trad’ (part 1): What do socialists say about order?”
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