A new subject, Citizenship (P.S.H.E.) has been inserted into the National Curriculum of England and Wales, as from September. It seems to be the climax, the ultimate provision, of the measures promoting progressive education.

"Subject" is a misnomer; "process" better describes a form of decision-making that is destructive of the moral and cultural norms underpinning civilisation. Wildly over the top? Here are the facts -- judge for yourself.

"P.S.H.E." stands for Personal and Social Health Education. 'Citizenship" indicates the ends to which the "education" is directed. The method is as follows: the children sit in a circle and the one in charge, who used to teach but now merely "facilitates", presents a subject for discussion.

Each child expresses its opinion, which the facilitator is not allowed to comment on, however way-out or abhorrent it may be to accepted standards of conduct. The children must then come to an agreement about a final position, and that has to be accepted as the norm. The children are instructed not to mention it to their parents.

The peer-group judgement prevails, and peer-group pressure ensures its enforcement. Thus, the children's self-esteem is boosted to put them beyond the influence of their parent's values and they move away from parental control.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

For practical purposes, the story opens with the educational theories of John Dewey, Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University from 1902. He looked on children as "organisms", whose supreme function in life was to evolve in their very own way, unaffected by ideas imposed from outside, because only so could they fulfil their evolutionary destiny.

He introduced what he called 'heuristic learning', learning by finding out, now called 'experiential learning'. The adult in charge simply provided the opportunities, "facilitated", as Dewey called it. He had a profound influence on American education.

VALUES CLARIFICATION

In the 60s, American psychiatrists Carl Rogers and William Coulson decided to apply clinical methods to the formation of priests and religious. Within a year, 300 out of 600 nuns from one teaching congregation had applied for dispensation from their vows prior to leaving, having abandoned authority, "except the authority of their imperial, inner selves", to quote a contrite William Coulson.

As a force for changing personal values, the method was spectacularly successful. Then it was tried on children, as outlined above. Here is Coulson again: "One problem is that kids don't have an adult intelligence. They used to, because we would lend them ours; we'd say, 'See the world as we see it, cautiously. Hear what we hear, cautiously.' But now they're teaching children that they can make wrong right by choosing it, as long as they are sincere in their choice." He is acknowledging his error: children are not adults, a fact that our society tends to ignore.

TRANSATLANTIC SHIFT

Inevitably, the ideas and practices crossed the Atlantic, and we have seen the steady decline in educational standards. As in America, the deficiencies are reflected at university level. William Rubinstein, Professor of Modern History at the University of Wales, has this to say: "I have no reason to suppose that any of my students has received an abnormally inferior education ... Yet it is rare to find a student who can write a paragraph in any essay without making several grammatical and spelling mistakes

A significant minority of my students, especially the first-years, simply cannot express themselves clearly or cogently in writing, to the point that their essays are often impossible to understand. It is inconceivable that they would have been accepted at any university forty years ago... This melancholy picture is, of course, primarily the fault of the schools ..." (Daily Telegraph, 1st March, 2000).

The dumbing-down of factual learning and of the ability to think begins at the bottom of the educational scale. Early in 1997, "a National Opinion Poll survey of nearly 900 children, aged 8-16, revealed that 53% of those questioned could not place London on a blank map of the U.K." (Campaign/or Real Education, January, 1998).

---

There follows a comparison of the Traditional and Progressive methods, based on the leaflet The Traditional and Progressive Philosophies of Education, issued by the Campaign for Real Education.

The Traditional and the Progressive Compared

Traditional: Education reasonably authoritarian and hierarchical.
Progressive: Education egalitarian.

Traditional: Curriculum subject-centred.
Progressive: Curriculum child-centred and relevant.

Traditional: Emphasis on content.
Progressive: Emphasis on skills.

Traditional: (Book-) Knowledge and accuracy essential.
Progressive: Experience, experiment and understanding more important.

Traditional: Rationality and factual evidence basic.
Progressive: Creativity and feelings more important.

Traditional:Recognition of right and wrong.
Progressive: Right and wrong depend on one's point of view.

---

EXTRACTS FROM THE OFFICIAL CURRICULUM

GUIDELINES FOR CITIZENSHIP WITH P.S.H.E.

Key Stage 1: "... taking part in discussion to recognize choices they can make ..."

"... considering social and moral dilemmas that they come across in everyday life, e.g., questions of right and wrong, political issues, environmental issues."

Key Stage 2: "... reflecting on spiritual, moral and cultural issues using imagination."

"... making informed choices for a healthy lifestyles."

"...being aware of different relationships (including marriage)."

Key Stage 3: "... justifying orally and in writing a personal opinion about spiritual, moral and social problems."

"... using their imagination to consider other people's experiences ..."

"... understanding the importance of contraception."

"... being able to recognize and manage risk and make safer choices about healthy lifestyles."

"... finding information and advice about the risk of early sexual activity."

Key Stage 4: "understanding the wider issues and challenges of global interdependence and responsibility, including sustainable development."

(Quoted from Citizenship with P.S.H.E. -- a Stark Warning, by James Caffery [in the A. C. W. Review for June]; some emphases inserted).

---

Comments

It is clear that moral and spiritual issues are to be discussed with the use of the imagination and a personal decision is to be made about right and wrong. Globalization and sex-education are included in the topics. Marriage is just another relationship.

Here is Jim Caffery on the interpretation of the documents:

"The insidious nature of Citizenship (PHSE) is masked by the fact that, superficially, it seems credible. After all, don't we all want our children to be 'responsible, thoughtful, caring citizens'? But we need to look carefully at the vocabulary used in the new subject and, even more importantly, discover the philosophical basis on which it is founded."

Much of the vocabulary is ideology-speak (e.g., instruction in a "healthy lifestyle" can mean sex-education), and needs to be interpreted according to the system of thought, the philosophy, underlying the ideology. For that philosophy, one needs to look no further than the philosopher Karl Marx and the sociologists Emile Durkheim and Max Weber.

The implications are sinister indeed: "Considered alongside recent ministerial statements, these documents (on C. & PSHE) indicate that the Government intends to change the primary purpose of education: from teaching knowledge of subjects ... to changing attitudes and values, to produce a new, politically correct society." (Nick Seaton and Katie Ivens in Campaign for Real Education for September, 1999)

Have we here masked Marxism and creeping Communism, with a dash of incipient Naziism, leading to World Government?

November, 2000 Peter Grace, Cambridge