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Pro-Science Resolution for the Illinois Federation of Teachers?

MattusMaximus

Intellectual Gladiator
MattusMaximus
Joined
Jan 26, 2006
Messages
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I teach high school & college science in Illinois, and I'm also a member of both teaching unions here - the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association. I'm often proud to be a member of these organizations, though at times my patience is worn rather thin with them. Specifically, I know some people who are trying very hard to get a resolution passed at the IFT conference this weekend concerning evolution & creationism.

Sadly, in the past the IFT (and, to my knowledge, the IEA as well) has taken no official position on the teaching of science in public schools. Thus, stupid things happen like creationists are allowed to show up with a booth at IFT/IEA conferences (would they allow, say, Holocaust deniers to push their "alternate view" of history?)

The purpose of the resolution is to get the IFT to finally take a strong, pro-science stand against the pseudoscience & religiously-driven malarkey of creationism which has been pushed for far too long. It is undoubtedly true that there are IFT members who are creationists, but that isn't a reason to avoid addressing this issue - the scientific community has spoken, the federal courts have spoken, and now it is time for the IFT and other teachers' unions to speak & stand up strongly for sound science education in our public schools.

If you are a member of IFT and are a delegate to this weekend's conference, or you know someone who is, please encourage them to stand up and speak in support of this resolution when it is presented. For more information, you make contact Professor Gary Fritz at gnfritz@eiu.edu

The language of the resolution follows:

UPI House of Delegates 2009

Keep non-scientific ideas out of the science curriculum

submitted by

GARY FRITZ, EIU-UPI

WHEREAS, science is a systematic method for investigating natural phenomena through experimentation, observation, and measurement leading to falsifiable explanations that are open to continuous testing; and

WHEREAS, science proceeds on the basis of methodological naturalism and assumes observed phenomena of the universe are real, nature is consistent and understandable, and nature is explainable in terms of laws and theories; and

WHEREAS, a scientific theory is consistent with evidence from multiple and independent sources of evidence, explains many different facts, and allows predictions of subsequent discoveries; and

WHEREAS, the theory of evolution satisfies these criteria fully, is the foundation of biological science, is supported by a coherent body of integrated evidence from other disciplines in science, and is consistent with theories from other scientific disciplines including anthropology, geology, physics, astronomy, and chemistry; and

WHEREAS, there have been attempts in some states to include non-scientific ideas, such as creationism and intelligent design, in the science curriculum as alternatives to scientific explanations of nature, particularly as an alternative to evolutionary theory; and

WHEREAS, arguments grounded in religious or philosophical considerations outside the realm of science have been invoked in attempts to subvert the validity or teaching of evolutionary theory. These attempts are also attacks on all scientific inquiry and, therefore, also attacks on the validity of using reason and experimentation to understand the universe; and

WHEREAS, legislation that incorporates unscientific ideas into the science curriculum, or limits, or prohibits the teaching of any scientific theory, negatively impacts our ability to make informed decisions; and

WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the AFT to preserve the integrity of science in the classroom;

Therefore be it resolved, that the AFT affirm, through a positional statement on its website, the validity of science as a methodology for understanding the nature of the universe, and affirm the validity and foundational importance of organic evolution to science as a whole and biology, specifically; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the AFT affirm, through a positional statement on its website, that ideas such as creationism and intelligent design are not with in the realm of science and, therefore, are inappropriate for inclusion in the science curriculum; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the AFT call upon its members to assist those engaged in overseeing science education policy to understand the nature of science, the content of contemporary evolutionary theory, and the inappropriateness of including non-science subjects (e.g., intelligent design and creationism) in our science curriculum; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the AFT communicate to the local, regional, and national public media, to educational authorities, and to appropriate legislators its opposition to the inclusion of non-science approaches and subjects (e.g., creationism and intelligent design) into the science education curricula of our public school system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the AFT members also promote these concerns and help resolve these issues in their home communities among educators, parents, school boards, and students in appropriate public forums.
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I hate people sometimes, creationism belongs in church not the classroom. Thanks! (I was at EIU last weekend. High school marching bands.)

I am not a teacher but my union is part of the IEA.
 
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MattusMaximus said:
I teach high school & college science in Illinois, and I'm also a member of both teaching unions here - the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association. I'm often proud to be a member of these organizations, though at times my patience is worn rather thin with them. Specifically, I know some people who are trying very hard to get a resolution passed at the IFT conference this weekend concerning evolution & creationism.

Sadly, in the past the IFT (and, to my knowledge, the IEA as well) has taken no official position on the teaching of science in public schools. Thus, stupid things happen like creationists are allowed to show up with a booth at IFT/IEA conferences (would they allow, say, Holocaust deniers to push their "alternate view" of history?)
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first off, no one needs to talk about Gaza on this thread.



Second, i sent an email

If you are a member of IFT and are a delegate to this weekend's conference, or you know someone who is, please encourage them to stand up and speak in support of this resolution when it is presented. For more information, you make contact Professor Gary Fritz at gnfritz@eiu.edu





Hello Professor,



My name is "bishadi" and I am writing to ask if you could contact;



Ion C. Baianu

Professor of Food Chemistry

E-mail: ibaianu@illinois.edu

Phone 217 244-6330

http://fshn.illinois.edu/people/ion_baianu







The reason I am suggesting this is because of his theorem and the comprehension of axiomathes.



If the educational system can perform an evolution of the life of living systems, then the comprehension of living processes will be improved within the student body.



Baianu is well versed in the progression of combining energy (em, eigenstates) of systems. To combine the logic behind understanding “life” and living system with the existing math, then nothing can stop the ‘people’ of your community from addressing legislation that affects their children.



Notice that when you keep the children as the focus, just to comprehend the life of science, in itself, is an “evolution of knowledge” to pursue.



Darwin won! AS we are all still using his works, his contributions, to this day!



Remind the creationist that Darwin never even used the word evolution in “On the Origins of Species,” as the combination of the HIS work and the term is an evolution that the religious adherents’ added.



If you need anything else, then please ask.



Ps…. The beauty of following the long given contribution of Professor Baianu is that within the comprehension a path can be written within scientific understanding that can combine chemistry, electronics, physics, biology and applicable to nature and evidence. (ask Ion how he feels about Lavoisier)


If you read this email in time and would like an analogy to represent to an open format, contact me soon with a phone number and I promise, I will arm you with enough to change the whole atmosphere of your upcoming meeting.



Thank you, for giving for the future.
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i added what i could from 'the valley of the sun'
 
MattusMaximus said:
Yeah, Gary's going to be just elated to get that email :rolleyes:
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at least someone is doing something besides telling his students that qm is just all correct when a reductionary system cannot perform an evolution to the molecular level.


ie.... the dichotomy of all time;


science(s) provide math and observes the evolution of species, while the religious believe in a creation from an outside cause.

the religious adherants use the math of science to prove an evolution could not occur because of the reductionary scope of random mutations caused by the mathematical scheme of the current paradigm.

religious adherants are using science to discredit evolution; the dichotomy of all time.


hence if the 'community' simply stepped back to combine the knowledge of the existing sciences and remove the beliefs held as law (2LoT is a practically stupid), then the mathematical rendition of biological life is as easy as creating an fm signal for transmitting.

the energy is the specimen and from caloric to faraday to even the stud himself tesla....................... the math is stupid easy

but to remain conforming, the use of axiomathes and nonlinear progressions can be performed mathematically to render a progression (an evolution) and the scientist Baianu is capable of assisting the STATE of Illinois and its constituents.


MM you may like to rant but i like solutions and identifying players capable, is what i was trying to assist with.

if you think you are so smart, then why the hell are you just asking for votes versus identifying what will turn over the bias of wingnuts

i say to provide a mathematical frame within science and applicable biology, then no one can stop the educational board from accepting the grounding of life, to science, versus belief

do you realize it was this very item of grounding life to reality that is the whole reason i am even involved with any of this.

you did it for an income, i did it to learn

the problem is i was ruined when i found out the junk YOU believe and the math held as correct, is about as stupid as hot and cold being a property of nature.

I liken today's system to the ptolemaic math to define how the planets criss-cross the night sky.


life; abuses entropy (and it kills you to admit it)
 
That is a nicely worded resolution. I'm very happy it passed. It is important that children learn what does and does not count as science and you cannot do that if you are forced to teach, as valid theories, ideas that have not passed the basic tests for a scientific theory.
 
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