Last week, Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder, educator, school counselor and teacher trainer, founder of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, was a guest speaker at the MCC summit on education.
Bonnie Snyder's latest book UNDOCTRINATE - how politicized Classrooms Harm Kids and Ruin Our Schools - and what we can do it about it was recently published by MCC Press under the title DOCTRINE FREEDOM - How politics harms our children and what we can do about it.
The Hungarian presentation of the book was hosted by the Békéscsaba Training Center of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. At the event, Mónika Mittag, MCC representative in Békéscsaba, greeted Bonnie Snyder and the interested parties, the conversation was moderated by Richárd Fodor, head of research at the Learning Institute.
The book presentation began with the context of the American education system. Bonnie Snyder presented the framework and the most important challenges of the school system, and then touched on key progressive concepts that are less known in Hungary, such as critical race theory, anti-racism, decolonization and the concept of woke.
Among the most important topics were the devastating situation and difficulties of American teacher training, the declining prestige of knowledge and the devalued offer of university courses. Snyder presented the operation of the DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) organizational units operating in the education system, the abstract and questionable nature of the teacher training courses based on the triple concept group, and their low - and often disputed - effectiveness.
The most important message of the book TAN-FREEDOM, which supports the suppression of the conversation and the progressive movement, is parental action: involvement, cooperation and networking:
‘Be brave, be informed, do not be intimidated by big words that sound intellectual but mean little. Do not be moved by emotional displays and manipulation or intimidation to abandon reason and common sense. Seek allies and build alliances of like-minded traditionalists.
Many of the teachers I talk to say that too few of their colleagues understand the real game that is going on. They are naive and unsophisticated, and young and underinformed. I am a child of the Cold War and have studied the Soviet Union. They know little of the past because they themselves were undereducated. They join in to be accommodating and because the ideologues convince them it is "nice" or that they are "saving lives". Inform yourselves! Be skeptical!
Parents: consider becoming a teacher. Men: consider becoming a teacher. Woke is an affliction that affects more women and we have too few men in education. Everyone knows that when Dad shows up, the nonsense stops.’
