by Evan Stambaugh
The University of Minnesota is looking to hire an assistant professor of elementary literacy education with “knowledge of” and “commitment to” Critical Race Theory (CRT), climate literacy, and other related areas.
The job posting appears in the U of M’s “Career” database, with the Center of the American Experiment first reporting on it Tuesday.
According to the job posting, the assistant professor of elementary literacy education is a tenure track position, and the new hire will “bring a focus on and commitments to environmental and/or racial justice in their work in elementary literacy education.”
To that end, the school is seeking someone with a PhD in literacy education or a related field who has “knowledge of and commitment to critical perspectives and traditions in education and literacy education, including (but not limited to) eco- and climate literacy, indigenous and decolonizing pedagogies and methodologies, racial literacy, critical race theory, and anti-racist and anti-oppressive approaches.”
The last qualification applicants must have is “at least three years of experience as a teacher of record, including at least one year of experience teaching literacy to elementary school students.”
The university has a similar posting that seeks an assistant or associate professor of critical elementary teacher education, though its list of “minimum qualifications” does not include nearly as much in-depth knowledge of the aforementioned social justice disciplines.
The Center of the American Experiment blasted the notion that CRT and its principles are not prevalent in K-12 pedagogy.
“This is where the left wants to take education. The professional formation of teachers includes embracing a harmful and divisive ideology that explicitly rejects rationality and objectivity,” said policy fellow Catrin Wigfall. “The theory has moved from an obscure academic concept to very troubling practices that focus on race essentialism, collective guilt, and neo-segregation. All of which violate the most basic principles of equality and justice.”
“To continue claiming that CRT and its tenets are not in K-12 education is both false and irresponsible.”
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Evan Stambaugh is a freelance writer who had previously been a sports blogger. He has a BA in theology and an MA in philosophy. In 2016 he was a volunteer, intern, and field assistant for Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign.
