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Who Was It Who Said 'You Can't Be Serious?'

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DTCwordfan | 20:26 Wed 16th Nov 2022 | News
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/11/15/universities-told-teach-colonialism-white-supremacy-even-computing/

Unbelievable - a 100 yards, a kilometer or even ten miles too far. What the hell does slavery have to do with current mathematics - other than some bizarre historical angle and whether there were some extratraneous correlation factors, from how many folk could be packed on a boat from the Ile de Goré and the anticipated 'expiration' rate?
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McEnroe.
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The future 'Mr Woke'?
Paywall on that link, DTC.
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I copy and paste:

'Universities have been told to teach about “colonialism”, “white supremacy” and “class division” by the body that advises on degree content.

The Quality Assurance Agency, which advises universities on course standards, has introduced advice for the first time on decolonising courses from computing to classics.

In one example, the QAA has told universities that computing courses should address “how divisions and hierarchies of colonial value are replicated and reinforced" within the subject.

Geography courses should acknowledge “racism, classism, ableism, homophobia and patriarchy,” further guidance states.

Meanwhile, the QAA says that maths curriculums “should present a multicultural and decolonised view of mathematics, statistics and operational research, informed by the student voice” and Economics students should be taught that it is “still predominantly a white, male and Western field.”

The authority advises that classics and ancient history courses must engage with and explain the connections between the subject and “imperialism, colonialism, white supremacy and class division”.

The guidance included in 25 subject “benchmarks” was first reported by the Daily Mail.

Campuses being 'ordered to go woke'
Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “It’s alarming. Campuses are being ordered to go woke.

“This QAA enforcement of anti-white and anti-Western racial hatred and division is iniquitous.

“It will undermine racial integration in our country and breed either resentment or self-loathing.”

The QAA describes itself as an independent body “trusted by higher education providers and regulatory bodies to maintain and enhance quality and standards.”

It receives membership fees from more than 300 UK universities and higher education providers which use it to provide advice on courses.

A spokesman for the QAA told the Daily Mail: "Subject benchmark statements do not mandate set approaches to teaching, learning or assessment.

“They are created by the subject communities for the subject communities, to be used as a tool for reflection when designing new courses or updating existing courses.

“It’s up to the individual academics and their departments whether or how closely they follow this guidance.

“The subject benchmark statement activity sits within QAA’s role as a membership organisation and is separate from our role as designated quality body.”

Watchdog warns it 'can and will intervene'
Susan Lapworth, the chief executive of the Office for Students, the higher education watchdog, said: “The OfS sets requirements for the quality of universities’ courses in England and decides if those requirements are met.

“All decisions about the quality of higher education courses are made by the OfS and not the QAA.

"The OfS does not expect universities to follow the QAA’s benchmark statements and we do not endorse or support the content of those documents.

"Should a university regulated by the OfS choose to use these documents it must ensure that it continues to meet the OfS’s requirements for course quality, freedom of speech and academic freedom.

“Where we have concerns that these requirements are not being met, we can and will intervene.” '
The QAA system would make most degree's worthless imo.
Did they mention anything about seeing chalk dust?
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what colour is the chalk dust?
One wonders who appointed the morons who apparently now control the Quality Assurance Agency. Mind you, they seem to get appointed into power everywhere these days. Society is going to hell in a handbasket, as the saying goes.
Blackboards matter
It's lunacy. Education is the wormhole through which extremists work these days. I really began to distrust Sunak when he agreed with Unis. ditching Eng. Lit. courses because graduates didn't earn enough - or words to that effect.
Very seriously, it is dangerous thinking. My elder granddaughter is looking at universities now (she's 17) and wants to read Eng. Lit.. She's a sane, sensible kid right now and someone I can communicate with - I'm beginning to dread what she'll have thrown at her.
In Eng. Lit. it'll be the book I suppose.
Brilliant, Douglas. :) ^^^
//Paywall on that link, DTC.//

Hit "Escape" just as the page begins to load. You need to get it just right but if you do you will get round the paywall. Don't tell anybody though, in case the Torygraph gets to find out and puts a stop to it. :-)

This business - utter nonsense. How is mathematics "colonial". This country -and its once excellent institutions - must be the laughing stock of the world.
//Paywall on that link, DTC.//

Hit "Escape" just as the page begins to load. You need to get it just right but if you do you will get round the paywall. Don't tell anybody though, in case the Torygraph gets to find out and puts a stop to it. :-)

Just tried that, NJ. Works well, thanks for that info.
I can't comment on maths but my field of telecommunications in many aspects uses the nomenclature of "Master/Slave" relationships between ports/devices. There is a move to change these to "Leader/Follower" although as the actual word of issue is "Slave" I prefer "Master/Subordinate" as it's less disruptive to the existing documentation.

The basic concept is that one device unquestioningly does exactly what the other device tells it to do, and quite honestly nothing will describe that relationship better than master/slave but times change.
Run in the Times - advice from a quango to the Office for Students which DOES have licensing powers
and yes I wasnt sure how the glorious old British Raj figured in maff - other than the Indians invented 0
and has ( india that is) churned out a series of excellent pure mathematicians
But ( as they say ) it is a proven fact that whites do better in white maff exams
//...although as the actual word of issue is "Slave"//

But why is it an issue? As unpalatable as it was, there were masters and there were slaves. Do the people advocating this nonsense believe that if we no longer use those words (which are perfectly appropriate in the circumstances you describe, and many others) that history will be expunged?
Times need to avoid changes into dead ends. And reverse rapidly if it seems to have done so.
// Do the people advocating this nonsense believe that if we no longer use those words (which are perfectly appropriate in the circumstances you describe, and many others) that history will be expunged? //

I don't think it's about expunging history it's about bringing a word that is loaded with history into an area where technically there is no reason to have it. In my case I am fairly sure I never thought about black or any other type of human slavery when discussing master/slave technologies until it was raised as something some people wanted to change, now I do. So it could be argued, for me (and probably countless others), that the 'problem' was created only when someone made it into one. However if some people have a problem with it then in principle I don't see a good reason not to change it, providing that the new nomenclature still describes the concept properly. Do I think it's worth the effort (and there will be a huge amount of effort spent implementing changes in millions of devices and documents)..? No, I don't.
Will the engineering students have to make up a new name for the slave cylinder?
Is it still OK to talk about the slaves of the Romans, Egyptians and Greeks?

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