The L. Ron Hubbard’s educational books for kids, a Scientology trojan horse?

GIGObuster · March 8, 2007, 4:28am

Back in Cafe Society

I’m concentrating in finding if the learning children books by L. Ron Hubbard have any redeeming educational value. Over here I want to concentrate on the actions Scientology is taking by pushing educational tools created by L. Ron Hubbard. So this thread is to criticize and investigate what is going on.

http://www.lermanet.com/cos/laweekly.html

When you sit down to read, do you find yourself feeling blank or sort of spinny? Squashed, bent or just not there?
Sure you do. And here’s why: You’ve gone past a word you don’t understand. In fact, the only reason a person gives up studying or becomes confused or unable to learn is because that person went past a word that was misunderstood.

At least that’s what the followers of the late Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard want you to believe, because that’s the basis of Hubbard’s “breakthrough study technology,” laid out in a series of textbooks his adherents are pushing for approval for use in schools across the state.

Next month, the supplemental reading list for California public schools, which includes the works of Shakespeare as well as texts of Supreme Court decisions and biographies of presidents and kings, could have Hubbard added to its inventory. If a 20-member citizens’ review committee approves the five books based on Hubbard’s writings, teachers and districts statewide will be free to buy them on the public’s dime.

An author’s bio in the back of Learning How To Learn, the first book in the series, claims that “L. Ron Hubbard’s advanced technology of study is now used by an estimated two million students and thousands of teachers in universities and school systems internationally. His educational materials have been translated into 12 languages to meet this worldwide demand for the first truly workable technology of how to study.”

But several educators who were asked to review the materials for this story strongly disagree. Johanna Lemlech, a professor of education at USC specializing in curriculum and teaching, calls the books “awful.” They “violate everything we know about how children learn, and appropriate pedagogy,” she says. “In short, these books should be carefully placed in the cylindrical file.”

Now, that article and review was from 1997, it is hard to find recent information, in this site mentioned in the cafe society thread
http://www.studytech.org/home.php

I can see that school districts in San Antonio and Saint Louis dismissed the Applied Scholastics kits. (This is the name of the Scientology educational publishing group) However, the latest info is coming from 2005, can anyone point to what Scientology is up to now in other schools districts? Looking at the last site I noticed that the LA district in 1998 accepted the learning books (Not as required reading, but as supplemental approved books) because even though they did complain about the source, they reported not finding church material in the text books.

I can say that currently Applied Scholastics is offering great deals to schools in the Phoenix area, and it seems that in the private education sector they are being used in many private institutions right now. However, how big are they really? I would think that because many private schools have a fundamentalist religion base that they would also frown on getting close to Scientology, OTOH, seeing that the kits do not contain religious material may make them attractive to school districts. What they don’t know won’t hurt them? Are the kits really free of Scientology material?

tomndebb · March 8, 2007, 5:23am

While I am sure that the stuff is mostly junk, I would rather hoist them on their own petard by banning the works as “religious” pieces that should be kept out of public schools. If the $cientologists want religious exemptions for their profits, and religious protection for their speech, then I think they ought to welcome religious separation from state schools.

tomndebb · March 8, 2007, 5:26am

(I realize that Applied Scholastics is incorproated separately and claims to be an independent organization; I just figure that before we even waste educators’ time dealing with the nonsense, we hit them with the SOCAS tack first.)

Stan_Shmenge · March 8, 2007, 8:14am

I am ordering a used copy of the book. Will report back soon, more in the other thread. This success of this tactic is alarming and we need to oppose it.

mks57 · March 10, 2007, 12:18am

Elron sure is a prolific writer for a dead guy.

IMHO, he’s unqualified to write anything other than hack science fiction.

GIGObuster · March 11, 2007, 3:23am

Update:

There is good news and bad news.

The good news is that because we are close to the end of the year the “text” books will not be used, the situation is still not at the “release the hounds” yet. Another thing is that the administration consist of very devout Christians.

The bad news is that according to the casual conversation generated after my preliminary report (with a lot of your ideas and cites from this thread and the other) that I got hints of possible trouble ahead:

It seems that Scientology has museums where they invite educators to “make up their minds” and to show people “how it is a lie that they are a threat”. I need information of how they are operating those centers. I need to know if my suspicions are correct: that the propaganda material they are giving to Christian schools is tailored to sound as Christian as possible, It seems Scientology made a great impression on the powers over here with revelations like for example that “The word Scientology means knowledge” I can not put my finger quite on it, but I got the impression Scientology took that “knowledge” bit and has made it sound like a Christian message!

There is yet another possibility: that they are appealing to fairness and presenting themselves as just another religion that is misunderstood and the educational material that they produce should not be rejected before hand because it would not be fair when other religions have less trouble peddling their educational materials. I have doubts in all that so I need the help of dopers now. I need more information.

I think now more that ever I need cites coming from top Christians that are critics of Scientology, because I do think the powers over here will be less likely to listen to people that are not quite devout.

I think that extreme diplomacy is needed right now, especially because I still do not see them willing to go all the way with this “educational” material, but I need current information and current “fire and brimstone” messages from Christians and non-believers confronting the Scientology propaganda.

Smeghead · March 11, 2007, 7:34am

I’ve read his hack science fiction. He’s not qualified to write that, either.

Bryan_Ekers · March 11, 2007, 10:08am

Most people call that “war”.

Stan_Shmenge · March 11, 2007, 7:05pm

How about some quotes from Tubbard himself?

RTA · March 12, 2007, 1:38pm

http://www.bloomington.in.us/~lgthscac/scientology.htm
http://www.lermanet.com/sources.htm
http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/p89.htm
http://www.bible.ca/scientology-satanism-Hubbard-jr.htm
http://www.factnet.org/Scientology/lrhoccult.htm
http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/hubbard-abortionist.htm

GIGObuster · March 13, 2007, 11:13pm

The notes here are all paraphrasing coming from one of the administrators here:

"- L. Ron was a philosopher like Jesus or Buddha.

Even though he got no degrees in education, the people editing his books now do have degrees.
Anyone can write anything against anyone, so almost all the information against L Ron is biased and therefore unreliable.
Only people that did go to their training can render judgment on the electiveness of the program
There is no reason why I should be on a high horse by acting like I know better."

So.

I have no longer any permission to use work time to investigate further this matter.

I can investigate on my own time, but one mind at least is made up regarding what they are going to do with the “educational” material, in context I have to think that very likely it is going to be a diet of L. Ron Hubbard for the students in the future.

All that came when I had to mention that L Ron was not really hunky dory with Christianity and the information provided so far was misleading or incomplete, and that the didactic material included Scientology definitions like “mass”

So one important mind is already made up. And I found out that my suspicion was correct: a principal from a Charter School in the district was the one that recommended the books to the powers in the school were I am. I would have looked the other way if it wasn’t for the little detail that it is clear now that the educational material is not the only thing being peddled here by Scientology. Because if that was the case, I would not have found that they did go to one of their centers to “see for themselves”.

Even though the conversation was polite, it was clear I was not getting any good grades of all this. Frankly I will not be surprised that I could be dismissed soon for all this.

The funny thing is that what made me speak was the clear misrepresentation Scientology was making on how compatible Scientology is with Christianity or how material from someone that never got degrees in education can be worthy of being considered to be used in education, I had to say something because other educators were being introduced to the material.

So that is the status. As I fortunately just graduated, I’m looking for another job, but It will kill me if I go a couple of months with no money. Here I have to ask for the kindness of dopers if the worst thing happens in this case. If anyone knows where someone needs a certified A+ tech with Networking experience or a multimedia, video editing or computer/web animation person, please let me know ASAP.

:sigh:

It is not you RTA, I thank you for your efforts, but the disappointment I feel is how it seems to me that mainstream protestant churches are not recently posting anything critical regarding that educational material, or against the Scientology church at all :dubious: . IOW, the unfortunate thing is that all the links you posted are not part of any mainstream church or important educational organization, remember that one has to take into account the audience’s opinions that are already there before one can begin to make a point.