Texas State University has issued guidelines on “Value Neutral Instruction” to steer discussions of a course audit announced in October. The ultimate objective is to encourage viewpoint diversity.
The 16-page document examines how educators can present material without imposing personal values and allow students to critically engage with content based on evidence and reasoned discourse. It emphasizes the importance of anchoring curriculum goals and objectives to broader educational aims without endorsing ideological worldviews.
Educators are encouraged to adopt phraseology that is “descriptive,” “discipline-appropriate,” and “ideologically neutral.” The guide further stresses the importance of “objectivity,” clear communication of the “skills and competencies” students will gain by taking specific courses, and content overview standards that give prospective students a reasonable understanding of what a course will entail.
The guide discourages the use of “politically loaded phrases” and lists “climate justice,” “decolonizing,” “queer resistance,” and “systemic racism” as examples.
The “Framework for Discussing Controversial Topics” encourages the acknowledgement of “multiple legitimate perspectives” and places emphasis on “evidence and reasoning.” It also distinguishes “description from prescription” and promotes the modeling of “intellectual humility.” The document further emphasizes a “focus on process over outcome[s].”
In the “Academic Freedom: Rights and Responsibilities” section, the document notes that faculty is permitted to “[s]hare their own scholarly perspective when relevant,” “[a]ssign texts representing particular viewpoints (within a balanced curriculum),” “[d]iscuss normative questions and ethical implications,” and to “model intellectual engagement with difficult questions.”
Faculty may not “[g]rade based upon agreement with instructor’s views,” “[r]equire students to express particular political/ideological positions,” use the classroom as a “platform for political advocacy unrelated to course content,” “[p]resent [their] personal opinions as disciplinary consensus,” or “[p]enalize students for respectfully expressed disagreements.”
The section on objections discusses the difficulty of perfect neutrality, the difference between teaching how to think and what to think, the difference between advocacy and instruction, and questions related to academic freedom.
“Many institutions have passed General statements of institutional neutrality. But Texas State is the first one to apply those statements to actual curriculum and instruction,” scholar Scott Yenor told Texas Scorecard.
“For those of us who think that all education is inherently civilizational and political, the idea of value neutrality in instruction is difficult to embrace,” Yenor continued. “But what Texas [S]tate is doing is seeking to make the classroom a marketplace of ideas and not a source of leftist, political activism and that goal itself is worthy.“
Texas State University is the largest teacher-training college in Texas, a fact highlighted by former professor Tom Alter during an appearance at a recent Revolutionary Socialist Conference that led to his ultimate termination.
Many universities, including the University of Texas System and the University of Houston have recently adopted policies of “institutional neutrality” on political issues outside the universities’ purview. While more limited in scope, Texas A&M also prohibits “partisan political activity” at the university level.
Texas State’s guide explicitly requires ideological neutrality in day-to-day classroom instruction.
The curriculum review will report its first round of findings in January. The final round is due by May.
Texas State University is a component of the Texas State University System. It is overseen by a board of regents appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. Alan Tinsley is the current board chairman.
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