Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced the State Department of Education is partnering withPragerU Kids for the state’s history curriculum.
“I am thrilled to announce this partnership with PragerU,” Walters said in a statement. “This expansion of our available resources will help ensure high quality materials rich in American history and values will be available to our teachers and students.”
Founded by conservative talk show host Dennis Prager,PragerU is not a university but rather a non-profit media organization that aims to offer an alternative towhat it calls “the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education.”
PragerU Kids is geared toward younger audiences. Its materials center around videos featuring quick vlog-style edits. Oklahoma’s partnership with the site comes afterFlorida approved PragerU Kids materials for use in its classrooms last month.
Some of the videos cover topics in American government and politics, likefederalism orthe Electoral College. Both PragerU Kids and its parent site havereceived criticism for their presentation of topics like slavery and climate change.
PregerU Kids also has videos to address sociocultural topics, likeanxiety,victimhood and gender. Like the civics videos, they’re narrated by young people through a lens of what theOklahoma Department of Education’s website calls “traditional American values that inspire self-reliance, patriotism, and resiliency.”
“One of the most beautiful things God's created is a woman's smile,” says a narrator in avideo about embracing femininity. “You can fill a room with energy and joy. Just try smiling and see how it affects people around you.”
Anothervideo about flag etiquette jokes students should “first make sure your friend is not a communist” before asking them to help fold a flag
Oklahoma State Department of Education spokesperson Dan Isett said the partnership will offer a more robust history curriculum than the state has provided educators in the past.
He couldn’t provide many details about differences in the curricula but said the state is working with PragerU to develop Oklahoma-specific materials. Isett said it’s yet to be determined whether any of the PragerU Kids content will be required teaching curriculum in Oklahoma’s public schools.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
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