This January, Interim Director of Schools Ethan Bueno de Mesquita shared new draft “Standards for Viewpoint-Neutral Education in support of Student-Centered Open Inquiry”. The updated standards, which you can read below, seek to achieve the following.
The intent is not to limit inquiry or discourage engagement with difficult or important topics at any level. No subject is out of bounds. Rather, the goal is to ensure that Lab classrooms and school spaces remain student-centered environments of open inquiry—places where students can explore ideas freely and seriously, without being steered toward particular conclusions by the authority of adults.
The draft standards document is here:
A longer guidance and interpreation document was shared outlining ideas and examples for the standards: Guidance and Interpretation for Viewpoint-Neutral Education in Support of Student-Centered Open Inquiry [pdf].
The University of Chicago’s 1967 Kalven Report [link] sets the standards for discourse and discussion at the University of Chicago and community, and these principles are foundational to the university. Quoting the report, “The university is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic. It is, to go back once again to the classic phrase, a community of scholars. To perform its mission in the society, a university must sustain an extraordinary environment of freedom of inquiry and maintain an independence from political fashions, passions, and pressures.”
The University of Chicago has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to Kalven, and in 2023 launched the Forum For Free Inquiry and Expression. Organizations like the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) have repeatedly lauded the wisdom of the Kalven Report.
Over the past several years, many institutions have followed UChicago’s lead and adopted official positions of institutional neutrality. As part of the university of Chicago, we believe the “University of Chicago Laboratory Schools” have an institutional as well as an intellectual obligation to embrace these same principles, and thus we strongly support these new standards.
Other Perspectives
Not all parents agree with us, and we believe it’s worth highlighting their concerns in the spirit of open and free inquiry. For this alternative perspective, see “You Belong Here?” , a website organized by parents opposed to the updated standards.