Woke in the WELS: CDA ECE, DEI & SEL Oh, my!

I've posted before about Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) making inroads in the WELS, and actionable strategies for parents to counter SEL. I've also expressed why a Christian might be concerned about the proliferation of Early Childhood Education (ECE) centers. Previous posts centered around teacher's conferences and master's theses. But now the rubber hits the road for the broader synod as the WELS is actively advertising their four-tier accreditation system in the latest WELS Connection. I noticed during the WELS Connection as they spoke of certification the teacher had a manual issued by the CDA Council, which could have just been any book off the shelf to stage the shot, but my suspicions were confirmed later that week when the WELS came asking for money, as I found out, to support SEL in WELS ECE's

The WELS chose The Child Development Associate accreditation for teachers in WELS ECE's. The CDA Council "sets the standard for ECE Competence." Social Emotional Learning is referenced thrice in CDA's Competency Standards and Subject Areas.

Among the values trumpeted on the CDA Council's website are 

• Presentations on social justice and equity:

• A whitepaper on incorporating DEI in ECEs, including combatting unconscious bias,

• Two whitepapers on the benefits of ECE as an enabler for women to work outside the home.

This graphic from the first whitepaper is horrendous. A laptop is held front and center with a crying baby - a distraction from the screen - slung over the hip. Our ECE enablers would take the baby away from her mother in order to enable her to pursue her screen-staring career, facials, fashion and fitness.

These are values confessional Lutherans do not share with the world. We don't share the woke worldview of social justice and secular equity; DEI is a false gospel, and we believe that what Paul wrote in Titus 2 about women working at home to raise a family and love their husbands. What our synod's educational arm is woefully missing is that Christianity is a hegemonic discourse that the secular world must fight at all costs. When we absorb the worlds' norms and values we are doing their dirty work for them.

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P.S.: Pastor Prange, I fixed the sidebar note for you: