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Religious and political beliefs should never be taught in the classroom. Teaching about them is different.
This thread brings me back to a career decisions teacher I had my sophomore year in high school. She could not go for one day without talking about how much she hates George Bush. I'm neither liberal nor conservative (Libertarian), so I'm generally left out of these sort of things. The arguments are usually between the right and left, so it's not like what she was saying offended me in any way (I don't like George Bush, but I personally thought he was just a slight bit better than Kerry. Not by much though. Kerry had a hard time making up his mind on decisions.). I just don't think people should be trying to press what they believe on others. While there was never any objections to what she said, I'm almost positive that there were 1-2 Bush supporters in that class, even though nobody came out and said it.
Religious and political beliefs should never be taught in the classroom. Teaching about them is different.
This thread brings me back to a career decisions teacher I had my sophomore year in high school. She could not go for one day without talking about how much she hates George Bush. I'm neither liberal nor conservative (Libertarian), so I'm generally left out of these sort of things. The arguments are usually between the right and left, so it's not like what she was saying offended me in any way (I don't like George Bush, but I personally thought he was just a slight bit better than Kerry. Not by much though. Kerry had a hard time making up his mind on decisions.). I just don't think people should be trying to press what they believe on others. While there was never any objections to what she said, I'm almost positive that there were 1-2 Bush supporters in that class, even though nobody came out and said it.
You bring up a good point about why I am against it as well, the few Bush supporters in your class did not say anything because I belive they may have been afraid to speak up. In those situations when the person who as authority over you, who decides your fate in the class is spewing a viewpoint that opposes your own, or is attacking your beliefs, it can intimidate you because the fear exists that your grade may be affected because you voiced your opinion. It has happened to me for speaking up, and it is difficult to prove to anyone you have been the victim of political or religious biased.
You bring up a good point about why I am against it as well, the few Bush supporters in your class did not say anything because I belive they may have been afraid to speak up. In those situations when the person who as authority over you, who decides your fate in the class is spewing a viewpoint that opposes your own, or is attacking your beliefs, it can intimidate you because the fear exists that your grade may be affected because you voiced your opinion. It has happened to me for speaking up, and it is difficult to prove to anyone you have been the victim of political or religious biased.
I agree.
My favorite teachers have always been the ones who give both (or multiple if more than two) sides of an argument and only give their opinion if you ask. I had a teacher my senior year who I loved. While she was very liberal, she didn't make it obvious. She would stand up for any and everybody. She defended Republicans and their views. She defended anarchists when people called them crazy. Bottom line is, she didn't let her personal beliefs come into the picture, ever. We once had to write an essay about a choice in our life that we made and why we made it. I wrote about being an atheist and not believing in any form of a god. I gave reasons why. She was a Christian. She told me she loved the essay and I got an A+.
I don't think it's wise to do so. During my student teaching I was teaching civics and my kids asked me who I voted for in '04. At the time I saw no harm in telling them, so I did, but emphasized that I'm an independent. I wasn't promoting my beliefs, and I got no complaints from parents or students, but it's not something I would do again. It's just wiser to stay out of those things or play devil's advocate to make them think.
I don't think it's wise to do so. During my student teaching I was teaching civics and my kids asked me who I voted for in '04. At the time I saw no harm in telling them, so I did, but emphasized that I'm an independent. I wasn't promoting my beliefs, and I got no complaints from parents or students, but it's not something I would do again. It's just wiser to stay out of those things or play devil's advocate to make them think.
Don't we still have a secret ballot? So why did you feel the need to tell them who you voted for?
It came into law around two years ago, right before I got here, because our College Republicans group was fed up with Liberal professors political commentary wasting class time. An administrator got in trouble within the last year for getting a hold of the ListServ (all students' email addresses) and sending mass emails asking for students to donate to Obama's campaign.
Maybe they learned from the past 8 years of biased shredding of people's privacy in the name of security. Be careful on what you do. Someone else may learn to be just as good, or better at it than you expected.
I'll take a different stance than most people here. I fully encourage teachers to share a political opinion- far too many kids are growing up in houses where a) they get no political sense at all or b) they follow their parents blindly and are never challenged. My best teachers shared their political opinion or would play devil's advocate and argue whatever political opinion the student shared. By arguing with my mostly conservative teachers, my more liberal opinions were firmed up.
Granted, I come from a very politically infused household who taught me about different viewpoints from a very young age (such as having the abortion discussion at age 7) and I was active in campaigns starting at about 12. By high school, my political opinions ands moral compass were pretty well researched and developed. I looked around me and saw so many kids of whom had NO IDEA what was going on in our state and town, much less the world. That's the fault of the parents. I don't think schools should take the place of a parent, but citizenship involves knowing about different opinions and learning how to reconcile other opinions with your own. By high school, a student should be able to handle that lesson coming down from a teacher.
I'm a social studies teacher and I don't find it appropriate to talk about my political views. I want my students to establish their own views with out lecturing to them about mine.
NO! I don't want my tax dollars or tuition going to promote a FAR LEFT agenda that most educators promote.
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