Should teachers be aloud to promote their personal political beliefs in the classroom? (universities, school)

[Luke55113]

I would like to find out what fellow people think about teachers who promote personal political beliefs in the classroom. Is it acceptable at all? Is their a time and a place for teachers to share personal political views in class? Are their certain classes where this is acceptable and others where it is not? I am a college student in the Twin Cities and I would be very interested to hear the opinions of others.

[JHG722]

I'm a college student, and my college was the first college in the country to set up actual university law stating that professors are not allowed to inject their political beliefs. I just had a meeting with an administrator to complain about a professor doing so, and he was told to stop. Despite consistent political undertones, it has mostly stopped from the inappropriate level it was at before.

[sailordave]

Probably not a good idea to get into a heated political discussion in which you yell at the student to take off their Jesus goggles like one Colorado teacher did.

[Luke55113]

Originally Posted by JHG722

I'm a college student, and my college was the first college in the country to set up actual university law stating that professors are not allowed to inject their political beliefs. I just had a meeting with an administrator to complain about a professor doing so, and he was told to stop. Despite consistent political undertones, it has mostly stopped from the inappropriate level it was at before.

JHG722,
Did the law at your school come about because students like you were tired of hearing teachers personal political view injected into the curriculum, or because the University staff wanted to be the first to say it is taking a stand against it?

[Luke55113]

Originally Posted by sailordave

Probably not a good idea to get into a heated political discussion in which you yell at the student to take off their Jesus goggles like one Colorado teacher did.

What was the outcome of this do you know?

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by Luke55113

JHG722,
Did the law at your school come about because students like you were tired of hearing teachers personal political view injected into the curriculum, or because the University staff wanted to be the first to say it is taking a stand against it?

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.

[Luke55113]

Originally Posted by JHG722

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.

Its good to hear that a group of students are what influenced this change! I wish more students at my school cared. Most just seem to sit mindlessly and feel impartial to a teachers rhetoric. Setting my personal political views aside, it bothers me when a teacher does this if they share my views or not. 1 because it wastes class time as you pointed out, and 2 because if the teacher has strong political views, they often discriminate against students who do not share those views.

[JHG722]

At my school, it's just a matter of us Republicans being a small (but mighty) minority, and thus most students relate to the professors' Liberal mindsets.

[Luke55113]

Originally Posted by JHG722

At my school, it's just a matter of us Republicans being a small (but mighty) minority, and thus most students relate to the professors' Liberal mindsets.

I think your school is much like most schools across the nation, where most students relate to the teacher's mindset. This is the main reason I think it is wrong, because most students are conditioned to agree with their teachers. I am a conservative as well, and I would be just as upset about this if most teachers where conservative instead of liberal. I have had Science and English teachers try to make their personal political forum a part of the curriculum in class. It is frusterating because I often stand alone in trying to weed out a teachers personal biased, and have even suffered in my grades. The problem is I cannot prove that a teacher graded me on a political biased, I have thought of talking to the Dean about this matter, but as my teachers where both tenured they seemed untouchable. I feel as though I stand alone in this fight, because most of my fellow students don't care, agree with the teachers views and therfore don't want them to stop, or have simply accepted that colleges are liberal institutions and one must conform to that mindset in order to pass with high marks.

[jstn]

Originally Posted by Luke55113

I think your school is much like most schools across the nation, where most students relate to the teacher's mindset. This is the main reason I think it is wrong, because most students are conditioned to agree with their teachers. I am a conservative as well, and I would be just as upset about this if most teachers where conservative instead of liberal. I have had Science and English teachers try to make their personal political forum a part of the curriculum in class. It is frusterating because I often stand alone in trying to weed out a teachers personal biased, and have even suffered in my grades. The problem is I cannot prove that a teacher graded me on a political biased, I have thought of talking to the Dean about this matter, but as my teachers where both tenured they seemed untouchable. I feel as though I stand alone in this fight, because most of my fellow students don't care, agree with the teachers views and therfore don't want them to stop, or have simply accepted that colleges are liberal institutions and one must conform to that mindset in order to pass with high marks.

I agree. It should have no place in the classroom, but unfortunately it does. I had many classes where I felt as though I actually learned very little because of the agenda based liberal BS that was continuously thrown our way. Too many of our colleges and universities have become nothing more than brainwashing academies.

Perhaps, if it's an option, you should consider a different school.