Which is truth?
“Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach.”-Aristotle
“Keep up that fight, bring it to your schools. You don’t have to be indoctrinated by these loser teachers that are trying to sell you on socialism from birth.” –Donald Trump Jr.
Both statements make me think of my students. I think of the hundreds of times I have been asked what I think about a topic. I think of the hundreds of time I have smiled in response and said, “I am far more interested in you finding out what you believe and why you believe it…”
You see, I firmly believe educators should remain neutral in the classroom when it comes to controversial or political debates; an absolute beige-on-tan kind of neutral.
That type of neutral takes immense self-control and an intense belief in the importance of the role I play in my students’ lives. I truly do believe students can and do look up to teachers. A good teacher influences their students’ lives far beyond the standardized test scores they earn at the end of the year. My beliefs could easily become my students’ beliefs. That is not a dynamic of educating young minds that I take lightly.
So, why do I do it? Why do I withhold my deepest beliefs from my students if they may take them on and, in my opinion, make this world a better place?
For starters, it is the law. According to ACLU of Washington, it would be illegal for me to espouse my political views in my classroom. In general, when you are in the classroom, you are representing your school district. As a representative of your school district, your First Amendment rights are curtailed by the curriculum and teaching methods selected by the school. Are you able to discuss controversial topics? Certainly, if they clearly align with the district’s curriculum and you do not advocate for one side of the issue over the other. Are you able to wear political buttons or hang posters in your classroom? A definite no!
And you know what? I am great with that because I know providing all the evidence from both sides of an issue deemed “controversial” and allowing students to delve deeply into the research on both sides of the topic sets the stage for some pretty powerful learning experiences and only serves to increase critical thinking skills. I love the ELA Standards for just this reason! Students are required to sort through information and decipher whether the content is from a valid source, factual and relevant. YES! If teachers were to simply interject our own thoughts as absolute truth, we would be robbing our students of the opportunity to practice the difficult task of learning to critically think for themselves. Our very nation depends on this ability to think! As John Dewey said, “Democracy must be born anew every generation and education is its midwife.”
Lastly, I have lived in an area reflective of the divide we see in America today and have come to see the benefit of viewing controversy from many angles. We all truly want the same basic things in life: health, security and bright futures for the next generation. The starting points we view these end goals from inform the pathways we think we should take to get there. How would I ever lead my students to the discovery that we all have great contributions to make to our country if I were to use my position as the teacher to influence their thinking or their view of the path ahead of them? Aesop’s gave us the phrase “United we stand, divided we fall” in the fable, The Fox and Four Oxen. (Great read for students!) The fable makes it very clear that we do not need to be united in the same pathways, but simply united in the same goals, to stay standing. I am free to help students discover pathways they may not have known existed, but it is not my place to guide students onto my pathway; such a difficult task indeed.
One can find different truths in both the opening quotes to this piece. Both pieces require a bit of deep, intellectual diving to find these truths, hold them up for inspection and garner the insights they have to offer. To simply turn away from one or the other simply because they are uncomfortable to examine is not a strong enough reason to walk away from this exploration of truth. Walking away also just moves us one step further from understanding and one step closer to division.
So which is the truth? I could tell you what I think, but I am far more interested in finding out what you believe and why you believe it…
(Photo by Leigh Blackall)
Some years I get to teach the 20th century in social studies. I really love it when I share two or more sides of central issues from that century with all the reasoning held by the different proponents and then in the end the students tell me they have no idea which side I believe in.
It not only means you are staying more neutral and objective in your teaching. It means you are modeling a kind of civil discourse if you present differing points of view–obviously some of them not your own–calmly and rationally.
So well stated. I recall a history teacher who told the class he was a conservative. He must have thought it was his duty to let us know where he landed on the political spectrum. But I, and probably most of my classmates, had no idea what being a conservative meant. Does he only like brown ties? Or drives a modest car? There was no context. So any influencing he brought to bear based on his political outlook was lost on us. We little sponges may have absorbed his viewpoints without realizing they were view points.
Gretchen,
This is a great reminder in an age when personal opinion is easier to spread than ever before. I, too, often hold back and remain neutral on everything political. One thing I learned about myself early on is that I’m not great at that. If, and when, I’m really connecting with students, it does seep through. They can often tell what I think, or at least where I lean. Therefore, over the years I’ve really examined my own thinking and found that most of what I believe does not fit into category. When asked where I land on the political spectrum, I think “the spectrum is not useful.” I find myself far more interested in complicating issues way beyond what people believe or think. That’s how I’ve pushed students. I don’t talk explicitly about my beliefs, but usually ask questions to complicate any situation or question that come my way. It is not all that hard, as most things are complicated. Thankfully, otherwise life would be boring! Thanks for this post.