New Athenian Academy

I find myself dodging the question of political affiliation many times in class and today was no exception.  Students ask me either straight out or by beating around the bush “Are you a Democrat or Republican?”   How do I answer?  or do I?

I think all teachers (at least teachers of high school social studies) run into the question of political openness.   How open should we be as teachers?  I have been in many classes and met many teachers who have no problem discussing their personal politics with students.  I have even been in classes where teachers openly try to sway students to the teacher’s political thinking.  On the other hand, I have also been in classes where teachers avoid discussing politics at all costs.  Where should we stand on the spectrum of openness??

I take a stand in my classes closer to silence than complete transparency.  In teaching government, I often discuss controversial topics in politics, but try to walk a fine line.  Many students ask, but I never openly tell them of my personal politics.  In the same vein, I try to not let my personal politics color the teaching of political issues.  Being human, that is not completely possible, but I try.  My feeling is that even telling them my politics is either seen as a way to sway students to my politics, or a point of contention and division amongst the class.

If the media accurately reflects American society, then we are all divided between red and blue states.  Going further, the two sides are in constant conflict and competition.  But is this really the case?  I recently showed a documentary about the issue in government class.  Titled Split: A Divided America, the documnetarian went on a quest throughout America searching for this supposed divide.  And what did he find?  Lots of contradictions, less anger than the media would lead you to believe, and many reds and blues working together to better the country.  After showing the video, I asked my students for general responses.  The students really seemed to like it and it opened their eyes to many issues in American politics and society.  Many of them came to the conclusion that the red/blue divide was overblown in the media and not at wide of a divide as many people often think. 

Even after an interesting discussion over an interesting documentary, I still do not feel comfortable discussing my personal politics with my students.  Where should I stand on the issue?  

Let me give you another example that complicates the matter.  Last year to celebrate the upcoming Presidential election, students made campaign signs, studied the candidates, and then participated in a mock all school election.  As predicted by me, McCain overwhelmingly won in the mock election, but Obama had a strong showing.  The results did not surprise me, but did notbother me either.  That is how the students voted.  However, I was concerned by issues and events surrounding the election.  My kindergartners came home one day to tell me “Obama is a baby killer.”  “WHAT?!?!?  Who did you hear this from”  I learned that a student on the playground was spreading this around to others.  First of all, I don’t care about the specific political issue, my children should not be learning anything about abortion or any other inappropriate topic for their age.  Second, the statement is flat out wrong.  I don’t ever recall Obama promising to kill babies and the like if elected President. (Regardless of your political affiliation, being pro-choice is not “baby killing.”  That is simplistic and ignorant of the issues involved.)  Third, according to my children and others that I asked, a few teachers overheard this conversation and did nothing to stop it.  This incident made me wonder more about the place of politics in schools.  I don’t care what the personal politics of the teachers are, my children should not be subject to lies and inappropriate speech at school.   Although I have nothing to back up this conclusion, I believe that the teachers who overheard truly believed the statement and therefore did nothing to stop the conversation, even though I would think that most would agree that the topic of conversation was inappropriate for 6 yearolds. 

After being in a school for three years, I think I have come to the conclusion that a teacher’s personal politics have no place in the classroom.  I try to encourage students to think about controversial topics  and make a decision for themselves, but never pressure them one way or another or make them tell me their position.  That is their right as a free American citizen.  As much as I would love my students to think like me politically, that should not be a goal in my teaching.  I need to lead them to their own path, even if it diverges from mine.  That is the key to teaching: leading them not pulling them.  Students, especially seniors, need to start to flush out their own beliefs and values.  I only encourage my students to think and then to get involved in the community.  Whether that is working for a political party or volunteering in the soup kitchen, I think the message helps bring everyone together working for a better society. 

So maybe there is a place for personal politics in the classroom, but for now, I will try to remain as neutral as a can be and encourage participation and thinking in my students.

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Education Problems by Tobe