On Friday during class, we discussed whether teachers should let their students know their political views. Many teachers debate whether they should be upfront with their beliefs, or they should keep them to themselves in order to be unbiased. I think in many classes, it is simply unnecessary for teachers to let their students know their political views. I cannot think of any benefits of a math teacher or a foreign language teacher to share their views. I think them sharing their views could potentially sway a student to believe what they believe because kids are very impressionable.
However, when it comes to Social Studies teachers especially, it becomes unclear if it is best to share political views. Because many of the topics in class will cover politics, I think students should know the teachers biases beforehand so that they understand what they are learning may come with a slight bias. Even if the teacher tries to remain neutral, it is very difficult to not have a bias when discussing politics.
It is hard to determine the difference of enforcing views on students and just letting them know what they believe. Samuel Issacharoff, a professor of law at New York University, said here, "The line we seek to draw is that individuals who are public employees retain the rights of full citizenship in society and do not lose them as a result of being state employees. On the other hand, they can’t use their state employment to accentuate the power of their political views. That’s the tension."
So in what circumstances do you think it is appropriate for a teacher to let their students know their political views?
I think that if a student directly asks a teacher about their political or religious views, there is nothing wrong with the teacher answering. However, I dont think teachers should declare their political or religious views without a specific reason. Also, it seem that high school teachers, and definitely college teachers, are less likely to influence a students beliefs, because as we get older we form opinions on our own more and more. Elementary and middle school teachers probably shouldnt talk about their personal views as much because, especially in elementary school, kids tend to share the same opinions of their parents, and other authority figures. Making a law seems very tricky, because it would be very difficult to draw the line between telling students their views, and imposing opinions on students.
ReplyDeleteI believe that its very important for students and teachers to have some type of relationship, a relationship that allows the student to feeling comfortable seeing a teacher for help, or to express their honest opinions. But the teacher has to play a role in this as well. Christine you brought up a good point, about how impressionable high school students are. Teens often times have already formed their opinions or are in the process of doing so. But teachers are not the only people influencing their views, teens are influenced by friends and parents as well. Therefore I believe teachers should volunteer their views. They should not press their views on the students, but I think it is right for them to express their views. This could definitely open up the students horizons, for example maybe a teens parents are very democrat, having a republican teacher introduce this teen to a new view point.
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