Submitted by Mark Richardson (not verified) on April 13, 2007 - 04:19.
Great question and a tough topic. Varied responses were fascinating to read. As a teacher of students in grades 3-5 I suppress my personal opinion about political topics when teaching. I do not suppress my personal opinion because I feel Big Brother Admin is watching and listening, but rather because I do not want to sway my students in one direction or another. As Elizabeth posted above, it is the educators respon. to help the students tackle a tough topic from all sides so that they can see an issue from multiple perspectives so they can make the most informed decision. Not the decision that they think will make their teachers happiest or even their parents happiest but will make them feel best about making. My high school Civics teacher was a master as presenting all political information from all viewpoints. To this day I am not sure what political party she was affiliated with. It just doesn't seem right for a teacher to advocate one way or another while on stage as a teacher with a captive audience. Outside of class is a completely different issue however. Cheers...Mark
Great question and a tough
Submitted by Mark Richardson (not verified) on April 13, 2007 - 04:19.
Great question and a tough topic. Varied responses were fascinating to read. As a teacher of students in grades 3-5 I suppress my personal opinion about political topics when teaching. I do not suppress my personal opinion because I feel Big Brother Admin is watching and listening, but rather because I do not want to sway my students in one direction or another. As Elizabeth posted above, it is the educators respon. to help the students tackle a tough topic from all sides so that they can see an issue from multiple perspectives so they can make the most informed decision. Not the decision that they think will make their teachers happiest or even their parents happiest but will make them feel best about making. My high school Civics teacher was a master as presenting all political information from all viewpoints. To this day I am not sure what political party she was affiliated with. It just doesn't seem right for a teacher to advocate one way or another while on stage as a teacher with a captive audience. Outside of class is a completely different issue however. Cheers...Mark