HakunaMatata
Feb 22 2007, 01:47 AM
...when my teacher first said that, I was pretty surprised. But after mulling over it, I saw the truth in it. I have and have had quite a few teachers who are quite liberal-minded and openly opinionated. This may be because I live in the infamously liberal Bay Area, but you never know.
With more thinking, I realized that teachers were much, much more secretive about their political opinions during the younger grades. I remember my fifth grade refused to tell us who he voted for in the Presidential election.
Should teachers openly have a political opinions? Obv, it's not good when a teacher overdoes his or her bias and lets it leak way over into the teaching curriculum, and teachers are most definitely (as is everyone) allowed to have opinions, but to what degree should they reveal that opinion? Are teachers even known for being liberal at all?
My Cinderella.
Feb 22 2007, 01:51 AM
Yeah, that happened when I asked my english teacher what side she was on. She refused to answer that. I guess they just do it so they don't encourage the wrong ideas?
Kontroll
Feb 22 2007, 06:07 AM
Well, if it's public schools then it would be a good idea for them to be liberally minded so that there will be no conflict. Whatever. I went to a Christian school, so all my teachers were conservative.
monxcheri
Feb 22 2007, 08:46 PM
some of my teachers are very liberal *especially teachers in the social studies section*. i actually like it when they express their opinions.
i think as long as the teacher is cautious about offending anyone by expressing their opinions, then it`s okay.
radhikaeatsraman
Feb 22 2007, 10:53 PM
I do express my opinions sometimes in my social studies classes, but my teachers are very careful not to express their political opinions. Sometimes, I do get an "I agree with you" or "That's true." (I'm very liberal, if you want to know.) But it's really up to the teacher if they want to reveal their political positions as long as it doesn't affect their teaching or relations with students.
misoshiru
Feb 22 2007, 10:55 PM
my APUSH teacher was way liberal. He used to bash Bush all the time.
espressive
Feb 23 2007, 12:49 AM
*AP Government moment*
That's because people who tend colleges tend to be more liberal, according to my textbook for the following reasons:
- "One possiblity is that it has nothing to do with the schooling but rather with the individual traits typically possessed by people who go to college and beyond."
- "A second possibilty is that college and postgraduates schooling expose people to more information about politics from all sources."
- "The third possiblity is that college somehow teaches liberalism. We know that professors are more liberal than members of other occupations..."
Being a teacher, one is expected to have a degree from a college, so I guess attending graduating from a college impacts teachers' liberal stance.
"The political disposition of professors is in part the result of the kinds of people who become college teachers, but it also the result of the nature of intellectual work. Intellectuals require freedom to explore new or unpopular ideas and thus tend to be strong supporters of civil liberties...are skeptical of common opinions, and thus they are often critical of accepted values and existing institutions."
ksoyeah
Feb 23 2007, 12:52 AM
Let's put it this way:
The Bay Area is so bad when it comes to liberal teachers, I was on a boarderline of an A- in history, and I got a B+.
HakunaMatata
Feb 23 2007, 04:25 PM
^Okay....
huh?

Elaborate, please.
QUOTE(Lil_Cloud @ Feb 22 2007, 9:49 PM)

*AP Government moment*
That's because people who tend colleges tend to be more liberal, according to my textbook for the following reasons:
- "One possiblity is that it has nothing to do with the schooling but rather with the individual traits typically possessed by people who go to college and beyond."
- "A second possibilty is that college and postgraduates schooling expose people to more information about politics from all sources."
- "The third possiblity is that college somehow teaches liberalism. We know that professors are more liberal than members of other occupations..."
Being a teacher, one is expected to have a degree from a college, so I guess attending graduating from a college impacts teachers' liberal stance.
"The political disposition of professors is in part the result of the kinds of people who become college teachers, but it also the result of the nature of intellectual work. Intellectuals require freedom to explore new or unpopular ideas and thus tend to be strong supporters of civil liberties...are skeptical of common opinions, and thus they are often critical of accepted values and existing institutions." I've heard of that, too; that the educated tend to be liberal. I'm kind of split on that, because I do know well-educated, very conservative, individuals. I have found however, that every scholar I've ever met (which is only a handful) is at the very least liberal, if not extremely so.
QUOTE(yanners @ Feb 22 2007, 7:55 PM)

my APUSH teacher was way liberal. He used to bash Bush all the time.


My current APUSH teacher is the same way, he's by far the most open teacher I've ever had about political views.
kimmytree
Feb 23 2007, 04:37 PM
I dont think teachers should try to share their political opinions, because then things are going to be one sided... and kids are usually pretty easily influenced.
Its really bad at my school... since its a religious school, everyone's a hard core conservative/republican. I'm constantly having to listen to my history teacher call Hilary Clinton the anti-christ... and the guys dead serious. Its not so much just opinons, but bashing. Anyone at my school who's not a republican is supposedly misinformed, uneducated, and evil.
Thank goodness for public school next year. So i'm guessing public school teachers are more liberal? Thank God.

[edit] Ahhh this is making me mad now. xD
Today was a bad day in American History. lmao.
The teacher was talking about democrats who supposedly were cowards and never fought in Vietnam... but then he brought up Mohammed Ali, and how he didnt believe in war, since he was Muslim. Then the teacher adds how that was ridiculous, because every other Muslim obviously believes in war because they're all wanting to crash planes into buildings. MY GOD - IS THAT NOT THE MOST IGNORANT, RACIST, UNNECESSARY OPINION EVER?
think!IMAGINARILY
Feb 23 2007, 07:14 PM
My Global History teacher is liberal. She doesn't tell us, but it totally shows. She teaches us current events and politics and telling us about the government tapping our phones, the oil crisis, how bad the war in Iraq is..
They shouldn't influence us with their political views. They should just teach.
Influencing us with their political views isn't necessarily bad, but one of my teachers in the past bashed one of my classmates just because he supported Bush's views.
me1issaaaa
Feb 23 2007, 09:08 PM
My government teacher talks about that all the time, and it's true. They have their own Teachers Union thing.
much2muse
Feb 24 2007, 12:15 PM
Most of my history teachers have been republican.
QUOTE
They shouldn't influence us with their political views. They should just teach.
Influencing us with their political views isn't necessarily bad, but one of my teachers in the past bashed one of my classmates just because he supported Bush's views.
I agree. One of my teachers bashed a few students for not agreeing with Bush, though.
ksoyeah
Feb 24 2007, 12:29 PM
I spoke up about something political, it was the Cheney [[sorry for the spelling]] shooting his friend while hunting, and I said, "It was an accident. Not like he did it on purpose." and he got uber mad and was like, "Well would you want this guy as our Vice President if he was drinking, had strippers over, AND SHOT A GUY?!" then I just had to drop it before he gave me a referral.
HakunaMatata
Feb 25 2007, 12:00 AM
^Ah, thanks for clarifying. Y'know, I think that's more of a person thing than a Bay Area thing. I live in the Bay Area, and I've never met a liberal teacher like that, and my school's a tad infamous for our liberalism.
Gigi
Feb 25 2007, 02:26 AM
My previous Socials teacher always kept his opinion to himself. He only taught the facts, and left it up to us to make our own opinions. Which, I think is the correct thing to do. Everyday, he's teaching us about how we should think with a critical mind, to question all the so-called facts we receive from the media, and for him to be biased is extremely hypocritical.
We always had these hour-long debates about issues in the news, and he would always sit back and let us talk. He'd nod his head, or correct us if we were wrong, but he would never impose his own opinion on us.
That said, none of my other teachers display such secretive political opinions. My fifth grade teacher used to go into rants about communism for hours at a time, when none of us even knew what communism was.
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