Last Tuesday, Merrick noticed my "I voted" sticker and said, "Mr. Morgan, who'd you vote for?" I paused for a second and then said, "I'm not sure I want to say." Because the monster archetype group was preparing to unleash their spine-tingling presentation, I never had an opportunity to elaborate on my decision. So, here goes:
I am reluctant to reveal my decision because, like Jimmy Wales the founder of Wikipedia, I believe in NPOV (neutral point of view). I am not saying Wikipedia or I always practice this philosophy, but I do, in principle, value it in the classroom setting--a place were ideas bounce around. When talking about archetypes in literature, I try hard to present Carl Jung's and Joseph Campbell's point of view. Likewise, when we eventually challenge these notions, I will present Gerda Lerner's and other constructivists point of view.
My point is that ideas/views have multiple sides (not just two by the way), and I think it's our job as teachers to explore a handful of them. Personally, I'd much rather talk about advantages and disadvantages of an idea or an action than try to frame it as good/bad or right/wrong. As a literature teacher, who enjoys asking probing questions and helping students think better, I am not particularly concerned with "one right interpretation of the text," but I do like to stir the pot. Sometimes that means playing devil's advocate or taking an absurd stance.
So, the question is: does revealing ones vote interfere with the pot stirring that makes discussions lively? Will students hesitate to express themselves if they know who I voted for? Will they dismiss some of my remarks if they know who I picked? Will they assume that they now know my beliefs on all topics? Will this information in anyway hamper our discussions? I believe that our discussion certainly could be hampered, and that "could" is enough for me to keep my vote to myself.
Now it's your turn. Should teachers reveal their vote? What's gained by this? What's lost? Should they express their political views in a classroom? Professor Yen Yen Woo's blog post has over 20 thoughtful responses on this very subject. Statistics show that students are pretty adept and figuring out a teacher's political views; however, that's not my point. I want to know where you stand, as a matter of principle. And, I want to know why.
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12 comments:
You say that some people might think differently of you if you tell us who you voted for, but I think otherwise. At least, in my case.
For example...If I was able to vote, I would be for Obama. Now, Taylor is one of my best friends, but we all know she seemed to be for McCain. I don't look down on herfor her views, I just don't agree with them at some points. The only way I think differently of her is when we talk about politics and i'm glad she has a different view. Without her view on things, no one could argue about much.
I think that the group of people we're with are too mature to be making such generalizations and we all know we like to talk, so expressing ideas won't be a problem. But, I understand where you're coming from when you don't want to tell anyone. Just the thought that we could judge you just didn't seem like one I thought would happen.
I disagree with Mary :) when she says that the group of people in Academy are too mature to let their political views interfere with our learning. As one of the few, if not the only, Republican* in Academy I get a lot of crap. I am constantly singled out and picked on, not that it really bothers me though because I have no problem standing up for what I believe in. I think that is a prime example of why Mr. Morgan made the right decision, when he decided to keep his vote private. I am not convinced that everyone in Academy is mature enough to keep politics out of their everyday life. i think maybe that we have raised an issue that we could work on in Academy, being more open-minded. You won't always have the luxury of being surrounded by democrats and everyone, myself included, needs to work on hearing other people's ideas and respecting them.
*Just to clarify so everyone isn't shocked when I say things like "I support gay marriage", I am economically conservative and socially liberal.
Moving to a grander scale, thank you very much.
Education is impossible without a moderator. There's a reason Sean Hannity didn't run the presidential debates - and that same reasoning applies to Mr. Morgan. Open political and social views permeate discussion and bring the teaching process one step closer to preaching.
And it's irrelevant whether students can guess or not: students are estimating qualities of the person, not the professor. A Republican can teach Democratic dogma quite fine - as long as they don't wear their McCain-Palin pin while doing it, thus undermining discussion (the voice of reason in the debate has already declared reason's stance, either rendering further discussion irrelevant or decimating any hope of further moderation).
Education is the highest of aspirations and should likewise be held to the highest of standards. Demeaning the search for truth with fleeting political stances would make that quest yet longer.
Now, to respond to the two who have already posted:
Mary - 'Now, Taylor is one of my best friends, but we all know she seemed to be for McCain.' Ha: 'Now, Bob is one of my best friends, but we all know he seemed to have a drinking problem.' Tone is key in civilized debate.
Taylor - it's not a question of maturity, it's a question of ... oh, read the comment. Also: 'You won't always have the luxury of being surrounded by democrats...' What does that mean? Are you suggesting we have a Republican voice of authority to keep things even? No, of course not, you wouldn't say that - isn't this in itself a reason to keep politics entirely out of this?
I think that political views should be kept out of the classroom. Teachers should keep their votes a secret because teacher greatly influence the way students think. They may not change the minds of students who already have a selected candidate;however, teachers can influence those students who have not made up their mind yet and are awaiting any last minute updates. Similar to how we should shape our outstanding discussion questions; we shouldn't direct the thinking of the reader with our questions. We should leave it open-ended, so that the reader can think for themselves. In revealing their vote, teachers direct the thinking of pupils. They should allow independent thinking from the students.
However, I believe politics in general and as current events should be talked about in class. We should talk about the issues that surround our country such as health care, global relations, national security, etc.Just omit the political standpoint.
Personally, I don't have a problem knowing my teacher's political viewpoints, but I find that it is not necessary for them to be expressed. I like the way Sean said it, that we need a moderator of sorts. Mr. Morgan- I don't in any way think that you expressing your opinion openly in class would cause any outbreaks of major discord, but I don't know why we would even be bringing politics into our discussion. I mean, no offense, but last time we tried that, some people were offended by the connotation their viewpoint tagged on them. I just say we should leave politics out of the debates if possible, because they would work in a perfect academy class, and we are not a perfect academy class! Thinking objectively about such topics that require "sway" in any direction is actually a skill that is useful(who would have thought that academy could prepare you for life?). I find that I am not bothered by people with a strong viewpoint, but by people who are unable or unwilling to see the opposing viewpoint objectively. Let's just keep it out of class if it makes people uncomfortable, okay?
Well, ultimately the debate is null because Mr. Morgan isn’t going to tell us anything. But for the sake of discussion, I also agree with Sean- with a class that seems to be very divided in these sort of topics (often against Taylor, sad but true) (we still like you) we do need a neutral standpoint.
However, I think that even consciously it is almost impossible for a teacher to be completely neutral. There I disagree with Sean- I *do* think it is relevant that we can guess. Anecdotally, last year in language arts we tried to guess our teachers’ political standpoints for fun. Needless to say, they were tight-lipped. I guessed moderate conservative for one of the teachers present, and she laughed it off. I caught her eye soon after and she nodded. Especially in groups that are so bright, we catch on fairly quickly to some biases.
I believe everyone has a right to privacy, but it would be unfair for someone to think we would judge them or ruin discussions based on their views. They may chose a candidate based on their living situation or what they think would benefit the country the most based on current circumstances. Personally, I support Obama, but if some of my friends support McCain, I don't act rude to them because of that. We might joke around with them because they are our friends. Being in the Academy, we have to be open minded to learn new lessons and to have good discussions. It is a fallacy to assume someone would give you a bad grade or that they are a certain way because of the candidate they think would be the best. It feels a little as if we are bad people or not trusted when we are going to be together for a long time and we can't be open, but I understand where the privacy is coming from when we don't know everyone perfectly yet. I know not to take it personal because you don't know how everyone will react. Therefore, I think there is logic to Mr. Morgan keeping his decision private, although I personally don't. It may have been coming from the idea that your ideas would influence ours which could be wrong and "more editorial than teaching", but I don't know.
Sorry I am adding another comment. Basically, I think it is a good decision to keep politics outside of class since you don't know everyone's reactions although some (including me) may not care. Also if someone (in general) assumes you vote for someone but find out the complete opposite, it can be disappointing and although you may not think you would judge at first, when some people hear this, they can judge and go against what they said before they found this out. Just a general scenario to put out there.
I also think that the teacher's opinion about this matter should not be shared in a classroom environment. The teacher might happen to influence the student's thoughts and the student may not be able to form their own interpretation or take on that topic. One has to be even more cautious with opinions relating to topics like Religion, Politics etc. because they can prove to be very controversial which may cause unwanted conflicts. In school we come to learn and sometimes it is appropriate to share one's expiriences. For Example, If in SS, we are studying about the Holocaust, it would be appropriate to show the interview of the survivor and his/her opinions. Although, even then, it is important to be open-minded. I don't think it is necessary or appropriate to share such an opinion in a classroom environment. Though sometimes, curiosity happens to devour the student (Merrick :) and can put the teacher in an uncomfortable position, but I think it is wise that the teacher did not share the opinion.
Uffda. Not much to say after Sean. I do agree with him, even though I personally don't think I would be effected by the decision to tell us or not. I have very strong political views, and it takes a lot to change me on them. I think that it's a little bit easier in Academy because we are used to discussions such as this, but I'd prefer my teachers not express their opinions. I think it would be really annoying for a teacher to constantly be talking about certain political viewpoints of theirs.
I'm just curious. Have any of you had a class with a teacher who shared his/her strong political views? How did you feel about that? Did you happen to share the same views?
Sean covered many good points. However, I must side with Darrell because I, like Anna, woudln't mind hearing my teacher's political views, some of us in class may have different views. They may feel intimidated if they disagree with their teacher, and that may affect their participation in such policical discussions we frequently have. Although, for the sake of education, it may prove interesting if we can relate our political views to global issues and see how narrow minded students would deal with very opinionated issues.
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