Politics in the Classroom

momof2inca
Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:50:12 +0000

I taught US history for the past four years (now am teaching English) and I kept – and continue to keep – my politics to myself. I think it’s really important to present a neutral viewpoint to young people while presenting curriculum so that they feel the absolute freedom to draw their own conclusions. They are so impressionable at this age, and if they like you, they certainly won’t challenge your politics and may feel pressure to accept your views – or worse – they will simply adopt your views without any questioning at all. (I once convinced an entire class of gifted students that all clocks stopped at 2 p.m. to adjust themselves to the atomic clock. I did it as a little joke – told with all seriousness – because one student interrupted my fascinating lesson to blurt out that the classroom clock had paused. They bought my story completely, further proof of how much authority a teacher has in a classroom).

I treat my classroom authority with extreme caution, careful to present material in as unbiased a manner as I can. Invariably, students ask what political party I belong to and how I vote… I say I won’t tell them until the last day of school as they are walking out the door. When the last day comes, one of them usually remembers to ask, so I ask them to raise their hands if they think I’m a Democrat and then to raise them if they think I’m a Republican. The result of the informal poll is a 50/50 split. Half think I vote Democratic and half think Republican. Exactly the way I want it.