Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Patriotic/Unpatriotic Facts After teaching middle school Social Studies for many years, I decided to go back to school to get my graduate degree. In one of my classes, we studied James Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me. I was so influenced by this book and the idea that we have been presenting students inaccurate information that I have been thoroughly researching the content I teach before presenting it to my students. Recently we have been studying international affairs of the US government. Some of the information I presented revealed actions the US government engaged in other countries that resulted in killings and disturbances. My students were interested in the materials and some of the issues we discussed in class made dinner-time discussions at home. One of the parents who is a retired army officer came to the school to talk to my principal. He told the principal that I was indoctrinating students. When my principal told me about this, I explained to her that all the information I presented was factual and that I researched the information from multiple resources. Her suggestion to me was that I should focus more on teaching patriotic materials. I am so frustrated that I do not have the support of my principal. Also, I disagree that what I teach is unpatriotic. I am simply trying to teach accurate information. If I continue doing what I do, I may lose my job. However, I do not want to give up teaching my students the truth. How should I go about this issue? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) Continue passionately teaching the truth but make sure that it is tied to the curriculum. I do not think that what you teach is unpatriotic. Teaching is imparting knowledge into individuals so that they would be well informed citizens. I have learned that as a teacher you do not work for yourself, but you work for the United States of America. Since you work for them you have to do what they say. We have been summons to teach their curriculum that they have created. Teach your children the curriculum, but teach what is accurate and not what is false. I will be willing to lose my job because I would not lie rather than losing my job because I did not follow the rules of teaching "their" curriculum.