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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!) As a math teacher, I am fortunate that my class discussions do not create controversy. However, I have watched my close friends and colleagues in social studies and language arts get into difficult situations with class discussions. A close friend of mine was even suspended from teaching after a segregation discussion during a lesson ignited some uncomfortable conversations. Inevitably, he was allowed to return after several months of suspension. The fallout from the whole affair was some mandates on how he was to teach his class. He was asked to teach the standards and to steer clear of controversial discussions. He was never accused of indoctrinating, but he was asked to present the standards in a straightforward manner. In our English department, I had a colleague that claimed she was asked to change her reading list for her AP class because the discussions were getting too controversial in class. As a teacher, I am horrified by the fact that so many great discussions and teachable moments are missed by the administration interfering in what may have been very pertinent lessons. Giving students a chance to explore and debate can be valuable learning experience. However, I understand where the principal was coming from. Our principal has no desire to get into political hot water for "indoctrinating" students. He simply wanted my friend to deliver the curriculum and keep everybody happy. Every student has the right to feel safe and comfortable in their classroom. The principal wants to make choices that will facilitate a harmonious environment that has little conflict. The principal has the difficult job of creating a school that not only provides a quality education from quality educators, but he must maintain support all of his stakeholders. Just because the principal is taking a path of least resistance, does not mean that important facts must be omitted. In this case study, there may be ways to allow students to discover all of the facts through assignments. Having a teacher present shocking evidence could be heavy handed and create bias. Why not have students read material on both sides of an issue and discuss in writing what they believe to be true? |
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