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!) Education has always been a presentation of facts from a certain point of view. It gets very political when issues are discussed that are controversial. I remember hearing of a parent group that thought we should not allow Harry Potter to be in the elementary school media center. One of my neighbors sent me an email stating that Harry Potter was leading children away from the church because kids thought he was cooler than Jesus. She had never read the books and stopped talking to me after I expressed my opinion. I had read the first two books in the series and saw them as the works of fiction that they are. It is important to teach students to think critically and review the facts of historical events. I would assign some questions that would lead the students to present the facts as they see them. Then I would encourage students to discuss their findings with their parents. We as educators must be careful to not lead students into controversial opinions and viewpoints. It could cost you the job you love.