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!) This problem you have is becoming more common in the classrooms today given the hyped up state of politics in the country. First of all, understand that having conviction for the material you teach is a good thing and any administrator should appreciate that fact. Now here is the reality. History and current events can be taught in a manner to skew political influence in any direction the instructor chooses simply by including or omitting information. Presenting the material in a manner that is complete and factual is important. If politically charged questions from students to arise, it is also important that you present both sides of the debate leaving the students the chance to create their own interpretations of opinions as to what is correct or not correct. As your job, don't put it at risk. If you have additional material you would like to present to your students, share it with an administrator before you do so. Also, make sure you present the material to the administrator as a matter of fact, neither positive nor negative, while being ready to articulate the relevance. If they approve it, then great, if they do not, then remember this is your livelihood and you are subordinate to their authority. Rocking the boat without going through the proper channels, in the long run, is not going to benefit you or your students.