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!) Teaching the truth is a vital part of educating youth of today. The more knowledge they have the better suited they are to develop their own thoughts, opinions, and reasoning for different situations. This teacher is in a tough situation because the principal is not supporting the education practice. However, I believe that the teacher can find a "middle-ground" of sorts that will allow for the truth to be taught while appeasing the parents and principals. I would teach the truthful information but teach it in correlation with patriotic acts. So that students understand the truth but also understand that this country is strong with patriotism because of all the things it has done right, not questionable acts. Playing the devil's advocate could help to. Teach students both sides of the situation to help with understanding.