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 is certainly a tough issue! I recently read Howard Gardner's "Five Minds for the Future" and relate your situation to the synthesizing and ethical minds he described. Based on my interpretation, Gardner suggests removing yourself from institutions that are not in alignment with ethical practices. Initially, I completely agreed with this. After reading your situation, I believe you may have an obligation to presenting children with both views on the topic of America's international affairs. Of course America has engaged in activities that resulted in international killings and disturbances throughout our history. Look at how we have conducted ourselves with and among each other in our country. Currently, my students are reading, The Diary of Anne Frank. Not teaching our children the entirety of our international (and national) affairs reminds me of the Nazi propaganda designed to keep the ethical citizens of Germany from realizing the practices taking place by Hitler's regime to cleanse Germany of the Jewish population. In your situation, I would create inquiry-based learning activities to allow your children to discover the truth for themselves and then present that information to their peers as part of a culminating project. This would take the burden of determining which information to share with the children from you while providing guiding questions that will yield the same information from the children's research.