Originally posted by Zarathustra
Not sure I see a problem with it. A teacher can state his opinion: there's nothing wrong with that. I had a Catholic teacher, for example, that told this joke: "How many Protestants does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None: They live in eternal darkness!" 😆
A philosophy teacher stated rather clearly that he thought Existentialism was bunk.
Incidentally, these two were the best teachers I had in high-school.
A third, an English teacher, had our class do an analysis of an editorial letter she wrote about abortion (Her position was pro-life).
There's no agenda here, students are under no compulsion to believe what their teacher believes. Seen as it is an English grammar test in question where there's only one word that works in the given sentence, the content is in no sense normative. If it was a political science class and the correct answer was something supporting a certain ideology, that's another matter entirely, but there is nothing wrong with a teacher being honest about his opinions which is all this is.
Originally posted by FeceMan
They being examples of good teachers has little to do with the topic at hand.
Originally posted by Zarathustra
How so? They stated opinions, just like this English teacher. There was absolutely no negative side effect to any of these statements and to say that they are indoctrination is just silly. It's the same situation, so I'm using it as an analogy. It doesn't matter what opinions an educator holds. What is relevent is whether or not he can teach the curriculum properly. If he can, there's nothing wrong with him stating an opinion in class.
Originally posted by FeceMan
The point isn't the negative effects; the point is the inappropriate nature of doing so. I could walk around with a swastika on my shirt and it wouldn't hurt anyone, but it would be a very *******-ish thing to do.
Good point. I guess there are definately lines that shouldn't be crossed by the teacher in the classroom, regarding their personal opinion. Condemning a particular race/religion/sexual creed would definately be among them. I guess my biggest concern is that of over-censorship.
For example..many could make the same arguments over whether or not a teacher should be able to express certain religious views. In fact in recent years...many who oppose various religious doctrines are actually doing this very thing.
Maybe one of the solutions during situations such as this would be to have teachers notify parents/principles of what type of curriculum they'll be teaching in their class, with parents being able to opt their children out of particular assignments and discussions based on their content.
Originally posted by Zarathustra
How so? They stated opinions, just like this English teacher. There was absolutely no negative side effect to any of these statements and to say that they are indoctrination is just silly. It's the same situation, so I'm using it as an analogy. It doesn't matter what opinions an educator holds. What is relevent is whether or not he can teach the curriculum properly. If he can, there's nothing wrong with him stating an opinion in class.
I guess the biggest question to ask is "How much censorship is too much?" I don't think anyone wants our Government to become a Communist one, which censures anything that doesn't support the Government's political idealogy.
I do believe that some censorship of personal opinion is needed in the classroom, particularly when kids are at a young and impressionable age. I don't really think the teacher in this particular scenario was crossing the line though. In my highschool government class, I used to have a teacher who would poke jabs at Clinton from time to time. Didn't really effect me/others any. Now if the teacher were to teach an entire unit which focused on how "evil" a particular political ideology/leader was..then I would have some concerns. But I don't think one sarcastic question on a multiple choice test will have any long term effects on anyone.
Originally posted by Zarathustra
How so? They stated opinions, just like this English teacher. There was absolutely no negative side effect to any of these statements and to say that they are indoctrination is just silly. It's the same situation, so I'm using it as an analogy. It doesn't matter what opinions an educator holds. What is relevent is whether or not he can teach the curriculum properly. If he can, there's nothing wrong with him stating an opinion in class.
This topic has already been discussed on the "why can't you wear a T-shirt with the word F*ck on it on an airplane" thread a few months ago (before you joined). I'd suggest you catch up on a bit of research.
In case you don't feel like bothering, one example brought up was for you to walk around your town wearing a shirt saying "F*ck your Momma" for a few days and see what happens. Also, try not bathing for a few months. You may already do that, so I may be a little redundant. You're not hurting anyone, right, so it must be OK?
I have no problem with the teacher stating his opinion.. it's the teacher injecting his opinion on politics into a completely unrelated english quiz that's unnacceptable. I can't stand it when teachers use opinion based questions on tests where there's a "right" and "wrong" answer, my health teacher used to do it all the time. Felt like writing "matter of opinion" in the little blanks but it just wasn't worth it.
Originally posted by FeceMan
The point isn't the negative effects; the point is the inappropriate nature of doing so. I could walk around with a swastika on my shirt and it wouldn't hurt anyone, but it would be a very *******-ish thing to do.
I accept that if students are so very offended by their teacher stating his opinion, than yes they should approach him about it and he should abstain from doing so. If they are not, it is not inappropriate. However, that hardly seems like the sort of thing that should warrant a news article and attention from administration. Also, it seems that students are far too easily offended if they have a problem with a tongue-in-cheek remark on a test.