Liberal Classroom

[Rydar8]

In my 1960s class we have been talking about the politics of the era and comparing it a lot to politics today. I found out my teacher for this class was a liberal on day one when he gave us an overview of the class, it wasn't until now I figured out just how liberal he is.
Tuesday, we talked about the senators of the time and he said "The southern democrats weren't portrayed as the good guys they usually are [during the civil rights movement]"
Today, (Wednesday) We talked about certain events of the period and compared it to a recent event, about the confederate flag. He talked about how the republicans who wanted to keep it up were basically racists and anti-American, and the class agreed (I quietly disagreed). (for reference, we live in the north)
This leads to my questions, do any of you have teachers like this, where you just want to argue every word they say but don't because you don't want to get into trouble? Should this kind of talk even be allowed? also, I never cared that he was liberal up until this point, I respect him and his viewpoint but ugh.

[dxcxdzv]

As far as I know, the Republicans were abolitionists, no?

I used to have a socialist teacher, classes were funny. But I don't think a professor should influence his pupils.

[Sailor Mars]

I have an overly feminist teacher, but that's not a political view. Like Reise said a teachers view shouldn't influence their students, but they're just as much entitled to an opinion as any other non-teacher.

[sqishy]

I agree with the above; teachers/lecturers/professors/etc should not persuade or influence students to go with their or a certain viewpoint.

[Judean Zealot]

I personally have no problem with the idea of a teacher expressing his views. It only becomes problematic if the teacher either acts intellectually dishonest or coerces the students to adopt his position.

[phuckphace]

:lol3: prof sez the American flag is "just a scrap of cloth" when people burn or otherwise deface it (deal with it patriotards) but the confederate flag OTOH is an aggressively triggering neonazi symbol that turns into a magical noose and strangles minorities when we aren't looking.

Kulturkampf general

[Porpoise101]

I am in a similar situation but the teacher tells their opinion after we look at the event or moment. I think that is ok because the student already put their unadulterated opinion on paper.

[Bull]

I had a gay teacher. Everyone knew it. He was very open and I thought extremely tolerant of differing opinions, but could very nicely put haters in their place. I have a socialist teacher now. His tests are biased toward socialism. In a written exam I answered a question according to information he gave in a lecture, but I added and defended my "misguided capitalist" (his term, not mine) opposition answer. I made an A on the test and he wrote "excellent" next to my answer. So, all this to say you need not buy into anything a teacher is saying but you damn well better answer any test question with the answer the teacher is looking for. In class discussions, however you should be free to give your opinion if you can support it with factual information. Don't just shoot from the hip as does one Donald Trump.

[ChaosEarthquake]

Liberals... *shudders*

[ImCoolBeans]

A teacher/professor should be able to detach his or her personal beliefs from lectures. Sometimes it's not easy to do, especially if it is something that the teacher particularly cares about, but a teacher should not be influencing students with his or her own personal beliefs. He should be more objective in his approach if he's making it seem that people with differing opinions are wrong. I do think you will find that school/higher education is a more liberal experience though :P

[Jaffe]

This leads to my questions, do any of you have teachers like this, where you just want to argue every word they say but don't because you don't want to get into trouble? Should this kind of talk even be allowed? also, I never cared that he was liberal up until this point, I respect him and his viewpoint but ugh.

How is a teacher not to influence his/her students? Every person has viewpoints and opinions, and those opinions will naturally affect the way the teacher presents material.

Obviously, a teacher has no right to require that students agree with him/her. And a good teacher would allow an open response, without criticism or judgment, understanding that students also have opinions, which may not agree with the teacher's opinions. In fact, I believe that part of a good education is helping students to understand that everyone has different opinions and that all opinions are valid, as well as helping students to develop their own opinions based on real data rather than just emotion.


As far as I know, the Republicans were abolitionists, no?

I used to have a socialist teacher, classes were funny. But I don't think a professor should influence his pupils.

You are correct, Reise. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, as were most of the abolitionists. But the focus of political parties changes over years and decades, and I find it unlikely that today's Republicans would be abolitionist.

[Falcons_11]

None of my teachers haven't told us what their political positions are in any of my classes, at least as far as I can tell. Although, I think my English teacher, a lady, favors the girls in my class over us boys. That's just my opinion though.

[Jinglebottom]

None of my teachers haven't told us what their political positions are in any of my classes, at least as far as I can tell. Although, I think my English teacher, a lady, favors the girls in my class over us boys. That's just my opinion though.
My french teacher regularly talks about stuff like that. For example, she said she was disgusted by polygamy (especially in Islam), Charles Darwin's theory vs. Adam and Eve, sexism and bigotry in general. I agree with pretty much the majority of her viewpoints (unlike everyone else - they think I'm a freak).

[Rydar8]

Although, I think my English teacher, a lady, favors the girls in my class over us boys. That's just my opinion though.

Yeah that's pretty common. I can tell my female teacher doesn't like boys, she put us all in the back and the girls up front.

[Sir Suomi]

My American History teacher is fairly neutral when it comes to speaking about political issues, and basically allows us students to debate among ourselves freely.

Sadly enough, in my classroom I'm surrounded by half of my class-room who are on the ultra-liberals and then on the other side who are ultra-neoconservatives. Libertarian me spends most of my time smashing my head against my desk as I realize America is doomed.

[phuckphace]

Jaffe - Abraham Lincoln was actually a racist shitlord and the whole "free the slaves" thing was little more than a cynical political calculation on his part. you can be sure that if the political winds had blown in another direction, Abe would've sailed right along. he was a politician after all, it's what they do.

his actual opinions on the matter are pretty [-]triggering[/-] lol-worthy, like a choice quote comparing black people to children who need the white man to coddle them. I guess that's why ReTHUGlicans love him so much, har har har har.

[Sogeking]

I had a liberal Econ/Gov teacher senior year. He didn't overtly push his biases but you could tell what side he leaned on. I was one of the few who would speak up and engage in conversation but mostly kept quiet (as did everyone) because he would mostly drone on and on about uninteresting topics.

[Porpoise101]

As far as I know, the Republicans were abolitionists, no?

I used to have a socialist teacher, classes were funny. But I don't think a professor should influence his pupils.
Yes they were but during reconstruction they began to have a business interest and they began to become more conservative. The last republican with progressive values was Roosevelt, but his party even fought against him so he had to make his own.

[Miserabilia]

I'm in a pre-universitairy school with all students being averagely smart and the vast majority is liberal including me.

I was actualy surprised to find out a lot of my friends turned out to be VERY right wing oriented.

I feel like both republicans and liberals feel attacked when a majority dissagrees with them, and you're no expection ; it's a fact of life that your opinion isn't the one true one and the same goes for others.

I do want to add though that a teacher that teahes politacaly oriented is being unprofessional; they should be teaching facts not opinions.