My concern in the last election comes from the other viewpoint.
A non-social studies teacher at my school felt that since she
didn't teach social studies she was free to express her
political opinions in the class. Told kids often that if they
supported Democrats they were baby killers.

In my lifetime, never have I seen the country so divided
politically and philosophically. Liberals look at conservatives
and sincerely believe that those people have no idea what it
means to be an American. Conservatives feel the same way.

I stuck to teaching the American electoral system this year. It
was a cop-out. The election was obviously about strongly held
opinions. I wish I could have taught civil discourse. That is
difficult in my community where those who lean liberal are
often seen as godless and unpatriotic and those who lean
conservative are often seen as ignorant and bigoted.

By the way, history and social studies have never been just
about the facts. Social studies is about interpreting the
world. I hope I help my students learn to think. The problem
with our partisan society is that many students never learn to
think at home. In fact, many parents find thinking dangerous
and are ready to crucify any teacher who simply presents both
sides of any major, contemporary issue.

On 7/03/09, All about the kids? wrote:
> I am an elementary social studies teacher and while I tend
> to lean more to the conservative side of politics these
> days, I am very careful to leave my views outside the
> classroom. My daughter is now a sophomore in high school
> and I can't believe what her teachers are trying to push on
> her. The whole '08 election was an eye opening experience
> to say the least. Many of her friends told me they were
> afraid to open their mouths because the teacher would set
> their sights on them to ridicule/tease for the class
> period, if not the entire semester. This singled them out
> among their peers for the same behavior.
>
> Two extremes of this kind of teaching are shown in Hiding
> Out (Jonathan Cryer goes into hiding for witness protection
> and hides out by going back to his cousin's high school)
> and Back to School (Rodney Dangerfield goes back to college
> to show his son how important an education is and faces off
> with contemporary history teacher Sam Kinnison). I've
> included the link to the Rodney Dangerfield movie but
> couldn't find one for Cryer's. Warning: language is harsh
> as one would expect from Dangerfield and Kinnison, but it
> certainly makes its point. Here's a link to the trailer for
> the other flick with Cryer... you'll get the idea from it
> though. http://www.flixster.com/movie/hiding-out
>
> I believe that we as teachers have almost a sacred trust to
> teach our students the facts, and then allow them to
> interpret them, not force our opinions or views on them,
> however gently or forcefully we do it. I've had to teach my
> daughter to "go along" with the teacher for the grade and
> hold to her beliefs. We have some great discussions at
> home, but for the kids who don't have educated parents or a
> homelife where they can discuss what their kids are
> learning, these teachers are little more than re-education
> specialists, giving a slanted view of world politics from
> the past to the present. It's scary.
>
> How do you feel about teachers imposing their political
> views on impressionable students?
>
>
>

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