A friendly discussion about biases in public schools

So this morning me and my friends were talking about a certain teacher who was openly expressing his political views through posters and other things he had hung up around the room. my friend said that she thinks it's okay to openly express your views in school while me and my other two friends argued that these things should be kept private or to yourself in a school environment to prevent arguments, and other disputes because not everyone is going to be okay with them (i.e. openly saying that you don't support the lgbtq+ community can make someone in the classroom feel less safe to be themself or feel uncomfortable with them) on the other hand, my other friend was saying that showing your biases and what you support should be acceptable because you can have civil conversations and debate in a friendly manner to get the other perspective (like we were)

What do you guys think? Should students (esp teachers) be able to express their political views in a classroom environment?

Quote from NEO

What kind of political views does your teacher have?

well it wasn't anything bad, it was just him expressing his support for biden which may not be a bad thing but i just feel like regardless its kinda weird to just have that up if you're not in the social studies department loll

Quote from selfmate

the issue is can one express them and what is the consequence of that expression

does the teacher then treat students differently based on that view?

do the students who hold different views have a fear of not being able to speak out...

and thus each person is different and one needs to see what your teacher is like

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i don't have that teacher so im not exactly sure, but from what ive heard they're kind of the ignorant type

History/Civics/Government teachers tend to do it the most. Thankfully the ones I had who did share their opinions and their reasoning never seemed to do it in a "and if you don't agree then you're wrong" way. I do think opinions on race, gender, and sexual orientation shouldn't be shared, nor should they influence their teaching.

Quote from Golden_Wishes

One way or another, they will. Especially if it's a social studies teacher.

Opinions on race and sexuality however don't need to be said

typically social studies teachers either have posters up for each party or nothing at all, just to make sure to convey that they're here to help us learn both sides and keep out their personal opinions- rather its a discussion between student opinions. ofc i believe that's okay because that's the best way to learn about the government, country and the society we live in.

Quote from quark12395

History/Civics/Government teachers tend to do it the most. Thankfully the ones I had who did share their opinions and their reasoning never seemed to do it in a "and if you don't agree then you're wrong" way. I do think opinions on race, gender, and sexual orientation shouldn't be shared, nor should they influence their teaching.

right, i agree with that. I just found it odd that a teacher not part of that department was showing his support lol

dunno i guess it didn't sit right with me

Quote from selfmate

then that might be a problem and the students who are affected should speak to someone higher up in the food chain

yep, the whole discussion started when my friend was telling us how she did email someone about how she felt about the whole thing

Quote from kittykitka

the us has been way too political for a while now

Not surprised that it's slipping down into schools now too

Im of the opinion that teachers should keep their political views to themselves

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i whole heartedly agree with that, i feel like having this in a school environment as well is basically like waiting for something to go wrong.

Quote from Jichu

Problem is I don't think a lot of high schoolers and some teachers are mature enough to hold a civil discussion about politics. So that's a no for me on that basis unless you gather a bunch of competent students.

Also this should be only done in a social studies course if the teacher wants to hold debates and what not.

So true!

i would totally agree with my friend if this was an ideal society where we could discuss differences with out literally yelling at each other, but unfortunately its not our reality.

Quote from NEO

I don't find that weird at all as long as he doesn't spend half an hour talking about his political views during his classes. I'm pretty sure you're able to know if his political views are influencing his teaching.

true true

Quote from Strawberry-Cake

Homophobia, transphobia, etc is hate speech. From what I remember schools don't allow bullying, harassment and many things like these. So why would you allow someone openly bringing hatred? I don't know but to me it makes zero sense.

just curious about what you think: does not supporting the community automatically make them homophobic?

personally, I believe that not everyone shares the same ideas beliefs so not supporting is completely different from openly hating on them, right? like there's a difference between saying "oh i don't think being gay is right" and "i hate you for being gay"? you can still be respectful without agreeing with them.

Quote from selfmate

i'm not the teacher so i have no idea exactly what he is espousing...

but non-support does not equate to hatred (without more information) no?

Quote from zuzuhhaa

just curious about what you think: does not supporting the community automatically make them homophobic?

personally, I believe that not everyone shares the same ideas beliefs so not supporting is completely different from openly hating on them, right? like there's a difference between saying "oh i don't think being gay is right" and "i hate you for being gay"? you can still be respectful without agreeing with them.

you too, selfmate. what do you think about the question?

Quote from butterbutterfly

I don't think there is a problem, if your teacher or professor isn't doing so as a way to brainwash students into sharing the same beliefs. I've had a special case in middle school where we got a sub teacher who, instead of teaching the actual subject (Science), showed a whole power point with xenophobic propaganda. We were like 10-12 and most of us didn't understand a thing, but I still remember some of my classmates after that class talking about how "cool" he was and that they wanted to be like him. It was only after a good amount of years that I realized that what that teacher did was definitely NOT okay lol.

Most kids this age are not able to think and form opinions for themselves, so they take what a teacher says as the right way to think.

That is where it becomes a problem. Now if we're talking about students in college the circumstances are a bit different. I would expect adults to be able to think for themselves. I think it's inevitable that a teacher or a student's political views become clear through their comments and remarks here and there (especially if they're talking about subjects like economics, tax, etc). But like I said, as long as it's not done in a brainwashing way, it should be okay (tho it should be avoided ofc).

i mean, yeah i get that but there can also be situation where things can be uncomfortable even without saying anything- like going out of your way to make it extremely obvious that you're a supporter of a certain group. i just feel like such things should be avoided so students don't have to be like "um well this person doesn't see eye to eye with me so i might be shut down by them". idk I just feel like this could be the case for a lot of people. but yes, I totally get what you mean and I do agree with that as well, simply just having it up as an extra thing is not that harmful at all.

Quote from selfmate

personally adding i don't think being gay is right might be boarderline crossing the line...

i was thinking non support as in Switzerland neutrality type of non support...

like i (selfmate) haven't listened to much of brave girls and the songs aren't my thing thus i'm not supporting them type of non support... more like inaction...

I get that, yeah. regardless, just sharing that personal belief, in general, does put you in a bad spot.

Quote from selfmate

whilst true to a certain extent everything that one says has consequences...

it may not be legal consequences or even job wise but people might choose to cancel you or whatever...

yep, totally.

Quote from pinksz

I am not american so yeah my opinion will sound weird or may odd but for me teachers should not express their political biases, I mean the most I had was a teacher making jokes and yet half of the classroom was obivously uncomfortable and he stopped right away. I don't personally think it's okay to keep political when there's no necessity for this they are teacher they should just teach the subject ~ teaching how to think not what to think etc? sorry if this doesn't goes well w the USA scenario I am speaking more about how I see my country situation lol

no, it makes sense!

thanks for your comment :))

i was hoping to hear all kinds or different perspectives so this is great