TEACHING TO THINK

ART BY CARL LARSON
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`````I have written in previous posts about some of the teachers I was fortunate to have, and the ensuing love of debate and discourse, knowledge and books which developed as a result. I was reading an article in the paper and went on to check the comments. The feature was on education, yet the respondents went off on their own tangents. It wasn't the first time that people made mention of teachers instilling values upon kids.
`````If a person were to believe some of the posts, one would come to the conclusion that there was a vast conspiracy out there, intent on brainwashing children. You'd swear that they were talking about a cult like the Moonies or Scientology. Usually this sort of passion is only reserved for talk of the "Illuminati" and their New World Order on late night radio.

`````Sadly, too many parents are so disconnected from what goes on at their kids' schools that I'd be surprised if the could recount what was even on the curriculum. Many see their children only on holidays or every second week thanks to custody issues. I doubt every one of those people venting makes it to parent/teacher meetings. You know how it is....the game's on television that night...Then there's that group of people who are almost proud of their stupidity. They're the ones who'll pull a face and make negative comments about "intellectuals." The sort of person who'd rather vote for an ex-wrestler as he looks like he'd kick ass, as opposed to somebody who went to the London School of Economics.

`````It troubles me that people will wax on and on about an issue they know nothing of. Talking about it is bad enough, but these are the ones who want to change policy. They'll get on a tirade about banning some book, even though they didn't necessarily read it. Perhaps they heard about it from their minister, and were swayed by his word alone that the book was a missive of the devil. How else to explain the banning of books such as "Go Ask Alice", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Tom Sawyer" and even "The Diary of Anne Frank." Yes! I had clipped the article once and cannot find it. Some backwater town had actually considered banning that book from the local school or library because somebody had been taken aback by the passage wherein Anne describes her feelings for Peter. Thankfully, people came to their senses.

`````The comments which troubled me this time were that teachers should have no opinions of their own; that anything they said should be value neutral. In actual fact, I suspect what the writers actually meant was that the values should not be thought provoking or contrary to their own.

`````In high school, we had to read the novel "Cry the Beloved Country." As part of the general discussion surrounding the book, my teacher asked us how many people supported capital punishment. Most of the kids put up their hands. The school consisted mainly of white kids from middle-class families.

`````My instructor then related something of his background. He was from South Africa and he was "Mixed." Things like that mattered over there, as he wasn't white. On the scale of things, he wasn't perceived as lowly as the blacks, but there were doors not open to him. The law was not always a fair practice in his homeland when he emigrated. He then spoke of it a bit.

`````In elementary school, a fiercely intelligent and independent teacher never let us forget that women or girls could achieve things in life as well. I remember to this day a short story she read from "Ms" magazine. That bit of writing really made me think about how we immediately make an assumption about somebody when we hear that they are either male or female.

`````I resented the imposing of religious doctrine by one English teacher, when he wanted us to prey. I sat quietly, but would not bow my head. Peter W did the same, until he got up and walked out one day. He went on to study art and the last I heard, instructs in Brooklyn.

`````Our opinions are part of our package as humans, and most teachers are decent individuals. They aren't in the job to turn innocent school kids into monsters. If they relate something of their own beliefs, it's probably because they're trying to increase empathy and tolerance. Some kids come from homes where it's okay to use the "n" word, or where they see one parent abuse the other. I don't see anything wrong in a teacher correcting bullying behavior or hatred. Somebody has to step up to the plate.

`````Smart, intelligent debate over issues is a wonderful thing. You might not agree with a person's position, but as long as they present their side of the argument with some facts and groundwork, there's discourse. Good teachers know how to encourage that sort of thinking. They might have to spur it on by presenting their sentiments over an issue. It seems that those who lack this sort of education are the ones who resort to rude name-calling the minute a person disagrees with them.

`````An opposing idea doesn't circumvent the daily groundwork laid at home. If people are so fearful of the introduction of new concepts, perhaps it's because they lack faith themselves. They feel like they could easily be tempted, therefore anybody could fall of the track. After all, it's only the crazy zealots who deny education to their children in favour of pure doctrine. All that gets you is people willing to blow up planes.

`````Before condeming teachers, some people should talk to them first.