The only teacher I ever had that tried to sway my political viewpoints was my grade 6 health science teacher that talked a few times about how the Jews were responsible for, well, just about everything bad. Fortunately, that lesson didn’t stick.
Also, I’m not a professor (yet) but I’ve taught a few computer science courses at university. Politics has never come up except the one time some students tried to get me to come to their rally. I turned them down because I wished to remain professionally apolitical.
My university doesn’t allow faculty to use work time to discuss our individual politics. It does allow us to wear a political pin, for example, but not to post signs in our office windows. I encourage students to engage in the political process and vote. I allow student voter drive groups to my classes. If a particular piece of legislation affects their future job field (like a bond for the school district), I point it out and encourage them to gather different interpretations.
The first twelve years of my education starting from age six were basically American Mythology 101 where we’re taught over and over, year after year, that all the Founding Fathers were larger than life bastions of liberty, freedom and equality. That the European population of America came in search of Religious Freedom from the tyrannical shackles of Europe and the Revolution was solely about bestowing liberty to all men. That the documents of our nations founding are essentially Holy Writ to be revered in their purity of purpose and intent. The moral characteristics of bravery and perseverance combined with Destiny to spread our nation from Sea to Shining Sea.
The effects of this is that, even decades later, people can instinctively clutch their pearls and recoil in shame when faced with a question like “what would Jefferson think?” so I’d say that “Yes”, my teachers very much tried to influence my political views although not in the way the OP intended (and has no poll options reflecting this reality)
I voted “wasn’t paying attention” because all these years later I can’t remember one way or another. Maybe that means none of them were over the top with it.
yes, some of them. blatantly at first, it got more subtle as the years went by. Those early years in elementary school saw some conflict between my parents and school administration, with at least one teacher losing her job over it. I don’t know how many other kid’s parents were involved in the conflict that resulted in the firing of the teacher.
ETA my experience directly contradicts Spoons assertion that “liberal teachers influencing students to be liberal” is or was a non-existent problem.
I don’t remember anyone in high school trying to push an agenda. I didn’t really pay attention to politics until after I graduated.
I went to a liberal arts college (Kent State) but don’t remember anyone pushing politics there. Could be that I already was in line with them - if I’d been a Conservative maybe I’d have noticed. I was in journalism school and our journalism classes focused on technique and ethics.
My eighth grade literature teacher was one of them hippy pot-smoking Besrkeley types who just couldn’t shut-up about hating on the Nixon administration … talk about major league indoctrination into the commie/liberal McGovernik politics … every other day was a lecture on amnesty, abortion and acid … this was a small agricultural community in the Central Valley and most of the students and faculty didn’t even know what pot was … he was refused tenure and wound up teaching high school up on the North Coast …
Siddhartha, The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster, Venus on the Half-Shell … for the few of us “hip” students he would give us Zap Comix to read … pretty warped stuff for sure …
The only professor who even came close to espousing a political viewpoint in class was Father Lynam (on whom be peace), who taught Philosophy and Logic. And his outlook was … skepticism. While he didn’t come out and say “they all lie,” he encouraged his students to look for the backstory, the hidden agenda, the “that behind all that.” His two main points: a) they’re not telling you everything, and b) what they are telling you is intended to promote their interests (over and above the natural human tendency to shape the narrative to the narrator’s benefit).
This was at a Catholic college in the 1960s. You know, the decade when the US went from an earthly paradise to a cesspit. Damn hippies.…
Nope. I knew some of my teacher’s politics - a history teacher was staunchly conservative, and one psychology professor was a straight-from-the-70s hippie who played folk guitar in class - but pretty much every teacher I ever had simply wanted you to put some thought behind your political views; at 55, I’m still amazed how often someone explaining their position on something is simply regurgitating what they heard as a kid or stubbornly insisting something’s bad simply because they don’t like it.
Some did, some didn’t. The primary and high schools I attended have ideals of equality of opportunity, fairness, objectivity… while not every teacher achieved those objectives and some didn’t try, our parents had sent us to those schools specifically so we’d learn that kind of outlook. Which values you hold is going to influence your politics. There is a direct correlation between “teachers I consider assholes” and teachers who, by word or by deed, went against those principles: the bullies, the assholes who didn’t want female engineering students because they knew they were third-rate at best and were afraid of the competition, the asshole who switched his hearing aid off right before entering the classroom.
The purpose of Civics class was, to a point, to sell us on the notion that “the way our government is organized isn’t the possible best, but it’s better than other ways we’ve tried.” But it was both completely transparent and what it sold was something we didn’t find too horrible even before starting lesson one.
When I was in school, it was fairly rare that I knew my teachers’ politics, but it did come up sometimes, especially in more social science-like classes. And interestingly, some of my favourite teachers had different political opinions from mine. I don’t think they tried to influence mine, but even if they did, it evidently failed.
Now that I teach, I don’t think any of my students know my political leanings. Of course, I teach mathematics so it’s not very likely to come up in class. And given where I teach, I’d say it’s likely they wouldn’t agree with much of my opinions. (Speaking about the students here; it may be different among other faculty.)
Interestingly, I know the political leanings of some of my students. One of them was openly a Trump supporter during the leadup to the 2016 American presidential election. (Remember that all this takes place in Canada.) Given what I know of this student, I say it’s likely I’d disagree with most of his political opinions, but he is one of the students I most enjoyed teaching to during my time here. I think he has a great future ahead of him. He’s already quite active in student journalism/politics, which I thought might cause issues with other people given our university rather social justice-y vibe, but apparently hasn’t.
I wonder if difference in perspective here might be tied into some of the fundamental difference between traditional conservative and liberal modes of thinking. If a kid is raised to respect authority and to trust their judgment, then a teacher even expressing a political opinion is exerting undue influence. If, on the other hand, you tend to feel like it’s okay to question authority, expressing an opinion doesn’t feel like trying to indoctrinate someone. It just feels like talking.
And there’s a lot of gray area. If I teach “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and take it as given that segregation was a negative, oppressive system kept in place to benefit one race over another and inherently destructive, that’s a political view. But how can I talk about “Letter” and not talk about whether or not the protesters had the moral right to act: it’s the core of the argument about civil disobedience. We’ve had plenty of people on this board talk about how profiling black people is legitimate because they are much more likely to be criminals, for genetic or cultural reasons. We’ve had posters who were in favor of segregation. If I ever taught the child of anyone like that, I DID preach an opposing political view.
Another complication for me, as a teacher, is that only about 10% of my students are white. I’m white. I think it’s pretty important that I convey that I’m not racist–but I’ve met conservatives who felt even talking about racism in our society, even admitting it exists, is “declaring my white guilt” and “being ashamed of being white.” So there’s another group of kids who might see me as pushing my political views. About 10% of my students are DACA/Undocumented–and I suspect half or more have parents or other close relative that are not. I think it’s important to convey to them that I don’t want to see them deported. That I don’t view their existence as an imposition, nor wish to see their parents deported. But expressing that is expressing a political opinion. I try to make it clear at all times that I am comfortable with disagreement and that I LIKE all my kids–even, perhaps especially–the handful of conservative ones. But in this context, an opinion on immigration isn’t an abstract concept. I’ll take the risk of some other kids feeling like I tried to indoctrinate them in order to make sure the rest feel like they can trust me.
I had teachers that talked about their religion and their politics. Like, I knew my seventh grade math teacher was Jewish because she always talked about it, and I remember when she told us (don’t know what the context was) that she was pro-choice. My eleventh grade English teacher was a proud atheist and politically progressive. My Arabic teacher had some old-fashioned notions about everything. My eleventh grade math teacher was a very religious Christian and would frequently write pap on the chalkboard that you could tell she had lifted from some religious tract.
But with the exception of the latter, they didn’t try to influence my thinking, at least not any more than anyone else who talks about their beliefs. Sometimes there would be playful arguments in class (seems like Arabic class was all about debating the current event of the day). But the teachers that allowed this didn’t get up on a soapbox. They’d just throw out what they believed and explain why, and let the class make of it what they will.
Oh, yeah. Being in school in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s, there was a way girls were supposed to be, and I wasn’t it. Most teachers told me to into teaching or maybe be a secretary.I resisted all the way.
Thanks for the thoughtful and insightful responses everybody. I set up the choices with tongue planted firmly in cheek, so don’t worry about me sending this on to some data collection site. I was trying to make a point to Starving Artist, but I doubt he even looked at this.
I don’t recall any attempts by my college professors to influence my political thinking, or high school for that matter. I do remember in 6th grade our teacher had us debate Nixon vs McGovern in the 1972 election, and she clearly wanted us to favor Nixon. That of course was mauled to oblivion two years later when Watergate broke out. In this case, it wasn’t a liberal trying to brainwash me.
Oh we had a school election in 5th grade. I don’t recall any influence from the teacher, though most kids went for Clinton. Maybe due to parental influence? I went Bush because I was a contrarian and didn’t like Perot for non-political reasons. But at that age I had zero political knowledge and I’m sure classmates didn’t either.