{Recently, a friend sent me an article that was written by an associate professor of a prominent institution of higher learning in the Chicago area. The article sent me over the edge because of its contents and subject matter. This piece also brought me to think of my own educational experience and I wondered if did I had such a teacher like that as I was going to school.)
Teaching is a profession for those who have the talent to make learning exciting. It is a profession worthy of admiration for those who achieve the ultimate goal of breaking down the walls of the mind, and allow it to become a sponge to the knowledge being put before a person, so they might use that knowledge to succeed in life.
Like many of you, I can look back on my learning years with fond memories of certain teachers who inspired me, giving me the fundamental tools which helped get me through the rough times when I didn’t want to learn things I never wanted to learn. They taught me the basic fundamentals of critical thinking and encouraged me to derive my own opinion based on the facts before me. They challenged me to research the facts so that I might create my own opinion from my own personal research. These same teachers gave me guidance and became a role model to me and my fellow classmates. Along with my parents, they instilled a strong sense of ethics, morality and integrity which I still carry with me to this day. Now don’t get me wrong, there were a few who never should have received teaching credentials because they couldn’t teach to save their lives, nor did they even know the subject matter at hand.
As I looked back on my own education I could not remember any teacher who gave their personal views on a subject. To confirm this, I contacted a few of my friends from the old days and asked them one question. “Do you remember ever having one of our teachers give us their political views about a subject when we were in school? None of them could recall ever hearing about a teacher’s personal view of politics in any way, shape or form. Believe me I would have known if they were giving me a political view, because I was the daughter of a prominent political mover and shaker back then. I lived with politics every day of my life from one campaign after another.
Over the years I have seen a serious problem within the educational system of our country. There is only one issue I am going to address at this time and save the others for another article. In the last ten years or so there has been an increase in unorthodox behavior amongst the teaching profession. Instead of having dedicated individuals teaching our children, we have teachers who are blatant egotists and elitists spouting off their own personal political agenda’s in the classrooms. Case in point: Grade School Teacher in Maine telling children that their parent is a baby killer and are going to die because they are a member of the United States Armed Forces and deployed to the Middle East. Teacher in Florida defaming free speech under the Constitution to spout off their own political party’s propaganda in the classroom and encouraging their students to go home and convince their parents to vote a certain way in an upcoming election. What is wrong with our educational system that they would allow this kind of unorthodox behavior in the classroom? Have we literally gone soft in our educational system?
Then just this past week an associate professor of Social Justice from a well known college, posted an article that described a heated discussion within her social justice class. In the article she made the following statement:“The American military and mercenary soldiers who “sacrificed” their lives did not do so for the teacher’s freedom to teach the truth about the so-called war on terror, or any of US history for that matter. They sacrificed their lives, limbs and sanity for money, some education and the thrills of the violence for which they are socially bred. Sacrificing for the “bling and booty” in Iraq or Afghanistan, Philippines, Grenada, Central America, Mexico, Somalia, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any of the other numerous wars and invasions spanning US history as an entity and beginning with their foundational practice of killing the Indians and stealing their land.” This coming from an educator who holds a doctorate! She apparently received her doctorate in ignorance because she knows nothing about American History, the military, or what is happening in the Middle East conflict.
In order for me to calm down from this teacher’s comments, I did two things: First, I opened a book of quotes from our founding fathers and found one that says it all. It is by Thomas Jefferson “if a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what ever was and never will be... if we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.” Then I pulled out my trusty dictionary and looked up the following words: Education, Teacher, Social Justice, Politician and this is what I found...
1) Education: The word education is derived from the Latin educare (with a short u) meaning "to raise", "to bring up", "to train", "to rear", via "educatio/nis", bringing up, raising. In recent times, there has been a return to an alternative assertion that education derives from a different verb: educere (with a long u), meaning "to lead out" or "to lead forth". The activities of educating or instructing or teaching; activities that impart knowledge or skill;
2) Teacher: In education, teachers are those who help students or pupils learn, often in a school. The objective is typically a course of study, lesson plan, or a practical skill, including learning and thinking skills. The different ways to teach are often referred to as the teacher's pedagogy. When deciding what teaching method to use, a teacher will need to consider students' background knowledge, environment, and their learning goals as well as standardized curricula as determined by the relevant authority.
3) Social Justice: is both a philosophical problem and an important issue in politics. It can be argued that everyone wishes to live in a just society, but different political ideologies have different conceptions of what a 'just society' actually is. The term "social justice" itself tends to be used by those ideologies who believe that present day society is highly unjust - and these are usually left-wing ideologies, advocating a more extensive use of democracy and income redistribution, a more egalitarian society. The right-wing has its own conception of social justice, but generally believes that it is best achieved through the operation of a free market, and the promotion of philanthropy and charity. Both right and left tend to agree on the importance of rule of law, human rights, and some form of a welfare safety net (though the left supports this to a greater extent than the right).
4) Politician: A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest, right of inheritance (see also: divine right) or other means.
Now that you have read these four definitions I direct your attention to the third one. This is the course in which the college professor teaches. It is a course which is supposed to teach critical thinking of ideas based on current issues. However, she must have forgotten the most important point of her own course “Critical THINKNG”. It is clear by her own statement that she only sees things one way. If you look at the definition of education and teacher you will notice that neither definition states that a teacher should give his or her own personal views on any issue. Teachers are to entice a student to derive their own thoughts based on a subject matter. The forth definition brings me my final thoughts. Take a look at the last underlined words ‘divine right’ this clearly explains why these teachers feel it necessary to go against the long tradition of educators to EDUCATE. They believe that it is their divine right, although misguided as it may be, to give their own personal opinions within the walls of a classroom.
Please don’t get me wrong I am not against Teachers in any way. Actually I admire those who choose to enter the ranks of the teaching profession. On a daily basis they enter a room filled with fragile minds and have an opportunity to thrill them with the history of the ages while molding them into productive individuals who will eventually enter into our society as productive citizens. Yet there are some who have entered this profession for the wrong reasons. Either they are afraid to enter politics or have no desire to do so, but still want a sense of control over individuals and how they think, decide and act in society. These are the bad apples which I am addressing today, like the one’s I mentioned above. They enter into the profession of teaching so they can have their own private bully pulpit to convey their personal political views to the youth of America. It is people like them that give teachers a bad name. Many of these same teachers have never even traveled the United States much less traveled the world. They leave college and grab the first job they can get to begin receiving that long over due paycheck. Yet they have no real life experience from which to draw from and educate.
If the college professor were to ever enter a war zone she would cry like a baby. She would not be able to handle it. She would also not be able to open up her mouthed when she returned home, because she would be dealing with what she had seen first hand. Once she was able to talk about it, she would be praising the service members of the armed forces for their courage, dignity and strength to endure that lifestyle on a daily basis. While she lays in the comfy confines of her bed at night her fellow Americans are sleeping on a very uncomfortable rack in a war zone. While she enjoys the luxuries of taking a shower with hot water, her fellow Americans are taking a shower in the desert every few days, if they get a shower at all. If she were to leave those comfy confines and venture into a war torn country, or a devastated country to see people not being able to feed themselves and their families, having no running water, electricity or dignity, she would be singing a different tune. Let her go to one of those countries and then open her mouth - I bet it would be a totally different set of words. I was with the United States Marine Corps in Iraq for a time and I can tell all who read this article that none of them would come home spouting the crap she claims they said. She heard what she wanted to hear in order to get her fifteen minutes of fame. Let her for once shut her mouth and listen to those who were trying to help those who were being oppressed on a daily basis by those in power who had no regard for human life or dignity. Then and only then will she be able to spout off at the mouth with PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF AN ISSUE. Just because you have a piece of paper hanging on the wall that says you received an education doesn’t mean you are intelligent, it just means you are ignorant to real life.
This teacher not only insulted me personally as an American, but has also insulted my entire family and friends who are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. She has dishonored all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this country since its conception. If this is truly what she thinks of those in the military, then she needs to think about moving out of the United States, because she doesn’t know or understand what the Declaration of Independence was all about, nor does she understand the Constitution of the United States.
If I was one of her students I would be storming into the Deans office demanding for her resignation. If she calls her statement freedom of speech, I can use my right of freedom of speech to call her an ignorant, over educated, elitist who has no conception of American History. Loyola College of Chicago should fire her from their rolls of academia because she is not worthy of being called an educator!
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