Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Halx
I went to school in a fairly conservative community. Most of my teachers were in tune with the class, talking about their personal life a little to establish a rapport with the students. All of them stayed clear of defining their political and religious agendas. Some of them made it fairly clear that they would not share that information under any circumstance because their job was to teach their subject in an objective manner and produce free-thinking students.
|
I had a teacher who gave us extra-credit if we could discern his political party. It was for an American history class where we covered government, so it was appropriate, and as he had given us no clue whatsoever it was a real challenge. I was the only one who guessed correctly that he was a Democrat (my father's age, long-time teacher and I'd heard or seen nothing to betray any kind of religious belief).
As a future teacher and the daughter of a high school principal, this kind of story always captures my attention. I had a math teacher in middle school who had a bulletin board filled with inspirational quotes and Bible verses. It was small and unobtrusive and behind his desk--and across the top it said "DO NOT READ."
It was the way he brought his faith into his classroom for himself personally and for no one else--a less observant person would have missed it completely. That I have no problem with. But when a teacher talks about their religion or their politics in class
without just cause I get irritated. Teachers DO have just cause to talk about religion--such as when their faith might prevent them from presenting a topic objectively. I had one such teacher in high school who admitted that as a devout Catholic it was hard for him to discuss evolution. I appreciated knowing that. But otherwise, a teacher should leave their faith and their politics at home and keep it out of school completely.
School and the classroom should be a place where kids feel safe, not assaulted. Bringing religion into it just makes people uncomfortable. Even in the Bible Belt, where one or two students may not be Christians, the school has the obligation to protect the minority.
All of that said, the guy should have known better than to disobey a direct edict from his superiors. It's rare for a teacher to be fired, really rare. But it seems to me this guy deserved it--not only because he brought religion into his classroom but because he disobeyed his principal.