BY MARY MERKENICH
As thousands of high school students walked out of class to oppose the war on Iraq, radio "shock jocks" condemned left-wing teachers and their unions for "imposing" their opposition to the war in Iraq on young students.
So do teachers have the right to tell students their political opinions or should they keep them hidden so as not to impose on young, impressionable minds? And what role should teachers play when major political and social issues, such as the war against Iraq, are unfolding?
In blaming teachers, the shock jocks deny that young people have views of their own, gathered from many sources — possibly including teachers — but also from parents, peers, media, the internet, religious leaders and some politicians.
As a teacher, my experience has been that the vast majority of students come to school with opinions they have already learnt from their parents. Over time, these opinions may be modified by their own experiences and their interactions with teachers and friends.
While outside of such a galvanising issue as the war in Iraq most students that I have taught have shown little active interest in politics, many have strong views on such topics as refugees, the environment and reconciliation.
Without access to much other information, students' views often reflect what the corporate media dishes out. If a teacher gives an alternative point of view, he or she is hardly "imposing it" upon their students, who are more likely to disagree than to agree. Those who want to shut teachers up really want to stifle any free expression of ideas outside the corporate-owned media "debate", and stop young people from accessing dissident voices.
Some of the right-wing journalists were particularly outraged that the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union had asked its members to read out a statement about the war to students. The statement, which the AEU encouraged teachers to read if war broke out against Iraq, read: "Today is a day which you may remember forever. Our country has joined an attack against Iraq, a country in the Middle East".
In information accompanying the statement, the AEU advised that many students would be upset about an invasion, and have questions. It was improtant, the AEU said, to answer the questions in an "age-appriopriate" way and give reassurance.
When the war started, many of my students were concerned about what was happening, some were quite frightened and most wanted to discuss it. The AEU's advice was a reflection of the respect teachers have for their students, and the fact that we take their concerns seriously.
Most teachers would have said very little about the war to their students. Many believe that they are just there to teach science, cookery, or whatever; not to discuss "extraneous and irrelevant" issues. However, isn't this war more important to the future of everyone than cooking a hamburger?
Schools — like the community more generally — do very little to encourage young people to participate in political action. School curriculum is very narrow, and does not thoroughly examine the connection between societal structure and social injustice.
Students' energy is channelled into "appropriate" activities. For example, student representative councils spend their time organising charity events or raising money for the school to build bike sheds. They don't give young people a chance to discuss such things as the war against Iraq, or why they have to raise money for a bike shed when rich private schools have excellent facilities.
Until recently, increasing numbers of students have been choosing subjects like business studies or accounting over more generalist political studies or even economics, which many see as too "abstract".
Many politics teachers are not union members. How can they be passionate about their subject, if they are not applying it to their own everyday reality? This cannot help inspire students to see politics as meaningful to them.
Every now and then, a teacher does open the eyes of students to the relevance, and importance, of political involvement. Some teachers may even convince students to be critical about the way our society is structured and the decisions our government makes. But is this a bad thing?
If we want young people to be part of building a healthy community, then surely education should motivate them to take an active interest in politics. Education should help young people to be independent, critical thinkers. Far from brainwashing them, critical teachers empower students to become self-determining adults rather than people ruled over by others.
The decisions made by governments affect us all in the most essential ways. It isn't a "right" of teachers to inspire young people to take an active interest in government and social issues; it is a responsibility.
There should be a genuine exploration of ideas in schools, without prejudice. Students should be able to debate ideas with those representing many different viewpoints. Schools could organise excursions to activist meetings. There should be no restrictions on the right of students or teachers to organise or be involved in political activity, whether, for example, it is against this unjust war or simply setting up a political discussion group at school.
[Mary Merkenich is a high school teacher in Victoria and a member of the Australian Education Union.]
From Green Left Weekly, May 14, 2003.
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