Schools for Cittizens: Preserving the Republic ...Really?

After the American Revolution our country had many challenges to face. They had to make sure they could preserve the republic in which they fought so hard to establish. Jefferson recognized that in order for a republic to survive it needed to be made up of educated and moral citizens. There also needed to be a level of unity and civic conformity. But in a country with such diversity how can you expect all students to adhere to the same morals and values? Were they educating students so that they could participate and contribute to the republic or brainwashing them to accept their morals, values, and beliefs? They established schools to reflect their values, the values of the white male prosperous Protestant US born citizen. This created a lot of problem. However, I do think they made one critically important decision in the formation of our public schools systems. The decision to make our schools nonpartisan was probably one of the best decisions they made.

Political differences can tear a nation apart. Just look at what happened during the Civil War. Political differences in the classroom can seriously impede the educational process. I have experienced this first hand as a student. In high school I had a history teacher that flagrantly expressed his political views in the classroom. His political affiliation and views greatly contradicted my own. His teaching was extremely bias towards his own beliefs. This also aggravated me. I was so distracted by these differences that I ended up not learning anything from the class.

I think what I learned most here is that politics can create controversy in school. There was a reason schools were supposed to be nonpartisan. Teaching history includes politically controversial issues. The most important thing I need to remember is to not inflict my own political views on my students. I need to remain non bias. I would never even tell my students which political party i affiliate myself with.