We’re in a very political time right now — so political, in fact, that we find ourselves falling into conversations about the Trump Administration almost everywhere we go: over dinner at Blue Wall, in small talk with an acquaintance we bump into at the library, at our jobs, and the list goes on. But what about in our classrooms?
From personal experience, the majority of my professors have divulged a private piece of information: their political affiliation. But perhaps these political identities aren’t so private anymore. This is my first time being at college during such a politically heated time, so I have started to think: is it appropriate for professors to outwardly express their (usually angry) emotions about the recent election results? Or is this kind of discussion valuable in a learning environment? I don’t know the answer yet; perhaps there is some fine line that our profs need to be wary of, or maybe it’s not as cut and dried. Here’s to (yet another) debate.
Possible Pros
Professors can provide insight based on experiences that might not be available to us — some of their experiences might have occurred before we were born! We are college students and they are professors, so both parties (a slight joke about politics, here) should be mature enough to hear out the other and accept the difference in perspective, whether based on experience and/or education. I mean, the two really go hand-in-hand, anyways. If we are mature enough, the professor should take on an student-like role in the classroom, participating just as any other student would, in order to share a unique perspective. After all, most of our professors voted in elections prior to Trump versus Clinton.
Achieving this level of discourse in the classroom can be super comforting for both the student and professor, if done correctly. Setting is a huge part of my little debate here. Take a math class as an example. My professor stands in front of us to teach statistics, and while the statistics of the election are definitely worth exploring, politics don’t come into lecture at all. This is probably the case for those STEM classes that deal more so with application problems than with social debating.
Politics certainly come into play in the social sciences, however. Classes in political science (obviously), legal studies, psychology, and bioethics deal heavily with current social and political events and standpoints. These classes can quickly become situated around the professor’s extensive knowledge of such politics — they are, after all, the ones giving us the final grade. To successfully engage an entire class the professors must pick their battles, so to speak, and decide whether their political viewpoints are beneficial, or even essential, to the success of the course.
Possible Cons
I noticed on my first day of classes that 4 out of 5 professors made some reference to their political viewpoint — all of which were strong disapprovals of Donald Trump. I had no issue with this — I also dislike Trump — but it got me thinking: what are the closeted Trump supporters of the room thinking? This is most likely their first encounter with a professor, no doubt a person in power, who will essentially be giving them their final grade. It’s an interesting point to consider; political opinions aside, is there a power dynamic between students and their teachers? If so, how does a blatant exclamation of political standing affect that relationship?
I had a professor last semester who complained about Trump and assumed that everyone in the class was a Democrat, which probably wasn’t true. I found this assumption to be somewhat off-putting. If there were any Republicans in the room, they certainly didn’t feel as if it was their time to speak. In situations like these, is it possible that announcing political views (whether they be liberal or conservative) holds students back from expressing ideas, political or not?
Final Consensus
After thinking heavily about political presence in our classrooms, I find myself landing somewhere in the middle. I appreciate having a professor’s opinion in class, as their minds are often filled with wonderful input and intriguing questions. But I hesitate when they use their vocal power to jab at politicians, with no intellectual prowess, but rather frustration that distracts from meaningful discussion. In discussing politics with our peers and professors, we need to hear each other and continue debating respectfully. Sound arguments are based on listening to counterarguments, not repeatedly enforcing your own.