If it was a legit learning exercise, I would think have of the class take one side of the argument, and the other half take the opposite side.
Good for you, I am proud you are setting to standard. Never give up, Never ever
If they try, there will be a boogaloo.
i love these kind of threads. They always get a good chuckle from professors i know. They laugh because they know they can barely get some students to read the syllabus, let alone 'brainwash' them. And given some of the stories i hear each year, i don't always trust the 'my professor said i have to X' because sometimes little jimmy or jane has been absent for a month and needs an excuse for the parentals as to why he or she is failing.
One of the better ones i heard a few years ago had to do with a student who was put out that 'because my pastor said so' wasn't a valid source for a paper about international conflict. No background for the person, no attempts at credentials, simply 'said so'. Now, if your pastor is someone like Desmond Tutu, it likely would have been acceptable, but getting the student to understand that proved difficult.
And i know that some professors (depending on the field), do like to challenge students and their beliefs. Not because they are trying to change minds, but to deepen understanding of an issue. It could either change or reinforce those beliefs. When my wife was at Emory in Atlanta there was a large number of Jewish kids, when at Texas Tech, white and hispanic. At Ole Miss it's much more affluent white students from Jackson and rural african american students from the delta. Each place had a different group with different common beliefs, so challenging those people has been different at each place.
She mades her international development students do service hours in the Mississippi Delta (part of a service learning initiative here). Mostly because she found that many students here were willing to talk about how to change things in far away poor countries, but didn't realize they had what amounts to a third world poverty problem within their own state. Many had traveled abroad but never been to the delta and didn't know some folks still have dirt floors here. Is she trying to 'indoctrinate' them? Not to her, though i'm sure some tell their parents she is.
Forcing students to 'see' other parts of an issue, or to challenge their beliefs and leave their comfort zones isn't a bad thing per se. I'm sure there are outliers at every turn (i had one political theory professor like that) but it's been my experience that many aren't out to brainwash your child. But being challenged to evaluate your beliefs is far harder to process than 'they are out to get us' so it's no wonder that the 'teach to the test' generation feels threatened when forced to *think* about an issue, rather than just 'know' the correct answer (regardless of which side of the issue they come down on).
One of the better ones i heard a few years ago had to do with a student who was put out that 'because my pastor said so' wasn't a valid source for a paper about international conflict. No background for the person, no attempts at credentials, simply 'said so'. Now, if your pastor is someone like Desmond Tutu, it likely would have been acceptable, but getting the student to understand that proved difficult.
And i know that some professors (depending on the field), do like to challenge students and their beliefs. Not because they are trying to change minds, but to deepen understanding of an issue. It could either change or reinforce those beliefs. When my wife was at Emory in Atlanta there was a large number of Jewish kids, when at Texas Tech, white and hispanic. At Ole Miss it's much more affluent white students from Jackson and rural african american students from the delta. Each place had a different group with different common beliefs, so challenging those people has been different at each place.
She mades her international development students do service hours in the Mississippi Delta (part of a service learning initiative here). Mostly because she found that many students here were willing to talk about how to change things in far away poor countries, but didn't realize they had what amounts to a third world poverty problem within their own state. Many had traveled abroad but never been to the delta and didn't know some folks still have dirt floors here. Is she trying to 'indoctrinate' them? Not to her, though i'm sure some tell their parents she is.
Forcing students to 'see' other parts of an issue, or to challenge their beliefs and leave their comfort zones isn't a bad thing per se. I'm sure there are outliers at every turn (i had one political theory professor like that) but it's been my experience that many aren't out to brainwash your child. But being challenged to evaluate your beliefs is far harder to process than 'they are out to get us' so it's no wonder that the 'teach to the test' generation feels threatened when forced to *think* about an issue, rather than just 'know' the correct answer (regardless of which side of the issue they come down on).
I say this all the time and get told “it won’t ever happen”. By many on this very forum. Some have even stated they are content with the gun laws we have now. That really blows my mind. I will NEVER be content until every single gun law is repealed. Criminals will NEVER follow laws. These laws are always passed under the premise that they will make us safe. That is what these politicians do. They use emotions to control us. And we just let it happen. I don’t care how many guns are in America. If we aren’t willing to use those guns to defend our freedom from those that are hell bent on destroying this country then they are worthless to us. Being “content” is exactly what the government wants. They want us to sit back and think everything is fine. Meanwhile our country is rapidly being taken over by minorities that vote almost exclusively for the democrats. Schools are indoctrinating kids to believe our country is horrible and the 2A is the worst part of it ( besides white people and Christians). We have numerous Muslims that are in the federal government, state government and city/county government. It’s like most people in this country that claim to love this nation and our constitution are oblivious to what is happening. Why do you think the left wants open borders? The more folks that flood in from the south the better. More votes for them. They have taken over so much of our country it is beyond belief. They are everywhere. Most of them don’t love this country. They just want the benefits it provides for them. There is no such thing as assimilation anymore. We have done everything to make it where these people don’t have to learn our language and be an American. It sickens me. Trump is the last republican president that we will ever see. In 2024 things will change more than they ever have. There will be folks voting for the first time that are currently about 14. Most of these kids don’t have the values that many of us have. They will vote for someone that hates America. Such as any of the democrat candidates we have. Everyone always says “it’s all the democrats “. Republicans are just as much to blame for our problems as the democrats are. They have supported countless anti gun bills. Trump is anti gun yet many gun owners just think he can do no wrong. It doesn’t matter who we vote for in the end. It’s going to come down to one thing. We either use the 2A to put an end to this tyranny and restore this republic to what the founders started or we sit back and watch this country burn to the ground. We were warned by John Adams that all these things would happen.
For the definitive answer to what will happen to us, we shall have to wait until it is all over. Why do I say that? Because only what we allow is what will happen to us. We can still assure a positive outcome. It'll cost lives, but in the end it can be positive. It all hinges on our determination to remain free.
Woody
Woody
It appears to me they have either heard the voices of the people or are playing the Overton Window scheme with practiced aplomb. I can't hate these people but there is nothing in my faith, moral code, or sense of justice that prevents me from hating what they have done and intend to do. I do not recognize them as my countrymen. I only see them as tyrants, despots, leaches, and a curse on humanity.
These people will not capitulate these people are us, in a sense. Turn your volume up. Give it a minute or until they play.
These people will not capitulate these people are us, in a sense. Turn your volume up. Give it a minute or until they play.
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Let them chuckle away. My daughter and all her roommates that I talked to when we had this conversation in her apartment said they had written papers to ‘coincide’ with the professor’s line of thinking. Each worried that if they didn’t, it would negatively effect their grade. Whether a kid agrees with a professor or not, they should never feel that disagreeing with a person should have a detrimental reaction.
There will always be those who might require the students to think like them. And there will always be those that think telling the professor what they want to hear will give them a better grade. Somehow I’m guessing the reality is somewhere between the two.
But, as I said, most I’ve encountered just want them to think about issues and back up the position using sound methods (which is often where the ‘disagreeing’ falls short).
And read the syllabus. It’s shocking how many emails my wife responds to where the answer is on the document given out on day 1.
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