A Case for the Unbalanced

There is a debate going on in my graduate school discussion board. I'm a strong proponent of debate, so this is thrilling to me. What leaves me much less than enthusiastic is the nature of the debate: a call for 'striking a balance' between the idea of 'value inculcation' and the 'marketplace of ideas'. I posted previously on this topic, only to find that I may have not stated my position as clearly I had previously thought. So to be perfectly clear: as unpopular as it may be, I do not subsribe to balance in this instance. I identify with one side of this debate much more strongly than the other. In his lecture, Dr. Michael Hopson outlines the idea of ‘value inculcation’: “To paraphrase Justice Black, students attend school to learn, not to teach. It is not the time or place for them to exercise their expression rights and to comment on issues of public concern or interest.” (personal communication, November 1, 2010) I find the idea that school is not the time or place for commentary on public concerns to be shockingly short-sighted. If our goal is to educate students in higher-order and critical thinking skills, how can we exclude exchange of ideas that might possibly even be uncomfortable for students? One of my colleagues mentions the idea of “bringing accountability to their [students’] ‘free’ speech.” (personal communication, November 3, 2010) This is the litmus test that elevates exchange of ideas, not just in a classroom, but in society.

Throughout the posts this week there is much talk of imparting students with ‘our values’. While I am not at all opposed to modeling to my students how I live my life through the lens of my own ethical compass, I shy from the idea that somehow I have a monopoly on appropriate “values”. Another colleague uses an expression in her post, “socially appropriate behavior”, which I believe to be an excellent guiding principle for educators. While there are societal norms that we all accept, norms that enable civil discourse, societal values can be a much murkier area, colored by political affiliation, embedded theology, and cultural mores. We can recognize that there are students who come into the schoolhouse doors with a woeful lack of experience in societal norms without making an assumption that, because their value systems do not reflect our own, they do not exist at all.

The Classroom Marketplace: Ideas Welcome

Since my original years in college, studying for a dual major in political science and American history with a minor in education, I have looked to Tinker v. DesMoines (1969) as a reflection of my educational philosophy. This week my school law professor speaks eloquently to how the majority decision in this case supports the idea of the schoolhouse as a ‘marketplace of ideas’: “In this view, it could be easily argued that the school’s squelching of John and Mary Beth Tinker’s free speech rights was actually detrimental to the fundamental mission of the public school – to teach students to think and express themselves independently.” (personal communication, Hopson, M., October 31, 2010) I could not possibly state my position more accurately than this. The most formative portions of my education have historically come, and continue to come, through hearing opposing viewpoints expressed in a thoughtful, reasoned manner. This very blog gives life to lectures, readings, and endless pages of case law because others share ideas and perspectives that I would not have access to in my own narrow history of experience. In last week’s discussion board, a colleague discussed the value of dynamic exchange of differing ideas when she writes, “An open forum is what teaches our children how to navigate through the waters of citizenship. To be able to speak their minds with tact and still be friends in the end is a necessary skill that I want my children to have.” (personal communication, Kelly, J., October 26, 2010) Again, I could not possibly improve on her words or her sentiment. I can only add that I do recognize how working to balance ideology and reality is a legitimate challenge for leaders in all areas of governance, including in education. Part of educating a citizenry includes teaching the rules and mores of their society: civil exchange of ideas cannot occur without such knowledge. So, in my mind, the boundary between holding dear the value of discourse and teaching children the appropriate mechanism for that exchange is the thin line on which campus leaders walk. For me, my right and responsibility to expression of ideas and my responsibility to foster exchange of ideas remains at the heart of my call to teach.

Works Cited:
Tinker v. DesMoines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969)