Week 1 Response

Response to Kelly

I believe the use of “Committed Impartiality” should be adopted in classrooms because it is an essential way for students to form and express their own opinions while still giving teachers the ability to handle sensitive and controversial topics in the classroom. By teaching these controversial topics in the classroom, it gives students a safe place to learn about different topics and learn how to handle opinions that may differ from their own.

When a teacher uses exclusive partiality, it can affect a student’s opinion. Students are forced to view only one side of an argument, which can enforce the student’s opinion or can force them to not discuss their opinion because it might be contrary to the teacher and others in the class.

Response to Passe and Evans

            In this reading, it is stressed that classroom discussion of controversial topics “can be instrumental in student growth and, ultimately, in the development of democratic citizens.” (pg 81) By not discussing these topics, intolerance and shallowness can be reinforced if they are being taught at home. However, the teacher’s treatment of those topics is incredibly important. The teacher must create an environment where students respect each other and their opinions. If the teacher creates an environment where ground rules are enforced and topics are chosen carefully, students can grow mentally. The teacher must be careful to keep students on the right path during the conversation so no student gets verbally attacked for an opinion. They must also remain neutral yet guiding in how they handle the discussion. Passe and Evans also discuss ways for the teacher to create a positive environment for the discussion. If the teacher can create that environment, students should be able to better handle the topics. Hopefully those discussions should help students learn more about problem solving and expressing their opinion in a positive manner.