Education and the Real World
I appreciate that there may be valid concerns about teachers bringing their own biases into the classroom, but the answer is not to limit or disallow discussion of certain topics. Rather, it should be to encourage wide-ranging discussion so that students are exposed to a variety of views and encouraged to think critically and to form their own conclusions as to what seems to make sense. I can still remember a university course on economics from 60 years ago, a course without a specific curriculum or text book, a course in which we were to follow and discuss what was happening in the Canadian economy during that academic year. We would barely be in our seats before Professor Knox would single out one of us and ask what was of interest to economists in today’s Globe and Mail (or some other media source). After all this time, I recall that during that year there were such events as a Royal Commission on Banking and Finance and also the devaluation of the Canadian dollar to 92.5 cents in relation to the U.S. dollar (which sounds pretty good at the moment).
Stimulating Interest in Politics
When I started teaching courses in government at St. Lawrence College at the end of the 1960s, I was amazed at how little students knew of current political events. It was almost as if they ran from the room or covered their ears when encountering news broadcasts. At the time, Trivial Pursuit was a very popular Canadian board game and I was inspired to come up with a variation known as “Political Trivia.” I formed the class into teams, announced that I would play occasional rounds of political trivia, and that the members of the team with the most points at the end of the semester would each receive a Diploma in Triviology, suitable for framing. [I also used to give out variations of it at some of my municipal government training workshops.]
It’s amazing what the competitive spirit will generate. Students clamoured for more rounds of trivia, even offering to stay after class to play. They would often express disappointment when I didn’t ask about some recent political event since they had noted it and were ready for the question. They were not impressed with my answer when I replied, as an example, that there was no need for me to ask the name of the new Minister of Finance after the recent Cabinet shuffle, since they already knew it. Overall, this silly game was a great success in stimulating student interest in current political issues in Canada.
The Need for Balance and Reflection
I remember also emphasizing to students the importance of consulting a variety of news sources and then thinking about the differing points of view presented. I used to advise them to read at least the Toronto Star and the National Post (then reflective of the left and right wing perspectives) and that the truth would usually be somewhere in between. Any such contemplation appears totally missing in today’s world, where people go directly to sources that tell them what they want to hear. The result is an increasingly polarized population, unable to engage in sharing views, even unwilling to contemplate that another point of view might merit their attention. If education is going to help close that gap, it needs to expose students to a wide variety of views and to encourage them to consider these differing views, to reflect on their merits, and then to form their own conclusions at what seems to make sense. Instead of listening to celebrities or “influencers” (who are, as far as I can determine, people who are famous for being famous?) we need people willing to make the effort to learn about issues and to exercise their judgment as to what needs to be done. Informed participation is essential if we are to have a healthy democracy.