Dear Editor:
I recently went to a “career fair” at my son’s elementary school. Grade 5 to 7 students were assigned the task of presenting a wide variety of possible careers, including pros and cons of each. One of the classes tackled the issue of diminishing farmland in the Lower Mainland. The teacher proudly exclaimed the class came to a consensus that the farmland is being bought up by rich developers that want the land for the sole purpose of building extravagant mansions. And the government is doing a poor job of disallowing this type of development. I queried the kids doing the presentations on various ideas, including: are only mansions being built on these lands? Could vertical farming be utilized as a solution to the issue? Are there any arguments that could be considered contrary to the ones being presented? The answers I got were uniform and consistent.
I queried the teacher in the same manner. She implied the kids came up with their ideas on their own. When I asked if she encouraged them to possibly look at/argue for other perspectives, she was defensive and dismissive, as if there really was no other reasonable perspective.
I left wondering whether these kids are being taught to think for themselves and encouraged to be diverse in their thinking, or whether they are being taught what and how to think and rewarded for following the ideology of their teacher(s). I’m afraid the latter is the truth. I fear teaching my son to think for himself is an exercise in contradiction to what he is being shown at school.
Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, I believe we should encourage our kids to look at all sides of an issue and be allowed to differ from the majority if that is their inclination. Too often teachers simply look for validation of their own ideologies and the kids fall in step. My hope is that teachers will read this and ask themselves if they are truly teaching kids how to think, or what to think. Regardless of the issue, of which there are many, the goal shouldn't be to convince kids of any particular perspective. Rather, the goal should be to encourage kids to look at all perspectives and to come to conclusions on their own.
