Give me a child until he is seven-

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by garinda

Politics were often discussed in our home.

Though unlike my Dad, I've no idea who my equally politicised Mum voted for, and still don't, to this day.

They, amongst other people I knew as a child, helped shape my own politics.

Ya know I've known Joan for 22 years and still don't know which way she votes, if anything I would have though she vote Lib/Dem but I'm not sure

[garinda]

Originally Posted by mobertol

I don't remember politics ever being discussed at junior school.

My political discussions at home as a teenager were always with my dad who had Liberal leanings -mum was a great admirer of Thatcher -mainly because she was a woman and the first of her kind.

I was completely the opposite and remember having some ding-dong rows while watching Question Time mainly but they always listened to what I had to say...they didn't agree as I saw things in a very clear cut way back then -no half-measures, but they always allowed me my say...
I said some terrible things to dad who was a design engineer and just before the time of the Falklands war had actually worked on anti-personel devices - his defence was that if he didn't do it someone else would have...he also worked for a long time in nuclear power...which I loathed... They never told me to shut up and I probably (definitely)exagerated

It has never been mentioned since and we never talk about politics now...

I don't think that a teacher should talk about their own views at a junior school level in any case.

As I said recently we discussed politics at primary school, and always had mock elections, with parties, and campaigns, when there was a General Election.

We also held a referendum, on whether Britain should have continued membership of the Common Market, in 1975.

I led the No campaign.

We won.

Happy, carefree, days.

If only life was as simple now.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Teachers are supposed to give a balance view not one side, the idea would have been to give the reasons why, that would have been balanced

Balanced view my arse, rightly or wrongly,the teacher was telling the truth, of which theres only one side to that.

[garinda]

I do agree with what others have said.

Whatever their own thoughts, pupils deserve their teachers to present whatever's being discusssed, in a balanced a way as possible.

Everything, not just politics.

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by garinda

As I said recently we discussed politics at primary school, and always had mock elections, with parties, and campaigns, when there was a General Election.

We also held a referendum, on whether Britain should have continued membership of the Common Market, in 1975.

I led the No campaign.

We won.

Happy, carefree, days.

If only life was as simple now.

We were taken to visit the Town Hall in our final year and had a mock council meeting -that's the only "political" lesson we ever had...

[MargaretR]

Sometimes there is a fine line between education and indoctrination.

It appears that one objective of education is population conformity and control of behavour. Whether you agree with that depends on what you think of social engineering in general.

[maxthecollie]

If teachers can take time of in term time, does that mean that parents can keep their children off in term time?

[Eric]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Teachers are supposed to give a balance view not one side, the idea would have been to give the reasons why, that would have been balanced

Seriously??? ... ok, I'm prepared to listen to a balanced view of the holocaust; we are all sitting comfortably; or maybe we could start off with the Potato Famine, or the burning of witches ... I think when you say "balance view", you mean "sanitized version" ... so the school cops out, and the kids yawn, go home, and, like Reece, get it off the tv. Of course, if they listen to CNN, or, god forbid, Fox "News" they will get the official right wing version .... not much balance there. Maybe if schools spent more time challenging kids (including "Failure is always an option".), and less time pussyfooting around what is going on in the world they would be way more effective.

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by maxthecollie

If teachers can take time of in term time, does that mean that parents can keep their children off in term time?

Probably not.

If people paying into private pensions can see them cut(starting with Browns £5 billion) and have to work till well past 65, does that mean the same applies to teachers? Apparently not.

I keep hearing the pain should be equally spread, don't let the very rich get away with it( I agree )- but no pain for the public sector workers pensions, just the private sector workers and the very rich.
We're broke, we all have to take some pain. No-one should be sacred.

[cashman]

As i said before in other threads, the reason the pension deficit is large, is cos of pension funds taking pension holidays fer many years, the reason they did that is cos they said the funds were too large. FACT. a fact i am well aware of, only a blinkered moron can fail to accept that fact.

[flashy]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Teachers are supposed to give a balance view not one side, the idea would have been to give the reasons why, that would have been balanced

all the teacher said was 'the government' how could that be any more balanced?

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by flashy

all the teacher said was 'the government' how could that be any more balanced?

No it's not all he said.
If your son watches the news he hopefully gets balanced, unbiased reporting of the facts with both sides explained. He can then make his own mind up, or at least see there are two sides.
Whereas you only appear to accept there is one side- the teachers.

[flashy]

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

Whereas you only appear to accept there is one side- the teachers.

and you only appear to accept there is one side- your own

[Gordon Booth]

Originally Posted by flashy

and you only appear to accept there is one side- your own

I don't think I'm exactly on my own, read through the thread again.You are the only one who actually thinks the teacher did nothing wrong.

[garinda]

On a similar-ish subject, regarding bias in education, yesterday I read a report in the Sunday Times, which stated more, and more medical students are refusing to remain in biology lectures in which evolutionism is taught as a given.

Most, though not all, were Muslim students, who would only accept creationist thinking. A small minority were fundamentalist Christians.

The report went on to say that this refusal to attend lessons, in which evolutionism is taught, is begining to trickle down into the school system, and school pupils are now leaving lessons when evolutionism is taught.

It does get rather complicated, about how much balance there should be, when teaching anything.

Should teachers be forced to teach, unobjectively, things they don't think to be true?

Have pupils the right to withdraw themselves from the education system, if they don't want to hear what's being taught?