"A Sharper Disagreement": Teachers Struggling With Questions of Neutrality in the Age of Trump

• In Event: Playing It Safe in Volatile Times: Teacher Neutrality When Teaching About Trump and Economic Inequality

Abstract

“One difference of opinion that has arisen at my school this year is a sharper disagreement about the extent to which teachers ought to share their own views with students. Some … believe it is somewhat intellectually dishonest to pretend to be neutral and objective… Others … think that teachers ought to conceal, to the extent possible, their own views for fear of unduly influencing student views.”
– Respondent to teacher survey

The presidency of Donald Trump has presented new challenges for U.S. public high school teachers seeking to engage students in discussions about social and political issues. There is evidence that the highly charged political rhetoric over the past year has unleashed uncivil behavior and hate speech in communities and schools (Costello, 2016; Will, 2017). This incivility arises within an already polarized civic environment and has raised new concerns about whether America’s classrooms can be sites for students to encounter diverse viewpoints and develop the skills and commitment for civic deliberation (Gutmann, 1995; Gibson & Levine, 2003). One key issue facing teachers in the age of Trump is whether they should disclose their own political beliefs in the context of classroom discussions. While scholars have weighed in on this issue generally in recent years (Hess & McAvoy, 2014; Journel, 2016), there has not yet been a study of how the election of Donald Trump shapes the meaning of and possibilities for neutrality and/or disclosure.

This paper draws on a survey with high school social studies and English teachers conducted in May 2017 and interviews conducted in July and August of 2017 to explore whether, when, and why differently situated teachers choose to talk about their political beliefs in the context of classroom discussions. The survey of more than 1000 teachers in a representative sample of U.S. public schools asked teachers if they shared their personal opinions with students on three topics: economic inequality, the deportation of undocumented immigrants, and the civil liberties of racial minority groups. Other survey questions (along with data from the National Center for Educational Statistics, the U.S. census, and other sources) provide information on a variety of school and teacher characteristics. Follow-up interviews with fifty of the survey respondents will ask teachers to explain their decisions about whether or not to share their opinions.

We draw on this data set to explore three questions:

1) Are U.S. public high school English and social studies teachers more likely to share their personal opinions on issues closely associated with President Trump than on other contentious issues?

2) What school characteristics (for example student demographics or community politics) and teacher characteristics (for example gender, race, political ideology) are associated with teachers who share their personal opinions on issues closely associated with President Trump?

3) How do teachers explain their decision whether or not to share their personal opinion on issues closely associated with President Trump?

Drawing on a unique data set, this paper offers timely information on a pressing issue in civic education.

Authors

• John S. Rogers, University of California - Los Angeles

• Rebecca Cooper Geller, University of Georgia