Why I Continue to Teach

by Kim D.

In addition to being a mom, wife, Tweeter, and blogger, I am a teacher.  Actually, students call me professor or instructor. In 2001, I began teaching humanities courses at local and online colleges and universities, which is something in my younger days I swore I would never do. I always thought I would be a writer, not a teacher.

However, in my 13 years interacting with students and helping them strive to be better writers and critical thinkers, I know my work has had great value.  Since I mainly teach communications and literature classes to all disciplines, my students write about essay topics that have the potential to be very political.  Ethically, I would never fail or grade a student harshly for not holding my views on issues. But, I do take issue when students use fallacies in logic or general assumptions based on invalid or no research.

So, I am a conservative thinker and teach like-minded and liberal (sometimes progressive) students. This can be a challenge at times, and believe me I have perfected the eyeroll while sitting in front of my laptop and grading student essays.  Last night I had a student claim that new technology, in bringing great change to the world, has brought tremendous negatives.  The example boasted that the combustion engine, powered by fossil fuel, has done irreversible damage to the environment, so much so that it is imperative society come up with alternative fuel methods.

This student claim had no research to prove the assumption. Luckily, this statement was presented during the draft phase which allowed me to provide positive feedback and recommendation for a credible source to substantiate the claim. In academic student writing, feelings and opinions are not considered scholarly in most writing challenges. Every claim a student makes must be backed up with examples and credible research. I spend the first several weeks of a course helping students understand how to evaluate sources and find the best ones to support the ideas they wish to express.

When I see generalizations promoting liberal and often progressive viewpoints, I cringe. At times, I wonder why in the world I am torturing myself this way. But, then I realize that if I give up and quit, students have one less teacher actively trying to teach them to use good critical thinking skills and seek truthful research. And, through teaching with these goals in mind, if I steer a student away from an idiotic, progressive viewpoint, that's my bonus.