In a collegiate atmosphere, professors can take on many roles.
They take on the role of an educator first and foremost. This is what they are paid to do. They educate the next generation so when we go out into the real world, we may be able to leave it a little better than we found it. That's the idea, I suppose.
It is great when a professor can take on a role as a mentor in addition to their educational role. They do this by being the professors we seek out.
Of course, we usually seek out the professors we know something about. I have taken classes in the past where I knew that the instructor gave a take-home final.
But being sought out as a mentor is something entirely different. It shows that you have a level of respect for a professor. These men and women are masters of their crafts who you have chosen to guide your academic experience.
Professors I have come to greatly admire over the years have shared one common trait, and it is a trait that is quite difficult to keep every four years. It is being apolitical in the classroom.
Politics is front-and-center in society right now. We all know how immeasurably important this election is for our country. But in the classroom, it needs to take a back seat. It is distracting and can truly hurt the educational process.
This debate has been going on for sometime. What barriers should be present in the classroom? Should the election ever come up in any kind of a partisan way? What questions can a student be asked before their privacy is compromised?
I think it is safe to assume that verbal abuse of a student should never take place. It will, and it does, take place though. Mocking looks and muttered threats are far more common on this campus than many of us may believe. It should be the goal of the professor to help all students feel welcome.
Professors need to also refrain from sharing their opinions on the election. It may sound cold and callus, but it really is true.
One of the good things about Ball State is that of the two or three dozen professors I have had, almost all have been able to teach their course and help me be a better student without pulling politics into it.
The times it has happened, it has brought a dark cloud over that class, not to mention that professor. It has happened with professors who were on both sides of the political aisle.
It does occur to me that being in the humanities, I will have far more classes where politics is a factor. I imagine, but have no evidence, that politics rarely, if ever, comes up in disciplines such as the sciences, arts, etc. It is important in any class, but the humanities are much closer to the political pulse of America.
As we approach this election, I hope to see this campus covered in red and blue. I think that political involvement is a wonderful thing and this election will bring more young involvement than we have ever seen before.
Let's all just try to keep it outside the classroom.
Write to Alex at apcarroll@bsu.edu
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