Throughout my tenure as a University of Wyoming student, I have had all sorts of professors. Lazy professors, hyper professors, or even student professors are not an uncommon sight. But the worst kind of professor by far, are the political ones.
Chances are you know what I mean when I write those words together. There’s always at least one professor each semester that lets their political and ideological beliefs dictate what information they teach and what they choose to omit from their syllabi.
Something that is very important to note is that this system goes both ways on UW campus. It is not just liberal teachers or conservative professors.
It may seem that UW only caters to one political belief, especially in its professors, but I have experienced my fair share of both. Based on that experience, I have come to the decision that politics need to be removed as much as possible from the classroom.
I am willing to admit that some courses are inherently political; for example, most political science courses are focused on politics because they have to be.
Other courses, like mathematics, writing or engineering should stay as far away from that course matter as possible. To some that may seem like common sense, but it is remarkably shocking how widespread this issue is.
I know firsthand that some of the University’s writing and communications courses are instructed by professors who seem more concerned with explaining and defending their own political beliefs than with instructing the course.
Oftentimes, this belief system extends all the way into the grading. I have had numerous examples of points lost simply because it did not line up perfectly with the professor’s exact ideals. As a student, this is extremely frustrating as it really doesn’t help you learn anything, just how to please the person who gives out grades.
Furthermore, these classes are often the worst experience for all of the students in the class, as people become less and less willing to share their own beliefs out of fear of repercussion or judgement from the professor.
I find this often results in not only an awkward classroom, but a terrible working environment as a whole. It certainly makes for difficult class discussion and boring class periods.
My final argument for the necessity of politics in the classroom is simple. As part of college, you are supposed to make your own opinions of the world around you. When political beliefs are crammed down your throat, you are not making your own opinion.
As a result, you either unjustly hate a certain party or belief, or you blindly agree to a certain party or belief without knowing anything about it. Either way, it is a bad scenario to be in.
I think that without a politicized classroom setting, there would be more opportunity for learning the subjects that we pay to be taught. But as it stands, we are paying a standard class fee to have a political filter put over our coursework and grading system.
I am of the opinion that political discourse throughout a course does not add anything and takes far more than it gives. So, I encourage all of you reading this to take a closer look at the courses you are taking and the teaching methods of those who are instructing them. You may be surprised by what you find.
