Recently, a friend of mine, who is a retired teacher in Canada, made a very interesting point about the influences of teacher hiring on students at all levels of our schools. The just of the position is that teachers are not always hired for their qualifications and teaching abilities, but are instead hired primarily on the basis of their core beliefs. This is particularly true where religious beliefs are considered a primary criteria for hiring. Now, such criteria do play an important role in religious-based schools where religion plays an central part in the curriculum and extracurricular activities.
In some states and provinces, teachers with certain values and beliefs are expected to promote those same values to their students. As a result, students can often be indoctrinated into certain belief systems which will form the basis for their future abilities to critically think. Even at the university level, there may be a tendency on the part of administrators to seek out professors with similar beliefs to those promulgated by the faculty at large. Unfortunately, such beliefs can most often reflect antiquated value systems which are regressive and unresponsive to the changing value systems reflected in a twenty-first century society. For this reason, young people leave these institutions with preordained and out-of-date biases and a fundamental lack of critical thinking capabilities needed in modern society.
Under these circumstances, the danger is that the affected young people will not be able to easily adjust to the ever changing value systems associated with the majority of people in North American society. They will continue to have difficulties in dealing with such issues as inequalities, racism, sexual orientation, discriminatory practices, diversity, etc., etc. While everyone has a right to commit to certain beliefs and opinions, they cannot extend that right to promoting intolerance and extremism. After all, values affect opinions and attitudes which then subsequently lead to actions. Such actions can often have negative consequences and contribute to greater divisions within societies. Sometimes, they can even lead to violent actions. The result is a more closed society or certainly a less open one.
Many challenges face today’s youth, and they cannot afford to be hard-wired. They will need open minds to deal with tomorrow’s issues and to be able to quickly adjust in light of those very same issues. Parents along with teachers and elders can play an important role in inspiring our young people without handicapping them with antiquated extreme beliefs, religious or otherwise. We inherit our value systems from our parents, and develop our capacity for critical thinking through thought-provoking education institutions. Hiring the right teachers to help provide them with the tools needed to function within a modern society is of utmost of importance. Allowing young people to explore, without rigid restrictions, all facets of our histories, culture and governance is a must. Maybe by doing so, we will then be able to narrow the evident divisions and intolerance existing today within North American society.
FROLITICKS 