MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER

Noteworthy News

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to learn more:

• Coffee could be more than a morning pick-me-up, according to new research - You already had me at “Coffee”

• Toronto school board apologizes after students attend downtown protest as a field trip - How do Toronto schools define field trips these days?

• Swedish children to start school a year earlier in move away from play - This does not sound too “swede” to me…or the kids

TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO THINK, NOT WHAT TO THINK

One semester, I found myself teaching Grade 12 philosophy for the first time. It was an exciting challenge, a course designed to explore the great lines of philosophical thought, all with the aim of helping students develop their own individual thinking skills.

It was the perfect environment for debates—everything from "should students wear uniforms?" to deep dives into issues of war and government. It quickly became a safe space where students felt comfortable questioning and debating complex topics as well their own ideas.

But there was a challenge I hadn’t anticipated: students frequently turned to me, the teacher, during these discussions to ask for my opinion—especially on the more contentious or political topics.

Here was the problem: as a teacher, I’m in a position of power, whether I like it or not. By sharing my own opinions, I ran the risk of unduly influencing my students, who might simply adopt my views because of the authority I held in the classroom. It wasn’t fair to them.

On the other hand, if I tried to sidestep the issue or even lie about my true opinions, I’d risk losing their trust. Students are perceptive, and if they caught on that I wasn’t being truthful, the safe and engaging space we had built for debate could easily crumble.

So what could I do?

The answer was simple, yet powerful: stick to teaching. But instead of teaching what to think, I taught them how to think—how to critically evaluate arguments, gather evidence, and determine what truth is. After all, this was a philosophy class.

So, I got creative. Every debate and essay required my students to argue both sides of an issue. If they felt passionately about abolishing school uniforms, they also had to defend the case for keeping them, using real evidence to support their arguments. It wasn’t enough to simply state an opinion; they had to critically engage with opposing viewpoints.

I modeled this approach in my teaching too. For every controversial topic we tackled, we didn’t just acknowledge different perspectives—we fully explored them. We worked as a class to build the best argument for each side of a debate, making sure to rely on credible evidence from experts who supported those views.

Left-leaning ideas had to be defended using left-leaning experts, and the same for right-leaning ones. We created a space where all ideas could be explored, but only if they were backed by solid evidence. My personal opinions? They stayed out of the classroom.

The outcome of this approach was more than I could have hoped for.

First, it made the classroom a safe space to discuss every kind of idea, no matter how controversial. Second, it prevented us from falling into the trap of an echo chamber, where we only think in one direction. Third, it sparked engaging discussions in their other classes as well.

And here’s how I knew this method really worked: at the end of the semester, I asked my students—without naming names—if they could correctly identify who each of their teachers would vote for in an upcoming election. Most of them said yes, confidently. Then I asked if they could guess who I would vote for. Silence. They had no idea.

Hands down, one of my proudest moments as a teacher.

In a world where information is often reduced to short, snappy sound bites, I had succeeded in teaching my students to think critically and independently. I taught them not what to think, but how to think, equipping them with the tools to navigate a world where deep thinking is often overshadowed by quick, emotional responses. To this day, that remains one of my greatest accomplishments as a teacher.

And it’s exactly why your students should never know who you vote for. Our job is to teach them how to engage with the world on their own terms, not to pass down our own beliefs. Because in the end, the most valuable thing we can offer our students is the ability to think for themselves.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Hey teacher! You ROCK!🤘 

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