In Defense of Teaching the Left to Future Educators

In Defense of Teaching the Left to Future Educators
Paul J. Ramsey, Counterpunch, July 14, 2017

A recent Pew Research Center poll suggests that a majority of conservatives believe colleges and universities “have a negative effect on the country.” The results of the poll are not particularly surprising since professors have long been criticized for their supposed liberal views, a claim recently reignited by the founding of Turning Point USA’s “Professor Watchlist.” Many current and past critiques of professors and teacher educators’ assumed political agendas have relied on syllabi and reading lists as evidence of liberal bias and indoctrination. However, these documents—usually just outlines to help students organize their semester—neither point to the ways in which leftist materials are used in the classroom, nor do they highlight the value of such texts.