Comments on: Teacher Jay Bennish, American Hero, suspended for urging students to think critically.

By: Al Ramahi

Al Ramahi — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:41:33 +0000

Mr. Bennish is, by far, the best teacher I’ve heard lecture. People always try to stay away from politics, which only makes them ignorant when it comes to history and politics. Mr. Bennish gives the right, true and only understanding of the whole situation in the world! Personally, I wish i had such a teacher when i was younger!

By: MikeFitz

MikeFitz — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 23:50:42 +0000

John, Thanks for your comments. [Privately, Mr Slater advises that he was studying “english”.] I agree, there’s probably little place for politics in the course you have paid to study. You have a right to be outraged.

However, in Mr Bennish’s case, political discussion was clearly part of the course. Here’s an extract from the course description which was signed by both parents and students at the commencement of the course:

“Important themes include: population, religion, human rights, notions of development and underdevelopment, impact of colonialism historically and currently, sustainability, impacts of modernization on developing countries, globalization of economy and culture, political and international conflict, cultural diversity, and global environmental concerns. To that end, a deeper understanding of current events from a historical and geographical perspective is imperative. Thus, timely issues and events in the news will be tied into the overall framework of the course.”

I have listened to the tape and all I heard was a teacher enthusiastically doing his job. He deserves the hero tag for that plus the unwarranted criticism he has suffered.

Also, no problems with the Saddam-Hitler comparison.

Cheers, Mike

By: John Slater

John Slater — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 18:12:13 +0000

I’m a 24 year old graduate student from TN. Every teacher I’ve had since high school has brought politics to the classroom. I pay for an education, not to hear a teachers’ opinions on politics. Teachers should stick to teaching about whatever subject they are hired to teach. A lot of teachers have wasted my time (and money) during class complaining about conservative/republican politics. People are acting like this guy is some kind of hero; that without him or people like him kids couldn’t think for themselves. I think for myself, and I’m beginning to think that the medio and liberals are trying to target children just like tobacco companies. Filling their heads with stuff like our President is like Hitler? Our President hasn’t killed 6,000,000 Jews, in fact I think he’s probably saved the lives of a million. If anything compare Sadam to Hitler.

By: Welcome back, Mr Bennish « MikeFitz with overflow bit set…

Welcome back, Mr Bennish « MikeFitz with overflow bit set… — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 06:27:46 +0000

[…] When Mr Bennish was first suspended, (Background and my earlier opinion…) I was truly shocked and frightened by the vehemence of the attacks on Mr Bennish.Â There were hundreds ofÂ blog postsÂ with thousands of negative comments.Â Negative to positive responses ran at aboutÂ 20 in 1. […]

By: Dave Blaine

Dave Blaine — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 14:41:10 +0000

There is a lot going on here; there are many issues disturbing Americans and the world alike. To try to confine it to the actual issues, it seems that a responsible teacher should play devils advocate and pose discomforting questions to a class long indoctrinated with a one sided view of current world events. There is more going on in politics than meets the eye. To deny it is moronic. Who spends millions of dollars of their own money plus hundreds of millions in contributions to secure a temporary position paying only a few hundred thousand dollars back? Only someone who knows that they can affect the legal and social structure of a nation in their own favor, in ways that will repay those millions by one thousand fold. And who thinks that when anyone, a teacher, a journalist, who has no vested interest (read “their own money tied up”) will be allowed to challenge the system and get away with it? But there is hope. The American voters have a say.
That is why the Republicans have just gone against the president’s wishes in the Dubai port deal, because they fear their constiutents anger worse than the rath of a lame duck president, even when that president belongs to their own party. An ignorant voter is the politicans best friend. A voter who believes what he is told by politicans, via a biased and bought off press, is the politicans best friend. The worst enemy of a politician is the voter who has been taught by people like Bennish, taught to examine ALL sides of an issue and think independently, analytically. God save Jay Bennish, the United States of America and the rest of the world.

By: Jeff Martin

Jeff Martin — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 14:10:11 +0000

As a teacher I can tell you I am exquisitely proud of Mr. Bennish. All those who would have him toe the party line can go get their own teaching certificate, give up their cushy Halliburton $150 k deskjob and go teach—say what they gotta say—anyone who criticizes him is just a poor sport. They say “get over it” when Democrats or anyone else questions the veracity of either of the last 2 “elections”, but they can’t get over the fact that we still have the right to speak out, complain or otherwise state our opinions about bush in whatever fashion we deem satisfactory.

By: Julie O.

Julie O. — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 08:14:52 +0000

El Presidente makes the argument that Jay Bennish is passing off his own views as lecture points. The problem is, we don’t know that Jay Bennish actually does hold those views. It seems to me that there is very little opinion which can be attributed to Bennish himself.

He states directly that he thought Bush’s SOTU had the tone of a Hitler speech. I think that is the only time he truly shares his own opinion.

There are other times he seems to share his opinions, like that the U.S. is the most violent nation on Earth. But those are actually facts that may be disputed (a more accurate and fair statement may have been “The U.S., considered by many to be the greatest democracy on Earth, is one of the most violent nations on Earth).

He suggests by implication what he *may* think, if you jump to conclusions — like that the Iraq war may have been started mainly for profit, or that capitalism may be inhumane. But those, if the context of the entire class were known, may actually be opinions of others which he passes on. He was talking about Venezuela when the recording started. Could he have been referring to why people like Hugo Chavez would urge the world to transcend capitalism?

Other opinions he shared, such as that the United States and Israel are terrorists, are definitely attributed to others.

What is always left out when Bennish is being castigated for indoctrinating students and not fostering critical thinking is the fact that the students were expected to research, analyze, and dissect everything said in class, and write a paper or make an oral argument for extra credit.

By: MikeFitz

MikeFitz — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 00:07:50 +0000

I note that Will Jones’ comment also appears at South(west)paw: Bennish the MenaceÂ which itself is worth a read.
– Mike

By: MikeFitz

MikeFitz — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 08:28:51 +0000

I’ve had a number of responses over the past few hours, some with a high standard of debate, others not so… Some contributors have confirmed their e-mail addresses, some I’m still waiting on.
I’ll be releasing comments in the next few hours. Please be patient and thanks to those who contributed.
–Mike

By: El Presidente

El Presidente — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 01:57:03 +0000

In the interest of fostering debate, Slapstick Politics posted all the local links available to provide anyone interested an insight into what was going on in Mr. Bennish’s class, and what the media was reporting, including the supportive students who rallied in support of their teacher.
Once again, this is not a question of freedom of speech. Mr. Bennish can hold any views he wants, but passing them off as legitimate lecture points while offering the rather lame “I’m not saying this exactly, but. . .” defense, hardly qualifies as furthering debate or encouraging critical thinking. And why are leftist criticisms always considered “critical thinking” while any other point of view is somehow less than that? If Mr. Bennish truly desired to educate his students, rather than indoctrinate them, he would give the reasoning for his rant. What is his thought process regarding his opinions? Instead he offers his thoughts without any critical analysis, any opposing views, or encouraging anything remotely resembling “critical thinking.”
I have taught at the college level, to classes full of freshman history students, most with fully formed points of view ready to challenge me and each other on legitimate topics of debate. I had my own point of view, but upon asking my students at the end of the semester what side of the debate I appeared to be on, several argued that I was on their side (roughly viewed as either being liberal or conservative). This should be the outcome in any class, where students can not clearly discern just where their teacher stood on any one issue. Play devil’s advocate, and in the interest of learning the opposition’s point of view, learn why they think as they do. That would make a good education, not simply one-sidedly indoctrinating students because a teacher fails, chooses not to, or simply isn’t intellectually rigorous enough to deal with the other side.