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Teaching in the Time of Trump

By James Utt
By James Utt

“Do you miss teaching?” That question has been asked of me so many times since my retirement. I first stood in front of a classroom on trembling legs in 1969 at the age of 22. Too young, too inexperienced; enthusiasm would only carry me so far. My fellow teachers referred to me as “Mr. Green.” But I grew into the job. Teaching became my career, my life, my love.

A dream haunts me at least once a week. It is Sunday night and I have no lesson plans for the next day. There will be chaos; my students will suffer. Then, through the fog of the dream state, comes the voice, “You’re retired.” A mixture of relief and sadness flows through me.

Driving down Park Avenue, similar feelings of relief and sadness arise as I navigate through the sea of mini van moms and SUV clad dads near Thurston. Then, further down the hill, there is the high school, where there are young people looking not much different from those who sat in my classroom at El Toro High. This old teacher wonders if the fire and the desire to be that which he had been is still there.

During my years at El Toro, I taught a number of subjects, but by far my favorite was “Contemporary Issues,” an elective class for juniors and seniors. The textbook was Newsweek, which was provided by the school. We would go through the articles together. I would provide background and pose questions pertaining to the issues. From time to time, we would leave Newsweek so I could introduce units on major controversies like the Arab-Israeli conflict, the death penalty, gay rights, gun control and many others. I never expressed my own opinion on these issues, preferring to give the students both liberal and conservative arguments, and then challenging them to defend their positions. I tried my best to be a poor man’s Socrates. Having been, over my long career, both a moderate conservative and a liberal, I could punch well with my “right” and my “left.” Judging by letters of thanks from students stretching over 30 years, I must have done a pretty fair job at, well, being fair.

That would not be the case today. I could no longer teach my beloved “Contemporary Issues” class, because objectivity, so crucial to a teacher of social sciences, would be a near impossibility. I fear that I could not maintain any semblance of even handedness when it comes to the positions of our current president. Please keep in mind that I have voted for Republicans in past presidential elections, but President Trump is no George Herbert Walker Bush, Bob Dole, or John McCain. If you can find them, read a speech by Washington, Lincoln, or Reagan and compare them to the tweets of President Trump, or his speeches before supporters when he ignores the teleprompter. The difference, as the president might say, is “Big League SAD.”

According to our president, John McCain is not war a hero because he was captured. Take Iraq’s oil, he says, which, according to conservative icon Charles Krauthammer, would be a war crime. Open admiration for the murderous Putin. These positions are disquieting in the extreme, but the most chilling is President Trump’s attack on the mainstream media. In February he tweeted “The Fake news media (failing Nytimes, NBCNews, ABC, CBS, CNN) is not my enemy. It is the enemy of the American people.” I guess Fox News, with its even handed programming and guests like the thoughtful Ted Nugent, as well as Whitebart, I mean Breitbart News, is the great protector of the American people.

Newsweek, which I used for so many years in the classroom, stopped its print edition in January of 2013. There is a pretty good chance it would have fallen under the “fake news” category. The arbitrary division of news ‘helpful to the American people’ and ‘the enemy of the American people’ is greatly disturbing. Jonathan Karl of ABC (oh, I know, “fake news”), answers back, “A free press is not the enemy of America, it is a big part of what makes America great.” Don’t trust Karl because he is in the mainstream media? How about what John McCain said when he heard President Trump’s remarks? ”Dictators get started by suppressing free press.”

So returning to the question, “Do I miss teaching?” the answer is yes, except for grading papers. But, maintaining an air of non-partisanship would be very hard given the current administration. At this stage of my life better to be a columnist, free to express angst, joy, and whimsy.

 

James Utt hopes that this column will not cause President Trump to label the Laguna Beach Independent as “Fake News.”

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17 COMMENTS

  1. Jim, I had to think about your article a day or two before I responded. If you were still in the classroom I am confident you would instruct the way you did for 30+ years-objectively. Yes, today would be more difficult because it is increasingly difficult to discern fact from opinion. Alt news sources and corporate media outlets draw in the individual with clickbait headlines. But you, as do countless of other teachers still in the classroom today, would encourage students to approach information from a detectives’s perspective. Who wrote this article? Who is speaking? What is their background? Can their viewpoints be verified by other sources? What about those photos? Were they doctored? How do we know? What narrative are those charts and maps expressing. Verify, verify, verify! We know from our former colleagues that impartiality has become more difficult simply because there is so much fake news “out there”, much coming from the very highest levels
    of our government. And some of what is being said is so outrageous that it is only natural to want to call out the lies for what they are–bold faced lies. Sadly, we have learned from history that if one repeats a lie often enough some people will begin to believe the words are true. It is extremely difficult to teach critical thinking because it takes work and in this day of the internet we have come to expect an answer right now. Today, your approach in the classroom might have to be altered, but you would do, what educators must do-give our students the
    necessary tools to be come critical thinkers.

  2. Mr. Utt, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t use something that I learned in your class, and I had you as a freshman in 1993-1994. I agree with Mrs. Fike–you would somehow still find a way to remain as impartial as possible, while teaching students to question truthiness and “alternative facts” and verify, verify, verify. Thank you for giving me such a broad foundation in critical thinking and geopolitical dynamics–they have served me well over the years!

  3. Mr. Utt,

    Contemporary Issues is still the best class I’ve ever taken (even when compared college) and it was all because of you! Thank you for being an amazing teacher and for teaching your students how to have an informed world view. There have been so many times since your class that I’ve wished we could talk about what was going on in the world! I think now more than ever, it’s crucial to give students the same opportunity to learn about the political climate and form their own informed opinions, and I’m so grateful I had that opportunity in your class.

  4. Mr. Utt! You were the reason I went to college. I became the first college graduate, went to graduate school, and dedicated my life to changing my small piece of the world because of you! I was in your class on the afternoon of 9/11 and you gave me a way to talk about geo-politics.

    I’m sorry to hear you aren’t teaching anymore, but I hope you are finding happiness in retirement. I still have my Contemporary World Issues binder and look thru it every couple years to see my idealism and reasoning on so many issues. You made me a critical thinker about our world.

    That’s all to say, Thank you.

    Your grateful student,
    Sam, ETHS Class of 2005

  5. Mr. Utt!!! Twenty years later, you are still one of my most favorite teachers. If anyone could teach through a Trump presidency, it absolutely would be you. I’m in my 15th year as a HS teacher myself (Chemistry- much easier to be neutral!) and recognize even more now what an amazing, challenging and thought-provoking teacher you are. Thank you for all you do!

  6. Mr. Utt, former student here from contemporary issues course (graduated in 2006). This seems like the right opportunity to say thank you for everything. You are an outstanding educator. Looking back I appreciate it even more. You did everything you could to teach us to read, learn, debate, and ultimately think for ourselves while still respecting the opinions of others. Thank you for teaching and thank you for this fantastic article.

  7. I took your contemporary issues class about 10-11 years ago, and found it both frustrating yet admirable the way you were completely neutral. As students, we all wanted to know what you believed yourself, but failed at trying to get you to “crack.”

    By the time I got to university, there was zero attempt by my social science professors to remain unbiased. As someone who has always leaned to the left, it just so happened that my own opinions/beliefs were parroted in most, if not all, of my courses. Unfortunately, this left much to be desired because it was essentially an echo chamber of the same thoughts being thrown around.

    I never realized how important it was for instructors to remain unbiased until I didn’t have that anymore. Kudos to you and other teachers/professors like you!

  8. As a prototypical under achiever, English class with Mr. Shields was the only class that came close to exposing me to the myriad of ideas that Mr. Utt’s contemporary issues class did. If only my skills of persuasion were better equipped for debate than finding teachers to excuse my tardiness, perhaps the state of political discourse would be different. Alas, some things are out of our control. Thank you Mr. Utt for this great write up. More importantly to me, thank you for those lesson plans and never showing your political hand. Being an informed citizen is hard work, but remembering how effortlessly you jumped from one side of an argument to another continues to inspire my work, 10 years after witnessing the feat. Now the issues have changed, but believe it or not, I still have trouble showing up on time. Class of ’04, some degree in Sociology, trying to reduce mental health stigma, and prevent suicides, yet a frequent orator opponent from your class from way back then trolled me on Facebook last month in an attempt to relive some past debate, so I know I’m not the only one who remembers. Seeing this post only confirmed what I’ve been suspecting since I heard you retired: you’re still teaching.

  9. I think this article highlights the continued need for excellent, thoughtful teachers. Unfortunately in the era of Betsy DeVos, who knows what will happen to public schools. Why would people want to become teachers in this day and age? And I do think there is right and wrong, and as teachers we should stand up for what is right and not always remain neutral.

  10. Mr. Utt,

    Although you have retired from teaching, I’m glad to see that your voice has not been lost. Through college and even after you are still without a doubt the best teacher I ever had. Knowing what kind of teacher you are/were I am confident you would have covered President Trump in the same objective way you covered all political issues in your class.

    I do agree with some of what you are saying especially since the ex-head of SOCOM and JSOC, ADM (Ret.) McRaven just said the following, “We must challenge this statement and this sentiment that the news media is the enemy of the American people. ” However, what was left out of the Washington Post story I pulled this quote from was that McRaven went onto say the news media also owes it to the American to be objective in their reporting and to check their bias at the door. If you read the full story and video clip in the Washington Post, you would never know he went onto said that, instead you see a title like “McRaven SLAMS Trump!”

    While I believe effective communication and messaging is a vital part of being a leader/president, it is just as important for the media to clearly define the difference between editorial and news and frame EVERY news story in an objective context (ex. McRaven story) including yes, Fox News. While this is without a doubt a daunting task, in this day in age some news agencies have completely disregarded this and replaced objective journalism with editorial columns/segments masking as “real news.”

    While communication, context and word choice is clearly an issue in the executive branch (President Trump admitted it himself, he gave himself a C- haha) it is equally an issue with the “mainstream media” and needs to be addressed. Because while freedom of the press is part of the 1st Amendment, that does not make news media immune from challenge if done in the right way. I would also like to point out that President Trump’s actions speak louder than his words. I have not seen one news reporter thrown in jail or tortured, just berated and challenged in a NY style they clearly aren’t used to.

    Anyways I hope all is well in Utt land, I enjoyed reading your column and look forward to future posts.

    P.S. Ms. Park while I loved you as a teacher, I couldn’t disagree with your statement more, one teachers view of what is “right” can be completely different than another’s. Therefore, what if one teachers’ “right” is actually wrong. For this reason, if a teacher cannot remain objective they should remove themselves from discussing political/social issues in the classroom and leave that sort of teaching to parents. You have a moral imperative to teach a given subject in a class not indoctrinate children with your own personal views on a political/social subject. No matter how right you may think you are. Just a thought, hope all is well.

    Jordan Bethke

  11. Hi, Mr. Utt! I majored in Poli Sci because of your class, and was a Newsweek subscriber until 2013. I tell people about your class often-it was fantastic. You were my favorite teacher, along with Ms. Fletcher and Mr. Bailey. I hope you are doing well! Best to you from Andrea MacLeod (now MacLeod-Rose) ETHS grad 1986!

  12. Another great Column. It’s good, for those with a voice, to illustrate the abnormality of Trump.
    About your ability to appear neutral?…..
    I think you could.

  13. It took me three years to get over the “Sunday night panic.” And yes, I still miss the dynamics of the classroom. It was always what got the adrenaline going.

    The impact. you had on students is evident by the comments from your former students. I am quite sure that you would still be teaching them about critical thinking and providing them with skills that they would be using later in life. Congratulations on a job well done.

  14. Hi Mr. Utt,

    Your Current Events class will always be remembered for the spirited debates we had over many of the very same issues that divide us today, plus some new ones that few could have seen coming. We’re better citizens thanks to your teaching! Would love to get together and pick your brain sometime about the current state of our democracy and what might be done to revitalize healthy civic discourse.

  15. Wow – this article brings back memories! Mr. Utt was by far my favorite teacher in high school. And, Contemporary Issues was by far the most influential course I ever took – and this includes my years at UC Santa Cruz where I majored in Politics (largely thanks to Mr. Utt’s classes), Hebrew University in Jerusalem and nursing graduate school. I talk about this class often, share stories about the lively debates we had, and encourage my 8th grade child to critically think about current events the same way I was taught. In addition to this class, I was lucky enough to be in Mr. Utt’s freshman World Cultures class and work as his teacher’s aide my senior year. Not once in all of our interactions did he let on regarding his own political views. It is not surprising to me that he has continued to be a man of honor – someone who can see and explain varying points of view, has voted for candidates from different parties, and who loves this country and our democracy enough to speak the truth about our previous president. Mr. Utt, I have no idea if you will ever read this, but if you do, know that you made a tremendous impact in my life and on the many hundreds (thousands?) of students you have taught. Thank you. – Lyssa Novitsky, ETHS class of 1989

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