Teacher Ed Programs VS Working in the Profression

On the application, or during my teacher education program (HGSE, '00), I did not experience any purposeful excommunicating of students who do not hold the majority view. On the application, there was no method for the admissions department to know what my views were, only my reasons for wanting to attend graduate school and my academic record. During the program, there were plenty of opportunities for students to express their political opinions, as well as opportunities to hear the opinions of those who were leading the program. For someone like me who is more politically "open", there was no point in time where I felt that I had to take a stand and side with one group or another.

Since I left graduate school and entered work in the public schools, I have felt pressure to hold similar political views to the majority of the profession. During my time in the classroom, in faculty meetings, and eating lunch in the teachers' room, there have been many occasions when a subject came up where I did not feel comfortable voicing my thoughts/opinions. I was more often than not in the minority. Much of the time, I simply wanted to hear other people's thoughts on the topic. I have not, however, experienced issues being discussed on an intellectual level, rather on a personal level (or often the party line). Where I understand many teachers' desires to discuss political issues on a personal level because of the public and political nature of their jobs, I feel that we would have better discussions, and be seen by the world outside the profession as a more respected group, if the conversations surrounding the issues were more of a rational nature than a personal one.