Statement
of Teaching Philosophy
Robert W. Jensen
April 2001
“Well, this is just my opinion, but …”
When students preface their comments in the classroom with that phrase, I
always stop them.
“What do you mean by ‘just your opinion’?” I ask.
“Did you pull this opinion out of the air, or is it the product of
some research and thought? Can you offer evidence and reasoning to support
your opinion? If you can, why do you undermine your argument by suggesting
it is ‘just your opinion,’ hence inviting others not to take
it seriously?”
I press these points because we live in a culture in which the skills of
intellectual and political engagement are atrophying. Students often equate
“argument” with the inane shouting matches of pundits on television
talk shows, rather than with the careful defense of a position and response
to challenges. Too many students shrug off attempts at critical engagement
with “Well, that’s just your opinion,” as if the fact that
they hold a different opinion is adequate rebuttal.
Yes, everyone has opinions, and we all have a right to our opinions. However,
opinions are meaningful to the degree that we can make it clear to others
why we hold those opinions, and why they should consider holding them, too.
This doesn’t mean that all of life is a formal debate. Certainly students
exploring their ideas in class shouldn’t be expected to articulate
a fully formed defense of every claim made. But the classroom is a place
where students should be encouraged -- even pressed -- to sharpen, articulate,
and defend their opinions.
This sometimes is called the teaching of critical thinking, and it shapes
not only the way I respond to student comments but the way I lecture and
initiate discussions in class. It leads me to speak in class about my own
intellectual and political views, in the hopes that in articulating and defending
those views I will model for students that kind of critical engagement.
As a result of this teaching philosophy, I am sometimes criticized for being
too political, both in the classroom and in public. I have been counseled
by colleagues to try to be more neutral and objective. One prominent local
journalist has even questioned my fitness to teach because of my public political
activities.
These criticisms reveal the real issues at stake in the teaching of critical
thinking. Everyone endorses the teaching of critical thinking, much like
everyone endorses peace, freedom, and democracy. In the abstract, there is
consensus that a university must foster critical thinking. But critical thinking
about what? And critical thinking taught in what fashion? On those issues,
there is far less agreement. Based on conversations with other professors
and my reading of the critical thinking textbooks, I am concerned that most
of the critical thinking methods steer away from the most important issues
of the day and encourage professors to remain detached, from students and
from controversy.
I try to teach critical thinking by engaging what I consider to be the crucial
issues for the world in which I live, which usually means advancing positions
on controversial issues that go against the conventional wisdom. I make no
claim to neutrality, and I make my own positions clear -- not always at the
beginning of a class, but more often in the course of discussions. I do that
not to win students over to my analysis but to model critical engagement.
Whenever I talk about a controversial subject -- corporate domination of
the culture, for example -- I begin by highlighting that what I am about
to say is my position based on my experience, research, and reasoning. I
point out that, like every position, it is based on assumptions, some explicit
and some implicit, but all of which are open to critique. I tell students
I will offer evidence for my position and describe the reasoning by which
I reach my conclusions. I repeat several times that no aspect of my argument
should be taken on faith or authority -- everything is up for grabs, and
challenges to my claims are not only allowed but encouraged.
My goal is to make the process of critical thinking transparent. I do not
want students simply to endorse my opinions or duplicate my thinking process,
but to engage with and critique those opinions. Even if they come to different
conclusions, I want them to see that it is possible to challenge the conventional
wisdom, to be passionate about ideas and politics, to stand up for one’s
point of view but still be open to criticism.
These skills are crucial not only for the would-be journalists whom I teach,
but for citizens in a democracy. My fear is that these skills are fading
fast and that fading with them is the chance for real democracy.
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