Pandemic and the politics of education

One genie that probably won't get back in the bottle

---

Educators enjoy a large amount of soft power. And when I chat to people in the staffroom, I rarely meet teachers who are vocally on the right-wing of politics — although such demarcations have begun to lose meaning in recent times. I suspect that although teaching is a reasonably comfortable, middle-class career, few go in to it for the money and that creates a selection effect that sorts for a certain kind of perspective. I also suspect that perhaps like men in primary schools, conservatives look at those in a teaching role and don’t see themselves.

Even if, as a profession, we were exceptional at fostering balance and taking account of multiple perspectives, our biases would probably still be expressed unconsciously. I suspect wider society is reasonably tolerant of this. People implicitly understand the situation and expect teachers to have a subtle left-wing bias. Parents may feel they need to address this across across the dinner table, but as long as their children are happy and progressing, it’s not a major issue.

Until we take it too far.