individual,

The statistics do not agree with your claim that 95 percent of teachers are Labor orientated. Opinion pollsters do not normally report on the voting preferences of occupational groups, probably because the sample size is too small, but the Herald Sun of 30/10/1995 reported on a survey of 1000 randomly chosen teachers. In 1992, 32% voted Liberal and 29% voted Labor, while 29% preferred not to answer. For the 1996 election, 22% intended to vote Liberal and 31% Labor, while 38% preferred not to answer. We can only speculate on the exact percentages for particular third parties and on why many did not answer, but if you work out the percentages of those who did for the major parties, they show for 1992, 52% Liberal and 48% Labor; and for 1996, 42% Liberal and 58% Labor. The same poll showed that 61% thought that the cuts of the previous five years (two years under Labor and three years under the Liberals) had reduced the quality of education, while 28% did not

But if, in those tightly controlled idea factories called 'lecture halls'.. if you mention any 'un'orthodox ideas, you would be branded all kinds of things.

If you offered a Christian perspective, you can add an extra 'on turbo' aspect to the vehemence of the criticism and abuse toward you.

..but of course, the first thing you will be told by the leftoid mind controllers is.. "what right do you have to IMPOSE your ideas on others' :)

I'm not sure which is stronger..the desire to laugh or puke.

Boazy: "But if, in those tightly controlled idea factories called 'lecture halls'.. if you mention any 'un'orthodox ideas, you would be branded all kinds of things."

Er, how would you know, Boazy? I recall many occasions from my undergraduate days when "unorthodox" ideas were presented by the lecturer. That's what universities do, and encourage - or at least what they used to do.

I agree that the presentation of a "Christian" perspective in most lectures would be rare, unless of course it was relevant to the subject of the lecture. Mind you, I can recall many tutorials where the 'Students for Christ' types would attempt to frame their answers to questions in theological terms, with predictable results for straying from the topic.

Every Western university I've ever been in has a strong Christian presence, ranging from the abovementioned "Students for Christ' types, to designated chapels and the mandatory colleges representing different Christian denominations. For a couple of semesters as an academic, together with the university chaplain (a Catholic nun, habit and all) I co-chaired an ecumenical discussion group that comprised staff and students from divergent religious affiliations. I was asked to participate as an atheist, as that was seen as a neutral position for the chair.

Strangely enough, devout people of various faiths were able to discuss any number of controversial issues without denigrating each other or their religious beliefs. It is possible, you know.

Rainier,

"I have taught in universities for years now and it’s been my experience that students expect me to put forward a view that is political. Indeed if I did not they would soon complain or probe me incessantly until I did."

If this is true then it's a shame. Perhaps students expect you to put forward a view so they know what view to take in your classroom? Perhaps they're worried that if they propose an opposing view they will be marked down? How could they not worry once they know what you think?

I think a big problem with education today is that its fallen too much into advocacy. Educationalists shouldn't be putting forward a view at all. They should be directing students to look at the evidence and decide for themselves what they think. In fact, academics should be playing the devil's advocate role: whatever view a student has the academic should be pointing the student to counter evidence and asking the student to explain why they don't accept that evidence. For example, if a student comes to you and says global warming is a major issues then you should be pointing him or her to sceptics and asking the student to refute the views of the sceptics.

Students are usually young and impressionable people. They respect their teachers as some of the most important people in their lives. If their teachers take a view, unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they will tend to accept that view too. Afterall, the teacher is the teacher because he or she knows more than the students. This is especially the case with school aged children. Hence, when teachers tell students their views it can easily be seen as indoctrination rather than education.

My experience of university is that they (or at least the one I attended, admittedly only for residential schools) are hotbeds of leftist/green politics and "political correctness". The course notes were particular about students using "racist or sexist" language, banning words such as "chairman". I was tempted to use "woperson" instead of "woman" but, like many others I suppose, was afraid of poor marks for not toeing the political line (or rather, mocking the political line). While external students come from a wide cross-section of the community, the internals were almost invariably left-wing in their politics, some rabidly so. I guess that comes from the former having to work for a living while the latter got by on government handouts? Many lecturers (especially in Arts/Social Sciences) seemed to live in lah-lah land, perhaps because, as has been alluded to in other posts, they have never held down a "real" job. Lecturers in the Sciences seemed a lot more "down to earth", although there was still an element of "perennial student" amongst them too- those who lived only to do research and write papers.

It is almost impossible to be apolitical and teach politics at uni. The key is to teach in such a way to allow students to think, research and form their own conclusions AND to be able to support their views with reason and rational arguments. Even if the lecturer's underpants are showing so to speak, this might open up avenues of debate and interesting discussions.

For those who wrongly believe that universities are hotbeds of Communists and mad lefties overstate the situation. The influence is there but the effects cannot be too extreme if one is to look at how politics has swung to the Right over the last 30 years. Our current mob of pollies on both sides are products of a 70/80s 'leftist' tertiary education which would suggest the doomsayers fears are unfounded.

There are many more factors at play than influences at uni and the principles of economic rationalism, for one, were certainly not taught in any university I am aware of.