Professors have the responsibility of educating their students with no intentional biases, but according to some argue there could be benefits to expressing opinions with students.
A recent House bill that has made its way past the Education Committee 10-2 would make schools allow students to express their religious beliefs in their school work.
Jennifer Jones, a former religious studies major and current gender studies professor at IU, said she sees potential benefits and dangers to sharing religious beliefs in the classroom.
"I don’t think religion should be ignored, it’s an important part of cultures and one’s background,” Jones said. “It frames a lot of our understandings of the world, but it’s not the only way to view the world and shouldn’t be used to convert.”
Jones acknowledged the multiple positive factors of discussing one’s religious belief, but was wary of professors converting students and letting their faith drive the subject they teach. Interacting with students and helping them frame their own perspectives on these topics are a few benefits that Jones described.
As a religious studies major at IU, Jones said she mainly had thoughtful experiences with her professors and their religious beliefs. One course she took was on the Bible, but it was taught as an academic text and not as fact.
“My professor made it clear that we were studying it as literature and an important part of culture," she said. "It definitely wasn’t taught as a Sunday School class."
Patrick Michelson, an assistant professor for the Department of Religious Studies, said he sees more harm done than potential benefits of sharing personal beliefs with students.
Michelson said that discussing opinions on religion and politics in the classroom is a concerning matter and could skew students’ performances in class.
“I generally refrain from talking about my own religious beliefs with my students,” he said. “I'm concerned it might prejudice them to respond to what I believe and that I would grade their work based on my own beliefs.”
However, Michelson occasionally shares religious experiences from his childhood in order to help students understand material in class. He said this method is effective and keeps the classroom open for discussion.
"I do find benefit in using examples from my childhood of going to synagogue or Christmas mass with my relatives,” Michelson said. “I mainly use them as analogies or anecdotes for different theories in religion."
Michelson completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin. He said it was rare for his professors to share their own beliefs.
He said this would usually occur if a major event took place that involved religious discussion, such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks which were planned by Islamic exremisits as a way to fight back against the United States.
"Even if a major event like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred, I would still be wary of expressing my own beliefs with my students, ” he said. “It might make them reluctant to explore all of these different options that are available to them."
Kasey O’Keefe, sophomore and informatics student at IU, said she has experienced professors sharing their personal beliefs in the classroom. However, most of her interactions were not positive.
“The only occurrences when I believed it was beneficial for a professor to express their personal beliefs was when I agreed with them,” she said. “Otherwise, I was usually insulted to a degree and felt uncomfortable.”
O’Keefe expressed concern for professors not being factually correct when discussing their own beliefs with students. She said it could lead to a spread of misinformation.
She said she was worried that sharing too much personal information wouldn’t create a safe and comfortable learning environment for students. O’Keefe said the most effective way of teaching a classroom without bias is to keep personal opinions to themselves.
“A complete separation of church and state is the best way to educate students without creating any negative environments,” she said.
