When I became a teacher I had to learn a lot, and fast.  Teachers' College was useless when it came to helping us deal with the actual classroom and day-to-day situations. We spent two years on educational theory and other academic abstractions, unconnected, as usual, to reality.


Being a fairly opinionated and outspoken person, I decided very early on, that it would be wrong of me to use the classroom as a platform for my views.  I am pleased to say that I never did preach to my pupils, on any issue.  Yes, I questioned their views and played "devil's advocate" on many occasions, but I did not state my beliefs.  Expressing enthusiasm for one's interests is a far cry from stating an opinion on political or religious issues.


This was very important when I came to teach public speaking to adults, for if the students knew my opinion on a particular subject, they would be less likely to speak against my view, fearing, unnecessarily, that I would be subjective in my judgement of them.  For a start, I was more interested in how they spoke than the content of their speeches.  I used to say to classes, at the outset:
"If you have an unpopular viewpoint, by all means express it, as long as you can support it with evidence."
I wanted no censorship and by not expressing my personal outlook on any issue, the students felt free to state their opinion on any issue.


One regret I do have about my teaching life is that I talked too much, a failing, I think, of many teachers.  But unlike many teachers, I didn't use my talking as a means of disseminating my beliefs.
Too many teachers I have known or heard of, abuse their power by preaching to classes.  By all means question, but don't attempt to indoctrinate.  That is not what teaching is all about, no matter how committed the teacher is to their cause.