this student was supposed to write a short position piece on the benefits and/or drawbacks of animal protein in diet. they are quoting jordan peterson and say that even though producing meat is worse for the environment, the problem is overpopulation.

to be clear, i don't think this student is knowingly being malicious, but is obviously finding bad shit online. how would you approach this with the student? it's an online course so we've never met in person, but i have written about a thousand emails to the entire class since september, so they know who i am.

for context, i didn't design the course, just doing the grading.

  • TankieDukakis [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I teach middle/high school agriculture in rural Iowa. Lot of kids are Trump supporters.

    If they say they love Trump or hate socialism or whatever, I always just ask them "why?" And don't stop asking until they give an answer beyond "my parents do" or shit like that.

    And I know you said you're just the grader, but if you ever teach a class have a lesson or unit on it. I wasn't teaching at the time of the election, but I would've had them do a research project on ag policies of each of the top 4 candidates. Then have a discussion on it and see who they would vote for based on ag policies alone.

    You can't erase years of mindless Trump support overnight but you can at least maybe get them thinking critically and challenging their beliefs.

    • PlantsRcoolToo [any]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I really like this advice. You can't turn them into a comrade in one conversation, just try to plant a seed of awareness and alternative viewpoints.

    • VHS [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Nice work, comrade!

      Great username btw

      • TankieDukakis [none/use name]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I wish I could add a profile pic (on mobile, idk if there's any profile pics in general on browser) so I could have the iconic Dukakis tank pic.