Daphne, Ida, and others,
 
I see two issues with the personal information
comments. I guess the question is what type of
personal information should we allow our students to
know about us: our opinions about political, ethical,
and even educational issues and/or information about
our personal lives. 
Of course no teacher should feel obligated to tell
his/her students any of this type of information, but
should s/he feel like it is wrong or unprofessional to
do so? 

In terms of personal opinions about the hot topic
issues, I believe our opinions should be kept personal
in cases where we are trying to teach our students how
to think for themselves. So many of our students come
to us with a limited ability to think critically, so
they depend on the opinions of other people—ones they
feel are more knowledgeable than they—to dictate their
own thoughts. If we have the goal of teaching our
students how to think critically—and for themselves—we
should keep our own opinions to ourselves, only
playing the devil’s advocate. Furthermore, we should
never tell them whether their opinion is right or
wrong; only encourage their thought process so that
they can be independent thinkers who actively seek
knowledge about various perspectives of the topic
before they make a decision. 

In terms of hiding who we are as individuals—whether
it deals with marital status, sexual orientation,
religious affiliation (or lack thereof), or political
stance—I don’t think it’s necessary; however, I do
understand Ida’s reason for not sharing any type of
personal information with her students. I don’t mean
that we should spill our guts the first day of class,
but in the same way that certain topics can relate to
the goals of our courses, sometimes certain elements
of our personal lives just fit into conversations we
have with our students. In fact, there are many cases
where allowing students to know certain things about
us can help change their opinions/misconceptions about
our differences. I know the goals of our classes very
rarely have to do with educating our students on
cultural differences or changing their potential
misguided views of others; however, I believe many of
us have misconceptions that need to be reviewed and
possibly changed—maybe ones that have to do with our
students (e.g., motivation, goals, etc.). Furthermore,
we are teaching more than reading, writing, math,
etc.- we are teaching individuals necessary skills
that will enable them to function more productively in
society. Dealing with differences is part of
functioning in our diverse society. With all this
being said, I really believe it is up to the
individual teacher to decide how much (if any)
personal information to tell students. In fact, the
same teacher may choose to reveal nothing in one
class, while being totally open in another class. It
really depends on the comfort level of both the
teacher and the students, as well as the information
we are talking about. I will say, though, that in
terms of comfort, students can really tell when a
teacher is uncomfortable. So, if one chooses to remain
completely private, and appears that s/he is trying to
remain private, it could make for a less-open class.
There are just so many factors to consider when
deciding if/when/what type of personal information one
should share with students. I am pretty open with my
students- if I saw a movie with my husband (and it’s
relevant to the discussion), I say I saw the movie
with my husband, even if I know there are homosexual
students in the class. I am lucky, though, in that I
usually have a consistent group of students who attend
my classes, so it is often easier to make comments
like that because there is an established
relationship. I’m not so sure, though, if I would
share, collectively or individually, a personal
trauma- that seems to move into more of a counselor
mode, and I don’t feel at all qualified to do that. 

Ryan