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After reading "From Complexity to Emergence and Beyond" and then reading the discussion that had been started on this forum, I started to think about a debate that had gone on during the course "Critical Issues in Education." A topic that was repeatedly brought up through out the course of the semester was whether a teacher should bring in his/her opinions to the classroom at all. Many (but not all) students argued that teachers should maintain a neutral stance, only giving students information on the facts, and have the students come to their own conclusions about the topic that the teacher introduced.

While I would not go so far as to say that teachers should be completely neutral, I find appealing the idea of a classroom where the teacher partially becomes a student and the students partially becomes teachers instead of the teacher just conveying his/her opinion as the truth. In my mind, the most important goal of an eductor is to foster in the students, the ability to doubt assumptions. That would not mean that the educator cannot convey his/her stance on a subject; it just means that the teacher must be willing to accept and even encourage counter arguments. However, there is one question that remains in my mind which is, is it wrong for an individual to wish to become an educator because he/she has a desire to convey a certain belief that he/she strongly believes is important to pass down to the next generation? From my personal experience, some of  the most influencial teachers that I have encountered are those that hold such beliefs, and there definately was no room for emergent pedagogy in their teaching...