Socrates, a Greek philosopher, developed the Socratic Method: a dialogue between teachers and students in order to explore different thoughts and ideas. Dr. Arnold is a Political Science professor at TCU, and Socrates is a big influence in his view of and approach to education and free speech in the classroom. Free speech is something he holds valuable in the classroom and makes it known to students by how he conducts class discussions and the free speech codes in class syllabi, including noting and expanding on Section II.2 of TCU’s Bill of Student Rights and Responsibilities. He uses his role in the classroom to make students think critically about issues and challenge students’ beliefs by including a variety of topics and introducing many new ideas.
Dr. Arnold believes that the classroom is meant to seek the truth and that his role as professor is to engage students. When he teaches, he respects what everyone has to say, and he does not give his personal opinions on discussion topics. When asked if he feels that this is a violation to his free speech, he said no. Dr. Arnold stated that students should not know his opinion because it is irrelevant to the coursework. He considers the classroom a place for scholars, not activists.
When discussing free speech in the classroom generally, Dr. Arnold compared student feelings to Adam Swift’s study of freedom between formal and effective freedom. Students formally have the right to free speech, but they are unable to effectively use this freedom because they lack the support or comfort to do so in the classroom due to fear of reactions and repercussions. We discussed how unfortunate this is because the university and academic setting in general is THE place to hear all sorts of ideas, even those that are far out. It is clear that Dr. Arnold is passionate about free speech and has worked hard to make sure that his students are able to hear and state any idea relevant to the course materials. It is evident by the amount of differing opinions students express that the students feel more comfortable with this approach.
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