It has been quite a weekend.  The ice that came down,  coating surfaces Saturday evening, resulted in a 12-car pileup in 126th Street at the I-69 overpass.  It just came too suddenly for city crews to treat it.  Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

But this weekend gave me an opportunity to reflect on something that happened in the Indiana General Assembly.  The Senate held a hearing on a piece of legislation labeled Senate Bill (SB) 167.  Noblesville Senator Scott Baldwin supports the measure and it calls for teachers in the Hoosier State to be  impartial in teaching students about such subjects as Nazism, Marxism and fascism.

Fishers High School Social Studies teacher Matt Bockenfeld testified last week at a hearing centered on SB 167.  He questioned how a teacher could be impartial in teaching students about Nazism.

According to a story written by Indianapolis Star reporter Arika Herron,  posted to the Star Web site January 6, Senator Baldwin walked back the assertion that a subject such as the Nazi period in Germany can be impartially presented by educators.

There are other controversial parts of SB 167, but I want to focus on one issue.  That is, how do Social Studies teachers teach difficult subjects?

My mind went back to January 16 of last year.  I was in Florida with my wife Jane.  The January 6th riot at the United States Capitol was still an intense issue being discussed at that time.

Fortunately, my trusty podcasting equipment was with me in Florida so I could record a Zoom conversation.  My thoughts went to Mike Fassold.

Mr. Fassold is a long-time Social Studies teacher, now at Fishers Junior High School.  He coaches a team of students competing in “We The People,” a program where schools compete with each other over their knowledge of government and the U.S. Constitution.  The program is funded by the Indiana General Assembly and administered by the Indiana Bar Foundation.

Fishers Junior High School “We The People” teams have won multiple national championships.  Mike Fassold has a lot of experience teaching Social Studies at the junior high school level.

When I wanted to devote a podcast to January 6th just days after it happened, I contacted Mr. Fassold and asked him to appear on my podcast series to discuss how he talked with his students in the 2 days following January 6, 2021.  I learned a lot about how a teacher such as Mike Fassold goes about his craft.

He had the students ask questions, but he often did not provide an answer, he insisted that the students do their own work.

For example, one of his students asked whether then-President Donald Trump could face criminal charges for inciting the crowd that attacked the Capitol.  Mr. Fassold told the student to go to YouTube, find the speeches given at the “Stop The Steal” rally, and review the 1969 United States Supreme Court Case, Brandenburg v. Ohio.  That high court decision basically says speech advocating illegal conduct is protected under the First Amendment unless the speech is likely to incite “imminent lawless action.”

I went back and listened to that podcast recorded and posted January 16 of last year.  After listening once again, I have confidence that our teachers are quite capable of teaching students about difficult subjects in a professional way, not in a way to sway the students one way or another.

Below is my podcast discussion with Mike Fassold, posted on January 16, 2021.