Al Gore’s Film Available to Science Teachers

Al GoreThis in from the trickle of e-mail that has hit my mail box over the past very busy couple of days.  Bonnie Bracey1 posted the story over WWWEDU that was originally posted on edweek.org.2

Science teachers, who wish to use Vice President Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” can go to www.participate.net, and request the DVD.  A coproducer of the film, Laurie David, said,

..that the first 50,000 teachers who request the movie for use in their classrooms would be given DVD copies, on a first-come, first-served basis.

The EdWeek story includes some intrigue where the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) was offered the film to distribute to its 56,000 members, and the association turned them down.  Supporters of the film..

..questioned whether the NSTA’s stance was based on its having received funding from oil interests, including the foundations of the ExxonMobil Corp. and the Conoco Phillips Co.

So what do you think?  Have you seen the film?  Do you think that school children should be shown the film in class?

You can click to the article below, but you will be required to register with edweek.org and readers who have not subscribed to the print version are only allowed to visit two articles a week.

1Bracey, Bonnie. “Producer of Gore’s Film to Distribute Free Copies to Teachers Via Web Site.” E-mail to David Warlick.22 Dec 2006.
2 Cavanagh, Sean. “Producer of Gore.” edweek.org 21 Dec 2006 25 Dec 2006 <http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/…>.
Image: Blanco, Sonia. “en-CODE:Al Gore.” Sonia Blanco’s Photostream. 10 Oct 2006. 26 Dec 2006 <http://flickr.com/photos/sblanco/266189237/>.

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7 thoughts on “Al Gore’s Film Available to Science Teachers”

  2. While it is more than obvious that humankind has been less than responsible about caring for our planet, Gore has an agenda to push, and he is too blatantly one-sided in his thinking. If this film is used in the classroom, it needs to be paired with information from the large segment of the scientific community that believes the world is simply experiencing its normal fluxuating climate. Students should be allowed to make up their own minds, rather than having Internet Al decide for them.

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  3. What makes “An Inconvenient Truth” partisan? Are any and all ideas immediately dismissed because the spokesman had the audacity to be a public servant? That’s a great school lesson – “serve your country and lose your right to speak or have your ideas considered.”

    Should our students be exposed to opposing ideas or just the ones provided by the multinational textbook manufacturers?

    I wrote about the cozy relationship between the National Science Teachers Association and big business a few weeks ago here, http://www.districtadministration.com/pulse/commentpost.aspx?news=no&postid=17953

    -=Gary

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  4. We as educators have a crucial responsibility to present our curriculum in as factual and unbiased a manner as possible. Many would say that journalists and the media have a similar responsibility, but in the current climate of ultra political correctness we are blasted by bias and partisanship from all sides, making our task all the more difficult.

    To use the global warming issue as an example, a reasonable approach might be “There are indications that our planet may be approaching some potentially harmful climatic changes and there is a great deal of debate over how severe they will be, what is causing them, and what should be done.” Not the Al Gore version that goes something like “If we don’t get rid of our SUV’s it will be the downfall of mankind within 10 years” (a prediction he started making almost 10 years ago btw).

    Please don’t get me wrong, it’s not my intention to bash Gore. But let’s face it, there are folks on both sides of the aisle who have an agenda behind everything that comes out of their mouths, and Gore is one of them. I reiterate, this stuff has no place in the classroom.

    My apologies to Dave for climbing on my soapbox.

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  6. When I first read this story, my initial response was that airing this video in the classroom would be no different from airing Fahrenheit 911. But then I realized that the Gore video, in my opinion, seemed much more fact-based and logically presented, from a far more authoritative source. I mean, they guy was our vice president. (Now I’m not inviting debate on Gore’s character or authority. Allow me to continue my thought).

    There was still a hesitation, a sense of controversy — and I got to thinking that perhaps this controversy is based less on Right/Left, Conservative/Liberal, Industrialist/Envronmental Wacko; and much more about status-quo.

    What do we teach today that goes counter to the status quo? What does anyone teach today in public schools that challenges our society’s comfort level? From that perspective, we are all conservative, and during most times, this is probably the way that things should be. But in a time of rapid change, one of those infrequent but tumultuous times that turn society upside down, a time we are currently experiencing, challenge to the status quo is exactly what we need, especially in our classrooms.

    I thoroughly understand Doug Arnold’s point. But I wonder if he might be wrong. Today, it may actually be our jobs to present, along with the factual content, biased and less authenticated information, and then teach our students to do the research and the reasoning, and make up their own minds. Maybe our jobs are not so much about teaching our children what to think, and instead, teaching them how to think.

    2¢ Worth!

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