Michael McNamara, known affectionately by his Nauset Regional High School students as “Mr. Mac,” has a reputation as a talented civics and government teacher with high standards. He pushes students to express themselves but also to be sure that their opinions are grounded in facts.
Though his classes are the opposite of an “easy A,” about half the students at the school take one of them. Mr. Mac is popular for his lively introduction of current affairs. But he also insists that students learn the nitty-gritty of the U.S. Constitution.
He is also the academic adviser for the debate team. Reporter Abbey Dwight, who talked to some of his former students for a story on teaching civics, writes they are impressed by his ability to play devil’s advocate, poking holes in thin arguments without revealing his own leanings.
He is so good at keeping his personal opinions to himself that lunchroom talk often involves speculation on McNamara’s political views. Is he a Democrat or a Republican? It is very hard for the students to tell. McNamara is inscrutable on this, and for good reason. He aims to keep civics accessible to all his students.
This seems like an amazing feat of self-restraint, given how truth and lies have become such a conundrum in government and politics.
I wonder how he explains the events of Jan. 6, 2021 to his students. Was it an insurrection or, as the Republican Party officially declared on Feb. 4, “legitimate political discourse”?
Journalists, a job title that McNamara held back in the ’90s when he worked for C-SPAN, also try to remain impartial. If an argument is to be proffered at all, it must be built on facts and filtered for lies. Our job is mainly to present information and allow readers to draw their own conclusions. This is easier said than done, but it is our goal.
It is one reason the Independent does not endorse candidates in local elections. We prefer to focus our efforts on information gathering and reporting.
I was inspired by one thing Evie Rose, a 2021 Nauset High graduate, told our reporter about McNamara’s classes. They helped her hold her own during contentious conversations between her parents, who don’t agree about politics.
We are all in Rose’s position somehow, stuck between two seemingly incompatible versions of truth. Maybe not with our parents, but with friends, neighbors, family members, or with one party line or another. McNamara makes clear that he does not want to alienate students for being conservative or liberal. What he’s aiming for is reason.
“Knowledge is power and kids understand that,” McNamara told Dwight. “There’s a hunger among kids who want to learn about government and take part in civics. I don’t want to shut that down. I want to feed that hunger.”
McNamara inspires his students by respecting them while challenging them to learn before they judge. That’s a good compass for newspaper reporters and editors, too.
