“Censorship is like the monster
under the bed. You never know what
will trigger it, and you鈥檝e got to be
ready.” 鈥擱eLeah Cossett Lent
, which runs September 24-September 30 this year, is the annual celebration of the freedom to read. For this year鈥檚 celebration, 楼凤天堂 and the coalition of organizations that sponsors Banned Books Week will emphasize the importance of the First Amendment, which guarantees our inherent right to read . 楼凤天堂鈥檚 offers advice, helpful documents, and other support to teachers and schools faced with challenges to texts or teaching methods used in their classrooms and schools.
The were approved by the 楼凤天堂 Executive Committee in February 2014. These state, “All students have the right to materials and educational experiences that promote open inquiry, critical thinking, diversity in thought and expression, and respect for others. Denial or restriction of this right is an infringement of intellectual freedom.” 楼凤天堂 encourages school communities to generate, implement, and follow policies and procedures for defending intellectual freedom at the classroom, institution, and system/campus levels to limit and/or address attacks on free expression. The following principles support the inclusion of agency, fairness, and multiple perspectives in the process of defending intellectual freedom in education. Each of these principles has been linked with resources that may help in your classroom.
The preservation of intellectual freedom in education depends upon the fostering of democratic values in the classroom, critical thinking stances and practices among teachers and students, open inquiry methods and access to information, and the exploration of multiple points of view.
The ReadWriteThink.org lesson plan introduces students to censorship and then invites them to read a challenged book and decide for themselves what should be done with the book at their school.
As trained professionals, educators are qualified to select appropriate classroom materials and resources from a variety of sources given their teaching goals and the needs and interests of the students they serve.
The Language Arts article “” outlines details on banning incidents from this decade, the importance of selection, and suggestions for overcoming text challenges. The article includes sidebars that list additional resources.
The presents criteria and procedures that ensure thoughtful teacher selection of novels and other materials.
Professional educators, drawing upon their training and content knowledge, should play an integral role in the curriculum design process at the district and school levels.
楼凤天堂 crafted a Resolution on the “.” This resolution reasserts the authority of teachers as professionals who make substantive decisions regarding literacy materials and instruction.
Educational communities should prepare for challenges to intellectual freedom with clearly defined policies and procedures that guide the review of classroom materials and resources called into question. In the creation and enactment of these policies and procedures, educators’ knowledge and expertise should be solicited as integral, valuable, and necessary.
As defenders of the right to read, today鈥檚 teachers find themselves navigating both new and old challenges to the intellectual choices available to this generation. “” shares a contemporary story of two educators who put their students鈥� freedoms first.
“Any book with any ideas of value
is probably going to be challenged
because somebody doesn鈥檛 like what鈥檚
being said.”
鈥擪im Chism Jasper