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Censorship and education - PowerPoint Presentation

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Censorship and education - PPT Presentation

Dr Udaramati Pope Nottingham Trent University 6 February 2018 Aims of the session To introduce you to some of the ways censorship occurs in schools To explore some of the parties and issues involved in censorship in schools and the potential impact of this censorship on pupils ID: 830516

schools censorship books www censorship schools www books banned http education theguardian speech https children school students free section

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Slide1

Censorship and education

Dr

Udaramati

Pope

Nottingham Trent University 6 February 2018

Slide2

Aims of the session

To introduce you to some of the ways censorship occurs in schools

To explore some of the parties and issues involved in censorship in schools, and the potential impact of this censorship on pupils

To begin to explore censorship in university

Slide3

Learning outcomes

By the end of this session you should be able to:

Identify some of the reasons why censorship occurs in schools and

unversities

Appreciate some of the ways censorship occurs in relation to children and their education

Critically evaluate the potential impact of censorship in schools and universities

Slide4

Approach to the session: flipped

You will explore some of your thinking about censorship in schools and universities

Then follow up with some input from me about specific examples of censorship in schools

Finally, critically evaluate your response to these examples, and the potential impact on children and students of this censorship

Slide5

Censorship – a definition

“The suppression or prohibition of

any parts of

books, films,

news, etc. that are

considered obscene, politically unacceptable,

or a

threat to security”.

What, if anything, would you add to this definition in relation to

censorship in education

?

Slide6

Activity 1

Why is censorship an issue in relation to the materials children should encounter in schools?

Slide7

Activity 2

Should books ever be censored in schools? If so, why?

If they should, what should be censored, and in what way should the censorship be applied?

Slide8

Activity 3

Who tries to/does censor materials that children are exposed to in schools?

Who, if anyone, should be able to censor in schools? Why?

Slide9

Summary

At this point in the session, draw together your thinking about the role of, and reasons for, censorship in schools.

What should be censored?

On what grounds?

By whom?

Slide10

Why is there censorship in schools?

The safeguarding agenda would be the primary reason in the current educational climate

Safeguarding children goes beyond child protection to incorporate the additional aims of preventing the harm of children's health and development

Prior to this, suitability of materials for the age of pupils based on the moral, sexual or religious nature of the materials/topics

More recently, political agendas have also been a reason for covert censorship

Slide11

Banned books in schools

Slide12

Banned books in schools: Harry Potter

One school to ban Harry Potter was St. Mary's Island Church of England school in Chatham, Kent. Head teacher Carol Rockwood explained that "The Bible is very clear and consistent in its teachings that wizards, devils and demons exist and are very real, powerful and dangerous and God's people are told to have nothing to do with them." She added that "I believe it is confusing to children when something wicked is being made to look fun

.”

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/banned-harry.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/12052212/Religious-parents-want-Harry-Potter-banned-from-the-classroom-because-it-glorifies-witchcraft.html

Slide13

Banned books in schools: Philip Pullman’s

His Dark Materials

trilogy

International bans –US and Canada

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/sep/30/american-library-association-banned-books

Slide14

GCSE syllabus – “Education for Leisure” by Carol-Ann Duffy dropped by AQA 2008

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/sep/04/gcses.english

Slide15

Education for Leisure

Today I am going to kill something. Anything.

I have had enough of being ignored and today

I am going to play God. It is an ordinary day,

a sort of grey with boredom stirring in the streets

I squash a fly against the window with my thumb.

We did that at school. Shakespeare. It was in

another language and now the fly is in another language.

I breathe out talent on the glass to write my name.

I am a genius. I could be anything at all, with half

the chance. But today I am going to change the world.

Something's world. The cat avoids me. The cat

knows I am a genius, and has hidden itself.

I pour the goldfish down the bog. I pull the chain.

I see that it is good. The budgie is panicking.

Once a fortnight, I walk the two miles into town

For signing on. They don't appreciate my autograph.

There is nothing left to kill. I dial the radio

and tell the man he's talking to a superstar.

He cuts me off. I get our bread-knife and go out.

The pavements glitter suddenly. I touch your arm.

Carol Ann Duffy

Slide16

Banned books in schools –

the international context

Slide17

UK vs US context

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11417672

Slide18

Books that have been banned in schools in the US

The Diary of Anne Frank

The Lord of the Flies

Alice in Wonderland

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/07/anne-frank-diary-us-schools-censorship

http://classiclit.about.com/od/lordoftheflieswg/f/Lord-Of-The-Flies-Banned-Or-Challenged.htm

https://

www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2016/sep/26/banned-books-week-2016-the-10-most-challenged-titles-in-pictures

Slide19

Recently banned book: I am Jazz

Autobiographical picture book about the life of a celebrity transgender teenager

Aimed at junior-school age children

https://

www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/sep/27/my-trans-picture-book-was-challenged-but-the-answer-to-hate-speech-is-more-speech?CMP=share_btn_link

Slide20

Other censored issues in schools

Slide21

Section 28

Section 28

or

Clause

28

of the

Local Government Act 1988

caused the addition of

Section 2A

to the

Local Government Act

1986

,

which

affected

England, Wales

and

Scotland

. The amendment was enacted on 24 May 1988, and stated that a

local authority

"shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "

promote the teaching in any

maintained school

of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship

".

It was repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland as one of the first pieces of legislation enacted by the new

Scottish Parliament

, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of the United Kingdom by section 122 of the

Local Government Act

200

3

From

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/nov/17/uk.gayrights

Slide22

What brought Section 28 about? Books!

In 1983, the

Daily Mail

reported that a copy of a book entitled

Jenny lives with Eric and Martin

, portraying a young girl who lives with her father and his male partner, was provided in a school library run by the Labour-controlled

Inner London Education Authority

.

The book was subsequently banned from schools.

Slide23

What brought Section 28 about? Books!

During the

1987 election campaign

, the

Conservative Party

(under the leadership of

Margaret Thatcher

) issued attack posters claiming that the Labour Party wanted the book

Young, Gay and Proud

to be read in schools, as well as

Police: Out of School

,

The Playbook for Kids about Sex

,

and

The Milkman's on his Way

,

which, according to

Jill Knight

– who introduced Section 28 and later campaigned against

same-sex

marriage

– were being taught to "little children as young as five and six", which contained "brightly coloured pictures of little stick men showed all about homosexuality and how it was done", and "explicitly described homosexual intercourse and, indeed, glorified it, encouraging youngsters to believe that it was better than any other sexual way of life".

[

Slide24

Free schools banned from teaching Creationism

Schools to be held in violation of the State Funding Agreement if they teach Creationism as an alternative to evolution

https://www.rt.com/uk/167044-uk-bans-teaching-creationism/

Slide25

Jewish school redacted exam questions on evolution

All faith schools consequently barred from doing so by

Ofqual

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10735397/Ofqual-faith-schools-banned-from-censoring-exam-papers.html

http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/10/jewish-faith-school-caught-censoring-questions-on-science-exam-papers

Slide26

Political censorship of the curriculum: Michael Gove

GCSE reforms English Literature = covert censorship

Of Mice and Men

To Kill and Mockingbird

The ‘other cultures and traditions’ emphasis from previous National Curriculum requirements has been revoked.

Gove required a focus on literature in English by

British writers

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/05/michael-gove-go-gsce-english-literature-row-petition?CMP=share_btn_link

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/29/harper-lee-steinbeck-dropped-english-gcse?CMP=share_btn_link

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/27/michael-gove-denies-ban-of-american-novels-from-gcse?CMP=share_btn_link

Slide27

Parents allowed to take children out of sex education and religious education

Https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum/other-compulsory-subjects

Slide28

Online censorship in schools:

A whole new censorship ball-game? Or the same, just another medium?

firewalls and

software

Apps and personal devices

http://www.bl.uk/my-digital-rights/videos/freedom-web-censorship-in-schools

Slide29

So, what, if anything, is different about the context of censorship in schools?

Do we need to censor in schools?

If so, what drives that need for censorship? How, if at all, is it different from other reasons for censorship?

Slide30

Censorship in universities

What kinds of censorship occur in universities?

Curriculum censorship

Free-speech and no-platforming

Slide31

Unconscious bias (curriculum censorship) in HE

English literature – colonialized curriculum?

Where else might curricula be covertly censoring the material students are exposed to? And why?

https://

www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jan/05/diverse-reading-list-shakespeare-students

Slide32

Free speech and no-platforming

Jo Johnson (until recently minister for HE) has put in place opportunities for the new Office for Students to impose sanctions (possibly fines) on universities that, in their view, are limiting freedom of speech across campuses.

https://

www.theguardian.com/education/2017/dec/26/jo-johnson-universities-no-platforming-freedom-of-speech

Slide33

Free speech university rankings

http://www.spiked-online.com/free-speech-university-rankings/results#.WnRlsuRLGM

_

Red: has banned and actively censored ideas on

campus 73

Amber: has chilled free speech through

intervention 35

Green

: has a hands-off approach to free

speech 7

Slide34

What do some students think? Activity 4

https://

www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/26/do-no-platform-policies-threaten-free-speech-at-uni-students-share-their-views

NUS

no-platform policy:

https://

www.nusconnect.org.uk/resources/nus-no-platform-policy-f22f

Slide35

What do some students think? Activity

63% of students surveyed agreed that the NUS was right to have a no-platforming policy

http://www.comresglobal.com/polls/bbc-victoria-derbyshire-no-platform-poll

/

Slide36

Summary: the scope of censorship in schools

Should there ever be censorship in schools?

Who should have the power to censor in schools?

Who should not have the power to censor in schools?

What are the potential impacts of censorship in schools?

Slide37

To conclude

People have been trying to censor books probably for as long as books have been around. Commonly “challenged” titles in 2015 included Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird and even the Bible. But now, with the rise of Donald Trump and the wave of xenophobia, racism, misogyny, and Islamophobia that has accompanied his campaign, the sharing of stories has never been more crucial. Without the authentic stories of immigrants, women, LGBT people, and Muslims, people will become more entrenched in their view of those groups as the Other. What we need now is more information, more voices; otherwise the diversity that has long been one of our greatest strengths will end up tearing the US apart.

Slide38

Other resources

Banned Books Week (US)

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/about

Schools Library Association on banning books stocked in

school libraries:

http://

www.sla.org.uk/links-censorship.php

Banned Books

of Childhood:

http://www.sampsoniaway.org/blog/2013/05/27/banned-books-of-childhood

/

Slide39

https://

www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/26/banned-books-week-launches-with-call-to-read-books-the-closed-minded-want-shut

https://

www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2016/sep/26/banned-books-week-2016-the-10-most-challenged-titles-in-pictures

https://

www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/sep/27/my-trans-picture-book-was-challenged-but-the-answer-to-hate-speech-is-more-speech