Education - United States - History, Education - Philosophy & Social Aspects, Private & Public Schools, Civil Rights - General & Miscellaneous, 20th Century American History - General & Miscellaneous, Educational Law, Censorship

At the Schoolhouse Gate

Name: At the Schoolhouse Gate
Author: Susan Ohanian
ISBN: 9780325003955

by Susan Ohanian

Write a review

Overview

"It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

About the Author, Susan Ohanian

ReLeah Cossett Lent was a teacher for more than twenty years before becoming a founding member of a statewide literacy project at the University of Central Florida. She is now a consultant, writing and speaking about adolescent literacy issues. Her three most recent books include Literacy for Real: Reading, Thinking and Learning in the Content Areas (Teachers College Press), Engaging Adolescent Learners: A Guide for Content-Area Teachers (Heinemann) and Literacy Learning Communities: A Guide for Creating Sustainable Change in Secondary Schools (Heinemann). ReLeah's first two books, co-authored with Gloria Pipkin and published by Heinemann, At the Schoolhouse Gate: Lessons in Intellectual Freedom and Silent No More: Stories of Courage in American Schools, won the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Award and the NCTE/Slate Intellectual Freedom Award. ReLeah was also the recipient of the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award in 1999. Her latest project with Jimmy Santiago Baca is a new teaching resource for reaching at-risk adolescents, which includes a book and DVD titled Adolescents on the Edge, Stories and Lessons to Transform Learning.

Gloria Pipkin taught language arts in Florida public schools for more than twenty years. Since leaving the school system, she has written widely about censorship and other education issues. Her current struggles for intellectual freedom focus on resisting the orthodoxy imposed by high-stakes testing. Her email address is [email protected].

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

School Library Journal

Two English teachers share their courageous personal battle to support students' intellectual rights in the Bay County School District in Florida in the 1980s when censorship cases were looming in schools throughout the nation. Their story is certainly relevant today. As middle school teachers, Pipkin and Lent developed a curriculum in which "active learners grew into lifelong readers because they were given real choices, time to read, and supportive feedback." The first section of the book is devoted to this program, and the hurdles these teachers faced as they used books that some parents and school officials found offensive. The second section focuses on free expression in student publications. Finally, the third section takes a broader and long-term view of issues related to selection policies and what they mean to teachers and school boards and the ramification of stepping out of bounds for the sake of students and their right to free expression. An "Intellectual Freedom Manifesto" includes "The Right to Read," "The Right to Write," "The Right to Create," "The Right to Teach and Learn," and "The Right to Communicate in the Digital Age." Another section includes "What Can a Teacher Do?" and "Resources about the First Amendment." This book is one of inspiration, and teachers, librarians, and school administrators may find it encouraging as they face similar battles.-Pat Scales, South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, Greenville Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.