The number of lawsuits pertaining to educationally related issues is on the rise in the US (Mounts, 1999). Garner (2000) reports that teachers consider legal issues the third most important area of teacher preparation. However, few universities offer undergraduate courses in educational law and few programs offer comprehensive training concerning…

In this second article on the theory of "ground rules for talk" I extend a debate between myself and Professor Neil Mercer over the introduction of "ground rules" into classrooms. I critique ground rules through the use of sociological theory and argue that advocates of the ground rules perspective need to recognise the ideological nature of their…

In accordance with the recommendation concerning the status of higher-education teaching personnel approved by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 1997, higher education institutions and their academic personnel have long been expected to exercise their intellectual capacity and their moral prestige to defend and actively disseminate…

This article examines the record of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi's interrogation as a thought criminal following his arrest in July, 1943. By comparing and contrasting his responses and statements against the official government positions, I hope to clarify the nature of his critique of the wartime fascist regime. Makiguchi himself was an educator, and…

Argues that parents and special interest groups should not be allowed to ban books from school libraries. States that an uncensored school library contributes to freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom to understand other cultures, and freedom to examine controversial issues. Notes that these freedoms contribute to helping children become…

Academic freedom may be defined as the right to do that which a faculty member finds appropriate to scholarly inquiry and instruction, so long as it is not legally proscribed, does not constitute an explicit violation of institutional policy or a prior agreement to perform designated responsibilities and observe specified standards of conduct, and…

To examine what freedom is and how it, in its many manifestations, may best be used to thrust journalism into more productive, progressive, and moral directions, this paper surveys the concepts of freedom and press freedom in Western thought from the eighteenth century to the present. After surveying the evolution of the concept of freedom,…

The first of two parts of this document presents a statement from the American Society of Journalists and Authors which briefly traces the history of censorship from the fourth century B.C. to the present. The second part is a list of resources on censorship and censorship-related materials that are available from the following First Amendment…

Discusses the federal court cases of "Bethel School District v. Fraser" and "Kuhlmeier v. Hazelwood School District," which resulted in one win and one loss for freedom of student expression. (SRT)

A speaker invited to give a university lecture is not merely exercising his or her rights of free speech but comes under the protections of academic freedom, the freedom to teach and to learn and not just to speak. The problem of student heckling of invited speakers is discussed. (MLW)

Attitudes toward censorship of 1,347 undergraduate education students were examined. Survey results indicated that the subjects had a propensity toward permitting free flow of information while objecting to censorship. A significant majority in one or more subgroups favored restricting free flow in certain situations. (SM)

Discusses citizen efforts in Washington and Indiana to remove a thinking skills program espousing New Age Movement ideas from classrooms and mentions censorship efforts in 12 other states by groups opposing New Age religion and global education. Recommends administrators become familiar with the New Age Movement and secular humanism, study court…

Implications of academic freedom are discussed. The need for faculty to administer its own standards of objective scholarship is indicated. The politicization of many American universities is criticized. (MT)