In a liberal-democratic society there is always a desire to separate the teaching of values from the teaching of reading, writing, and mathematics, the so-called value-neutral subjects. But teachers have learned--and every parent who has done homework with his child knows--that, like it or not, they teach values in the course of teaching these…

Nelson Mandela's autobiography "The Long Walk to Freedom" describes how an iconic political activist and freedom fighter reflected on, and sometimes modified, four core assumptions at the heart of his struggle to overturn the White supremacist, minority hegemony and create a free South Africa. Critical reflection's focus is on…

The author examines the reluctance of most American colleges and universities to address grade inflation. In addressing the problem of grade inflation, the author describes two proposals he made to his faculty's Educational Planning Committee. The first, presented in spring 2002, proposed that two new items be added to each course listed on…

This article talks about selection policy and provides suggestions on how library media specialists can update their selection policies to provide an atmosphere that facilitate inquiry. The selection policy is meant to ensure that the collection meets the needs of the school community as comprehensively and effectively as possible. Instead of…

With the rapid increase in information freely and easily accessible on the web to those who have access to a computer and the internet, there seems to be a corresponding decrease in critical evaluation of the sources of this information. All sources are taken to be sources of information and seem to be uncritically considered to contain reliable,…

Beginning in 1934, representatives of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Association of American Colleges (AAC) met and drafted the definitive statement on academic freedom and tenure. Like the U.S. Constitution, the 1940 "Statement on Principles of Academic Freedom and Tenure" was a commendable, if deficient, product…

The author begins by asserting that tenure does have a future, even though cultural and economic trends in American higher education have brought it to near annihilation in the past decade. She is sorry to say that it has survived these trends for one troubling reason--tenure is the ultimate employment perk for very successful members of the…

Censorship of school library collections has risen significantly in the last few decades, and such attacks are increasing. American courts have ruled that students in schools have First Amendment rights and some degree of freedom of speech. Courts also have ruled that students have the right to information and to learn and discuss issues of…

Research shows that the American public is not fully aware of the meaning of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The article discusses what schools can do to make students more aware of the First Amendment, including allowing student newspapers to be uncensored by administrators and allowing student councils to really…

Examines the current controversy over who is the publisher of a college newspaper, and cites several legal decisions which prevent college administrators from dictating the contents of student publications. (RB)

A public university faced with intolerant student speech now risks being damned if it acts, but equally damned if it fails to act. To a greater degree than at any time in recent memory, the actions and policies of higher education institutions concerning student speech not only are being scrutinized, but they also are becoming the subject of legal…

Describes the passing of intellectual and academic freedom in Chilean universities after the coup of September 11, 1972. (PG)