This conference paper presents the results of a critical public higher education policy analysis of book banning, censorship, and silencing of specific voices--usually those of marginalized voices and those who fight for the oppressed. United States public higher education seeks to provide an environment for intellectual freedom that allows…

Reading is an integral part of scholarly practice, though we do not often discuss how our approaches to reading differ, and how these approaches may ultimately make interpretive impact on our research. This essay considers approaches to reading in light of the concepts of proximity and orientation. Though formal "close reading" is a…

The requirement for Australian initial teacher education (ITE) providers to administer a Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) highlights a tension between policymaking directives and academic independence. It has raised fears of entrenching simplistic notions of measurement and evidence into a professional field distinguished by its complex…

Classroom discussions have become a centerpiece of reform efforts in science education because talk mediates the joint co-constructing of knowledge in science classrooms. Although decades of research underscore the importance of talk in supporting science learning, the science education community continues to grapple with how to support teachers…

The three missions of universities are education, research, and knowledge/technology transfer. At the micro-level of the research and knowledge/technology transfer mission, we position researchers, as individuals who decided to pursue a scientific career in academia, with the PhD as the starting point. While existing literature acknowledges the…

Some state legislatures have introduced a rash of bills designed to control how K-12 teachers discuss so-called 'divisive issues,' such as racism, sexism, and privilege. This legislation has prompted substantial news coverage on the impact of these laws. Sidelined in this discourse are the perspectives of teachers. This mixed methods study seeks…

Authentic assessments are designed to evaluate knowledge and skills that are relevant for students' life beyond university, emphasising practical, applied skills. They offer an alternative to assessments that don't explicitly foster transferability of skills. The present study examined undergraduate student perceptions of authentic and traditional…

Intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity are hotly debated topics in academia, marked by an increase in legislation focusing on intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity within academic settings. This study explores the impact of Florida House Bill 233 on public universities, including academics' morale. House Bill 233 purports to support…

In 2019 the American Association of School Librarians adopted a strategic plan with three goals, including "AASL advances research that informs school librarian practice." Members of the 2020 Community of Scholars Committee undertook this study to pilot an annual aggregation and systematic review of research related to school librarian…

Parents and politicians feel it is their duty to assert control over the information within school libraries. According to Joshua Spilka, a high school junior, book banning has affected no one more than students and school librarians. Students find that the people who are supposed to advocate for them, parents and guardians, are often working…

Using the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) "National School Library Standards," and the essential questions developed out of the author's work on the Emerging Leaders project "Defending Intellectual Freedom LGBTQ+ Materials in School Libraries" resource guide, readers are taken through applying essential…

The author takes the experience of book challenges as an opportunity for positive curricular changes by walking readers through the development of a formalized procedure for selecting new, diverse texts to add to the English Language Arts (ELA) program curriculum. The text-selection committee arrived at a six-step method: (1) Identify Desired…

This article considers Australian receptions of C. P. Snow's "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution" (1959), and of the controversy over the literary critic F. R. Leavis's combative 1962 response to it. Taking a lead from conceptual insights in global histories of science and the history of knowledge, the paper considers the…

Banned Books Week is a hallmark tradition among US-based librarians and the American Library Association. Yet, the ALA and librarians across the profession are excluding the most significant and egregious violations of intellectual freedom and access to literature and information in our so-called free society -- the US prison system. In this…

This comprehensive study aims to investigate school librarians' perspectives, experiences, and decision-making processes regarding collection curation, book challenges, and removals, bridging a critical knowledge gap in the field. By delving into the challenges and dilemmas, the research seeks to highlight the delicate balance between intellectual…