Professional Reading Response: How Can Educators Effectively Defend Books While Facing the Threat of Censorship?

Hello all! 

Today I am engaging in some professional development and reflecting on the ideas put forth in Sean P. Connors' and Roberta Seelinger Trites' "What Happens to Knowledge Deferred? Defending Books from Conservative, White Sensors." This article was published earlier this year and explores how educators can go about standing up for student access to certain novels and authors in the face of the recent wave of censorship literary education has been battling.

Major Takeaways

Overall, this article provides an articulate and detailed argument for the importance of fighting against book bans and attempts at censorship in the ELA classroom and in schools in general. The article is very understanding toward the concerns of white parents who fear their children being exposed to complex, challenging, and even uncomfortable views in the classroom. However, though it acknowledges these fears, the authors provide many credible and strong reasons why this argument should not affect other students in schools and should not validate attempts of censorship and book banning. 

    

Specifically, Connors and Trites provide readers with detailed talking points they can consult and look to in the future if they are faced with a parent who does not want a certain novel or topic to be studied in class. One of their talking points is that not all students mature at the same rate and that therefore it cannot be argued that certain subject matter is too mature or inappropriate for an age group of students (Connors & Trites, 2022, p. 4). This is a common argument put forth by white conservative parents who do not want their children reading novels that often deal with racism, misogyny, and/ or LGBTQ+ experiences. Parents frequently argue that these topics are too heavy, complicated, or mature for students their child's age to understand and study. However, Connors and Trites refute this by acknowledging that while parents certainly understand their own child's development, not all children develop at the same rates and that because of this novels should not be banned or censored in schools in response to this argument (Connors & Trites, 2022, p. 4). 

The article contains five other talking points similar to this one, all of which argue against common defenses for censoring books in schools while still providing understanding and kindness toward those trying to censor or ban books. The authors' main argument in providing readers with these talking points is that we as educators should do everything we can to refute these efforts to censor and ban literature in schools because of the dangers of "knowledge deferred" (Connors & Trites, 2022, p. 1). When our students are unable to access important, complex, and nuanced information and stories about experiences they can relate to and the experiences of those around them, their worldview is kept narrow and they are given far fewer chances to peek into the lives of others and form empathy and understanding toward all people (Connors & Trites, 2022, p. 6). Because of this, along with our responsibility as educators to support all students, no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, or background, we must continue to argue against calls for censorship and book banning brought forth by white conservative parents.

My Experiences

In my teaching experience so far, I, fortunately, have not run into any circumstances where a student's parent has expressed concern over the class subject matter or asked me to censor a book or lesson. However, my parents are both teachers and have been for my entire life, and they work at a suburban school with a largely white, conservative population. In their time as educators during my life, I have heard many stories about parents coming to their colleagues in their school's ELA department with concerns about books dealing with race and LGBTQ+ issues and experiences in particular. This has happened most frequently in the past 2-3 years, and, as Connors and Trites mention in the article, most of the concerns have to do with a belief that Critical Race Theory is being taught and that their white children are being made to feel guilty for being white or with the idea that teachers are promoting some sort of agenda by sharing LGBTQ+ experiences (Connors & Trites, 2022, p. 3). While these concerns and calls for censorship have been handled and, to my knowledge, did not result in any censorship or book banning, it is still beneficial to have the talking points put forth by Connors and Trites ready for when these situations do arise. 

Future Application

I am very interested to see if and how the topics and arguments in this article will maintain the same level of relevance and urgency in the coming years as they do now. There is lots of legislation and talk about legislation in America right now having to do with LGBTQ+ experiences and Critical Race Theory in the classroom, and some lawmakers and many parents are directly advocating for silencing voices such as those of Toni Morrison and Angie Thomas, among many others. My hope is that educators can continue to advocate for these voices and experiences to be amplified and to have a place in the classroom so that all students can read texts that represent themselves and allow them to see the experiences of others. I worry about how I as an educator can continue to defend access to these authors and books as the threat of possible legislation looms, but I plan to do all I can to fight for my students' access to authors and novels from all backgrounds and identities. 

References

Connors, Sean P. & Trites, Roberta Seelinger. "What Happens to Knowledge Deferred? Defending Books from Conservative, White Censors," English Journal, May 2022.