MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Missouri public school bans Kurt Vonnegut's 'Slaughterhouse Five'.

Skibble · 08-02-2011, 08:55 AM

The re-assessment of books in schools, and their subsequent removal from the curriculum and libraries, is not uncommon.

In every region in which I have worked as a teacher, books were selected by individual teachers and then approved by departments. The members of the school board, in most cases, had no idea which books were being taught to which grades. (They were busy with other things, and left all but the most sweeping curriculum decisions to the departmental heads and faculty.) Selecting books in this manner expedited things, and most of the time led to decisions that pleased all parties.

But differences in opinion did sometimes arise, and when they did, this was the protocol for handling them:

Parent calls teacher and complains about book.
Teacher speaks to parent; if complaint persists, refers to department head.
Department head speaks to parent; if complaint persists, refers to school administrator.
Administrator speaks to parent; if complaint persists, refers to school board.
School board, as ultimate representative of the community, reviews book and discusses in meeting open to the community, in which all members of the community are invited to give feedback. School board renders final decision.

I spent a decade at one school (PK-12), and during that time saw 12 books reviewed by our board in this manner. Some were kept; some weren't. Those that weren't were often dropped for reasons that were uncovered in the open discussion at the board meeting, rather than the original parental protest. None of the board meetings were acrimonious.

I'm not sure there is a better way to handle this, at the moment. The parents have input into what their children are being taught, the community has a chance to give input, and the books are being reviewed in earnest. Even in cases in which the books end up removed from the curriculum and school library, there is no actual ban -- students are still welcome to read them and even have copies of them on campus. Not providing a book is not the same as banning it. (Or perhaps I am mistaken, and my local library is in fact the greatest book-banner in the history of mankind.)

08-02-2011, 08:55 AM	#187
Skibble Runs With Scissors Posts: 115 Karma: 1173596 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: USA Device: Kindle Voyage	The re-assessment of books in schools, and their subsequent removal from the curriculum and libraries, is not uncommon. In every region in which I have worked as a teacher, books were selected by individual teachers and then approved by departments. The members of the school board, in most cases, had no idea which books were being taught to which grades. (They were busy with other things, and left all but the most sweeping curriculum decisions to the departmental heads and faculty.) Selecting books in this manner expedited things, and most of the time led to decisions that pleased all parties. But differences in opinion did sometimes arise, and when they did, this was the protocol for handling them: Parent calls teacher and complains about book. Teacher speaks to parent; if complaint persists, refers to department head. Department head speaks to parent; if complaint persists, refers to school administrator. Administrator speaks to parent; if complaint persists, refers to school board. School board, as ultimate representative of the community, reviews book and discusses in meeting open to the community, in which all members of the community are invited to give feedback. School board renders final decision. I spent a decade at one school (PK-12), and during that time saw 12 books reviewed by our board in this manner. Some were kept; some weren't. Those that weren't were often dropped for reasons that were uncovered in the open discussion at the board meeting, rather than the original parental protest. None of the board meetings were acrimonious. I'm not sure there is a better way to handle this, at the moment. The parents have input into what their children are being taught, the community has a chance to give input, and the books are being reviewed in earnest. Even in cases in which the books end up removed from the curriculum and school library, there is no actual ban -- students are still welcome to read them and even have copies of them on campus. Not providing a book is not the same as banning it. (Or perhaps I am mistaken, and my local library is in fact the greatest book-banner in the history of mankind.)