The case study I will be discussing today is about educational censorship through books
and the impact it has. The problem with public school curriculum book censorship is nothing
new to many librarians and teachers. Teachers in many public schools across the United States
have been very vocal about the harm that classroom censorship through books can have. The
study focuses on seven teachers who have struggled with “book challenges” (Sachdeva et al.,
2023).
While book challenges have always existed, the American Library Association showed
higher rates of it at of sometimes double what it was in the previous year (Sachdeva et al., 2023).
There has been a lot of media coverage on this issue, but not a lot of political help or research on
it. The method used to gather the seven participants for this study was through calls being made
with invitations if they met certain criteria (Sachdeva et al., 2023). In the end, there were seven
participants, five of whom had or almost had 20 years of experience as an educator (Sachdeva et
al., 2023). The educators were then interviewed over a zoom video call where the researchers
gather information about their experience with book challenges from members of the
community, parents of students, and higher ups within their field (Sachdeva et al., 2023).
The testimonies of the seven participants varied from disliking the lengthy process of
book challenges to being frustrated with the lack of process in their school for book challenges,
resulting in even lengthier and messy situations (Sachdeva et al., 2023). Some of the educators
felt supported by their school leaders, while some reported feeling micromanaged and
unsupported by their school leaders. (Sachdeva et al., 2023). The findings of the study state that
there is a much larger need to address “professional values and ethics pertaining to intellectual
freedom”. (Sachdeva et al., 2023). The implications of the study suggested that there needs to be
more attention from public policy, rather than just media attention on this issue.
The case study speaks about how the censoring of schoolbooks is not intended to
safeguard children but is instead about power and capital (Sachdeva et al., 2023). To be able to
censor what is taught in public schools and having power over withholding information lead to
economic power over the future through controlled interests and opinions of today’s youth. Book
censorship is a greedy and immoral practice that often gets labeled as having good intent, but
that is not the case.
On a philosophical level, censoring books can harm the shaping of curriculum since they
are planned off the material and how to best teach it. While doing so with less diverse books, it
can have a major affect on the way a curriculum is built and hinder the exploration of differing
perspectives. This can lead to less critical thinking and intellectual growth in students (Sachdeva
et al., 2023). Teacher need to be given more training and support when it comes to planning their
curriculum around quality and supportive material that can advance student’s way of thinking.
This is a way that training for teachers should incorporate more “big picture thinking” (Liberty
University & Fischer, 2019a). Part of this is a problem with the way schools are structured since
there are often negative spans of control in schools with so many people reporting to one
administrator or principal. The school leader often has many people reporting to them, and also
have to answer to parents and other members of the community, making it hard to keep their
focus on supporting the teachers. It would help school administrations to review their current
organization and introduce restricted span of control and increase delegation directives from
school leaders (Shafritz & Hyde, 2016, p. 138).
The influence of censorship affects children’s worldview through not providing different
cultural beliefs and norms to impact their mindset and traditional way of thinking. This can be
very damaging to the cultural, spiritual, and intellectual growth of a student. Many opportunities
to expand knowledge are given to students through books and this is lessened through
educational censorship through books. Furthermore, the current process they have in place for
book challenges also robs teachers of a chance to understand and receive more competent
training on expanding cultural influences of students in agreed upon approaches. This can leave
teachers feeling unsupported, when it should be shaped as a way to reintroduce the school’s
academic goals and structure (Fischer, 2010).
These challenges impact ethics quite a bit since they are encroaching on children’s
“intellectual freedom, or right to read,” (Sachdeva et al., 2023). Everyone should be able to learn
about different cultures and expand their knowledge. These challenges also impact statesmanship
a great deal since they are going against the Library Bill of Rights from 1939 and amended in
2019 (Sachdeva et al., 2023). The challenge to governance and public administrators is clear;
will they continue to let censorship through book challenges in schools occur? This is a tough
question since there are reasonable justifications and beliefs that it is a safeguard for many
children, as well as parental concern. However, when discussing this issue from multiple angles,
it’s important for officials in charge of public policy to listen to the workers and understand their
point of view, as well as taking their opinions seriously.
School leaders have to ensure that parents’ concerns are taken seriously with each book
challenge. However, they must also ensure that they are taking the innovative planning from
their teachers seriously and acting as “vison killers” to ideas on curriculum books that teachers
believe are helpful (Liberty University & Fischer, 2019b) This is one of the very reasons why
Christian school leaders and public policy leaders are needed in the field of education. There is
such a thin line between harmful censorship and actual protection and safeguarding in a situation
like this. A higher power is often needed to intervene and shed light. In this specific situation of
book challenges, there must be a lot of critical thinking regarding each book chosen. Regardless
of the decisions made, there will be people who do not agree and are angry. However, a Christian
leader, politician or not, has a job to uphold and should not think that the rightful guidance they
receive to confidently make decisions on tough issues will keep them from conflict (Liberty
University, 2021).
The book challenges the study focused on are disheartening for students and educators
alike. However, when diving deeper, book censorship is a larger issue and needs to be treated as
such. Censoring books that children have access to learn about current events, true facts, and
history is taking away the free will for them to choose what they want to read. While there
should be consideration for certain books that are deemed to be inappropriate and not have any
educational value for children, this cannot be said for any and all books that we just don’t like.
God gave us all free will and it is frustrating to see political power trying to leverage that free
will.
References
Fischer, Kahlib, "A Biblical-Covenantal Perspective on Organizational Behavior & Leadership"
(2010). Faculty Publications and Presentations. 523.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubs/523E
Liberty University, & Fischer, K. F. (2019a, June 18). Lesson 9 — Human resource policies
[Video]. Liberty University.
https://libertyuniversity.instructure.com/courses/578121/pages/watch-lesson-9-human-
resource-policies?module_item_id=64431162
Liberty University, & Fischer, K. F. (2019b, June 18). Lesson 10 — Organizational Change and
Stress Management [Video]. Liberty University.
https://libertyuniversity.instructure.com/courses/578121/pages/watch-lesson-10-
organizational-change-and-stress-management?module_item_id=64431168
Liberty University. (2021, May 27). A Big Mistake Christians Make In Politics | Huckabee (By
M. H. Huckabee) [Video]. Liberty University.
https://libertyuniversity.instructure.com/courses/578121/pages/watch-a-big-mistake-
christians-make-in-politics-%7C-huckabee?module_item_id=64431204
Sachdeva, D. E., Kimmel, S. C., & Chérres, J. S. (2023). “It’s bigger than just a book challenge”:
A collective case study of educators’ experiences with censorship. Teachers College
Record (1970), 125(6), 30–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681231184515
Shafritz, J. M., & Hyde, A. C. (2016). Classics of public administration. Cengage Learning.E
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