Racism, social media, and free speech collide on a high school campus when a student creates an offensive poster that a classmate posts on social media. This case describes a school administrator's conversations and actions with students, teachers, and the community addressing bigotry, race, and free speech on campus. The scenario is presented…

Academic freedom is the most important pillar that underpins and enables a democratic and free higher education sector. Given that the academic and political debate on the concept of academic freedom tends to be one-sided and confined to the needs and experiences of academic staff and researchers, as well as in face of the ongoing attacks on the…

Freedom of expression is the core political ideal undergirding American democracy and recent attacks on freedom of speech are a direct threat to the liberties and rights guaranteed in the United States Constitution. Freedom of expression is essential for participatory democracy, scientific progress, individualism, and civic education in K-12…

The views young people have towards democratic values shape their views in later life. However, the values that are fundamental to democracy, such as majority rule and minority rights, are often competing. This study aims to provide insight into the ways adolescents view democratic issues in which democratic values are competing. To do so, three…

Support and engagement with the First Amendment among high school students is at a high level; however, little is known regarding the ways high school students learn about the First Amendment. This study examines what sources students learn about the First Amendment from, and if some sources are considered more valuable than others. This study…

The study explores the rights consciousness of senior teachers who participated in a student rights professional development (PD) course and designed educational projects during the course. It analyzes teachers' perceptions of students' rights and the influence of the PD and other factors on these perceptions. The data included interviews with 17…

Residential communities are a critical component of many students' experience on a college campus, especially during their first year. Residential communities have been associated with a variety of positive outcomes, including persistence, openness to diversity, satisfaction, critical thinking, and personal development (Astin, 1977 & 1993;…

In today's contentious and divided political environment, what should colleges and universities do to meet the roles and responsibilities of higher education to foster the campus community we want? This guide presents three options for deliberation about difficult problems regarding free speech and inclusion--for which there are no perfect…

Monica Williams, a beloved counselor of an urban middle school, is shocked to learn that she is being terminated for a comment she made on Facebook. This case was developed for use in an educational leadership course for students to evaluate an educator's right to freedom of speech in relation to social media. Instructors can use the case to…

As a consequence of globalization and increased immigration, scholars call for reconceptualizations of citizenship and empirical studies to ascertain how citizenship education is enacted in schools serving youth from immigration backgrounds. This study addresses these needs by interviewing civic educators in purposefully selected secondary schools…

The distinctive role of the university in society is always fragile and always in jeopardy. At its core, that role is primarily extending and deepening human understanding through research, scholarship, and teaching. This report presents an analysis of the following 12 collaborations between Canadian Universities and corporations, donors, and…

Difficulties in applying the reasonable forecast standard to physical disruption dims in comparison to the problem of forecasting psychological disturbance. The "Trachtman" case represents a deep bow to the wisdom of school officials' conclusions that harm would result from giving students a questionnaire on sexuality. (Author/IRT)

Presents a 10-question quiz based on court decisions reported from 1977 through 1979. Three areas are covered--student discipline, student searches, and student expression. Answers and explanations are given for each question. (IRT)

The goal of community forums is to stimulate and sustain citizen dialogue about public issues. Topical issues and controversies are used to explore the issue of freedom of expression. The discussion is framed around three different views. Those comprising the first view believe that the balance has swung too far toward unlimited freedom and that…

A survey was conducted to determine the level of censorship in Louisiana public libraries. A questionnaire based on a previous survey done by Show Me Libraries in 1982 was sent to 30 public libraries chosen from the northern and southern sections of the state on the basis of population parameters. Surveys were returned from 27 public libraries.…