Book Banning Essay

Education is essential for personal and societal growth and development, and it has the potential to benefit individuals and society in so many ways. Teachers are the ones who make this possible – they are a key component in society. Teachers are vital because they shape the lives of students and help them develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the world. In her article, “Teacher Job Satisfaction Hits an All-Time Low” (April 2022) Madeline Will discussed the current rate of satisfaction for teachers and their careers and the possible causes of the drop in satisfaction. “A nationally representative poll of more than 1,300 teachers conducted … and only 12 percent say they’re “very satisfied” with their jobs” which is down by

Most notably, book bannings have been happening all across the country. An article published by Pen America, “New Report: 2,500+ Book Bans across 32 States during 2021-22 School Year” (September 2022) details the places where book bannings are taking place, the common themes of the books being banned, and the most frequently banned books. “Nearly 140 school districts in 32 states issued more than 2,500 book bans during the 2021-22 school year … which now touches more than 5,000 individual schools enrolling a total of nearly 4 million students” (Pen America 2022). A majority of the books being banned include topics of “race, or highlighting LGBTQ+ characters and themes'' (Pen America 2022). While banning books in schools is not a new concept, it has become more widespread and suppression of LGBTQ+ people and discussion of racism and race. The new wave of book bannings will have a devastating impact on the classroom for students and teachers. In the article “The Neg­a­tive Ef­fects Of Book Ban­ning In The Class­room” (2022) by Chiesa, they discuss the negative impact of recent book bannings on teachers and students. “For stu­dents, ban­ning books means nar­row­ing their world view. For teach­ers, it means an ever-chang­ing cur­ricu­lum and fear of per­sonal choice. Book ban­ning is one of the most com­mon ways to cen­sor ed­u­ca­tion” (Chiesa 2022). Teachers already have to

Before defining what classroom autonomy is, it is important to understand what classroom autonomy is not. In the article “Why Teacher Autonomy Is Central to Coaching Success” by Jim Knight and published by ASCD explains that “there are non-negotiables that must be adhered to—rare is the school where a teacher can say "I'm not much of a morning person; I think I'll start teaching at noon." And choosing to be unprofessional in conduct should not be a choice available to anyone involved in educating our children” (Knight 2019). If a teacher has classroom autonomy, that does not mean they can act however they want to act - certain rules and standards will always need to be met. In her article, “Fostering Students' Autonomy and Engagement in EFL Classroom Through Proximal Classroom Factors: Autonomy-Supportive Behaviors and Student-Teacher Relationships” (October 2021) by Kunni Han, discusses how autonomy impacts the classroom and students. Autonomy is defined as “being capable of making decisions based on one's perceptions of the world” (Han 2021). Autonomy plays an important role in the classroom because teaching is incredibly complex. Teaching requires a lot of independent decision making which cannot be “boiled down to a set of prescriptive steps” (Knight 2019). Classrooms and students will not always behave in the same way and will not always respond to teaching in the same way. Teachers need to have the ability