By Topic
You may be using an older version of the Adobe Flash Player.
To enjoy multimedia content on WGBH.org, please
click here to upgrade to the latest version of the free Flash player.
Language Police: Restricting What We learn
May 6, 2003
Diane Ravitch professor, education, New York University
Diane Ravitch discusses her latest book The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn. Ravitch maintains that America's students are compelled to read texts that have been censored by publishers who willingly cut controversial material from their books. Her book documents the existence of an elaborate and well established protocol of beneficent censorship, quietly endorsed and implemented by test makers and textbook publishers, states, and the federal government. School boards and sensitivity committees review, abridge, and modify texts to delete potentially offensive words, topics, and imagery. Publishers practice self-censorship to sell books in big states.
Author: Diane Ravitch
Publisher: Knopf (2003)
Binding: Hardcover, 272 pages
Author: Diane Ravitch
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2001)
Binding: Paperback, 560 pages
Author: Diane Ravitch
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (2000)
Binding: Paperback, 488 pages
Author: Diane Ravitch
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (2000)
Binding: Paperback, 656 pages
Author: Diane Ravitch
Publisher: Basic Books (1985)
Binding: Paperback, 400 pages
Login or register to post comments
