Censoring Educator Preparation: Paving the Pathway to Educational Authoritarianism?

• In Event: Teaching Under Surveillance: Censorship, Book Bans, and the Struggle for Educational Freedom

Abstract

This critical policy analysis of Florida’s SB 1291 mandating prohibitions in educator preparation programs examines the intent and impact of the law, and responses to it, within broader historical and contemporary sociopolitical contexts of educational authoritarianism at the state, national and global levels. Exemplifying research as counter-hegemonic and morally responsible praxis , this study - undertaken by a teacher educator directly impacted by the law - engages in a sequence of textual, critical content analysis, critical discourse analysis and autoethnographic perspectives to reveal the strategies and the ideological underpinnings of the law. The repetitive wording across multiple policies, legislative vagueness, discursive and evidence-free targeting, and curricular surveillance characterize the intent and unfolding impact of SB 1291. Faculty pushback is recommended.

Author

• Dilys Schoorman, Florida Atlantic University