No Freedom for Writer's Diary

Just when I thought this society couldn't get any dumber, any less compassionate... along comes news of a teacher who actually cares to educate in a meaningful way being railroaded by a system designed to strip us all of our voice.

says author Ivan Sanchez.

How many times, over how many centuries, do Americans like Connie Heermann have to fight for freedom of expression and thought in their own country?

asks Richard LaGravenese at The Huffington Post .

Let's take a break from getting angry about restrictions on freedom of expression in Malaysia and look at a jaw-droppingly ridiculous case from the US of A where Indiana teacher Connie Heermann has been suspended from her job without pay for 18 months for using the book The Freedom Writers Diary in her classroom to motivate her students.

She says in today's Guardian :

If you read the whole book you will see how these inner-city students grow and change and become articulate, compassionate, educated young people who want to do something good in their lives despite the environment in which they were raised I thought my students would very much relate to those kids.

I blogged some time ago about this inspirational book (based on the experiences of idealistic novice English teacher Erin Gruwell and her students) about how creative writing has the power to transform lives when it first came out, and bought it soon after. My copy's still waiting to be read, but I have dipped into it and found the entries by the students alive and vital. And of course being an English teacher myself, I'm fascinated by any account from the chalkface about how kids can be turned around.

The book was also made into a film starring Hilary Swank.

Heerman chose the text after attending a Freedom Writers workshop and got permission from her head teacher and from parents to teach the book.

So why all the fuss? Apparently one member of the school board objected to swearing and racial slurs in the book and persuaded the other six officials to ban Heermann from teaching the book.

But Heerman was charged with "insubordination" when she decided to ignore the ban for the sake of her students, and was initially threatened with dismissal. Her union now has to decide whether to take the case to court.

It's certainly a cock-eyed world when a teacher is penalised for doing the best for her students ...

Freedom Writers Project

Brian from my writing class sent me this link to this BBC article about a writing project in a Philadelphia school which has completely changed the lives of inner-city teenagers.

Trey McCloud, 14, once refused to bring a pen to class but now has a passion for writing. ... (he) says he gets upset a lot and "breaks down". But when he reads aloud to his fellow classmates, he feels respect. Writing helps him release anger that he has been "storing up". And it has turned him around academically, his teacher Mr Galbraith says: "Trey showed the most rapid development of any student I've had, and that's after 13 years in the business."

It's inspiring stuff. So inspiring that Hollywood apparently wants in on it! Yet the BBC article barely scratches the surface of what is a truly wondrous story about the power of writing to reclaim and transform lives.

The Freedom Writing Project was born when an idealistic new teacher called Erin Gruwell decided to do something different with her class of alienated and so-called "unteachable" students who:

...mocked Erin's efforts and bet on how long she would last. Then, one day, Erin intercepted a student's racial caricature. Furious, she invoked the racism that led to the Holocaust. Receiving only blank stares, she realized the students had never heard of the Holocaust. But when she asked how many of them had been shot at, almost every student raised his or her hand.

Erin dispensed with the textbooks and brought in books by teens who had lived through racism and warfare, such as Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic. This time, the students made a powerful emotional connection. With Erin, they began to document their own lives in individual, anonymous diaries. They called themselves the "Freedom Writers," to honor the Civil Rights activists known as the Freedom Riders. As they wrote, the class made a firm and lasting commitment to change.

And change they did. Every single one of her 150 students made it to college. Some of them became journalists, teachers and writers.

The project has a website which is well worth exploring. And a book about the project is due for release in 2007.