The Power of Books

As an English teacher, I love to read. More so, I love what can be learned from books. "Knowledge is power" is a phrase I have never taken lightly; in fact, it's a phrase I have taken literally since I was a child.

I have never viewed fiction as an 'inferior' knowledge, despite it being based on the imaginary or fantastical. I believe there is much to be learned from the characters and stories held within fictional stories. My favourite series, for example, tells of loss, grief, sacrifice, political corruption and ineptitude, loss of innocence, racism and segregation, and war. It also centres around friendship, the value of kindness, personal growth, and the power of love. That series? Harry Potter.

The true magic of a series like Harry Potter lies in its connections to real world events and issues, and the ability to present these topics to children in a way that they can understand and learn from. 'Fiction' may refer to the stories not being based solely on reality, but that doesn't mean there is a total absence of the truth or reality from within the pages.

What does this have to do with teaching?

I'm glad you asked!

Recently, a lot of books have come under fire (mostly in the US) for containing topics deemed 'inappropriate' for reading in schools. However, many of these banned books have sparked outrage amongst the public, as the books coming under fire are classics that embrace real world situations, stand as proof of the checkered past of the world ("Mein Kampf" anyone?), or are written by diverse authors.

In 2020, among the books being challenged were such titles as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Of Mice and Men". Why? Because they make people uncomfortable with the honest and direct way they address racial inequity during the time they were written. The same has been said, perhaps even more aggressively, of "The 1619 Project". Despite glaring support of the portrayal of slavery by historians and the African American community, it has been named explicitly in US legislation banning specific books from their schools.

In the 20-odd years since "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was released, the Harry Potter series has been argued for censorship on and off due to its depictions of witchcraft. Primarily a concern in religious schools the world over, specifically those of the Christian denominations, as recently as 2019 a library in an American Catholic school has banned the books from even being available in their school's library.

As a teacher, and a fan of a wide variety of novels which may or may not fall under the umbrella of censorship in a country as powerful as the US, I can't help but wonder what the implications may ultimately be for teachers in the long run? Even as an Australian teacher I know we are not out of reach of such bans and censorship. For now, there is not much more to do than teach what is approved and be prepared to face such hurdles as they come. And when they come for our books, I have only one thing to say: 100 points from Gryffindor.

References

Gabbatt, Adam. Unparalleled in intensity’ – 1,500 book bans in US school districts. The Guardian. 8/4/22. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/07/book-bans-pen-america-school-districts

Harris, Elizabeth A; Alter, Alexandra. Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S. The New York Times. 30/1/22. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/30/books/book-ban-us-schools.html

Headrick, Maddie. JK Rowling, The Harry Potter Series. The Banned Books Project, Carnegie Melon University. 11/9/22. https://bannedbooks.library.cmu.edu/j-k-rowling-the-harry-potter-series/