1_Academic_Freedom

DEFINITION

Academic Freedom: Liberty to pursue and teach relevant knowledge and to discuss it freely without restriction from school or public officials or from other sources of influence. (Original terminology from "Lehrfreiheit" (German).)

"Lehrfreiheit" och "Lernfreiheit" är grundläggande värden som skall genomsyra verksamheten på alla nivåer i fagstudiet. "Lernfreiheit" betyder bland annat att det på varje nivå (trinn) i utbildningen skall finnas en del där studenten kan välja inriktning och pensum efter eget intresse. "Lehrfreiheit" betyder att lärarna relativt ofta skall kunna undervisa på kurser de själva bestämmer inriktningen av - vilket ofta blir det som de enskilda lärarna forskar om. Undervisningen måste emellertid också genomsyras av andra mål, bland annat att studenter skall bli kompetenta inom ett brett fält av grundläggande filosofiska delområden samt att de inom ramen för ett i hög grad formaliserat utbildningssystem får hjälp att strukturera och effektivt genomföra sina studier på ett planerat sätt. http://www.hf.ntnu.no/hf/filosofi/ominst. Philosophical Institute, NTNU (Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet).

The court concisely summarized the claims of the professors: "a university professor possesses a constitutional right to determine for himself, without the input of the university (and perhaps even contrary to the university's desires), the subjects of his research, writing and teaching."
The "academic freedom" claim led the court to examine the history of the university in America, and indeed in Germany, where the notion originated. Lehrfreiheit, or the freedom to teach, entailed that professors should be free to conduct research and publish findings without fear of criticism from the state. While the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) had adopted the concept of Lehrfreiheit, the court found that it had done so as a professional norm, not as a legal standard; according to the court, such academic freedom was justified because of its beneficial role in furthering the search for truth, not because it was a manifestation of First Amendment rights. http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/2001-all/burke-2001-03-all.html. Doug Isenberg's GigaLaw.com.

The article is used for educational purposes by Dr. Jan A. Nilsson, Biology Department, South Texas College, Texas, USA. To make information available to all students in the course the following was scanned, for educational purposes, from the McAllen Monitor. The home page of the McAllen Monitor is located at the following URL: www.themonitor.com

Johnson, T. 2006. Google defends bow to Chinas's censors. The Monitor, McAllen, Texas. (April 13): 8C

Ivins, M. 2006. Free speech in peril. The Monitor, McAllen, Texas. (August 13): 3D

Sproles, K. 2006. The Right of faculty to Teach. Advocate, NEA Higher Education, 23(6): 12 (August 2006).

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