Research Project: Banned Books
By: Gillian Robinson
Gillian Robinson
Education Collaborator
Gillian Robinson has been a classroom social studies and language teacher for sixteen years and is a PhD candidate in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta, where she is an instructor and an instructional coach. Her passion lies in the work of anti-oppressive education, with a specific focus on queer and trans theory and sexual violence. She aims to improve queer-inclusive policy frameworks for better student outcomes, while mobilizing the work of Black, Indigenous, and feminist of colour theorists to understand how institutional whiteness blocks transformative change in schools. Her research interests include queer studies, anti-oppressive education, institutional whiteness, sexuality in schools, and sexual health education.
Suggested Grades
Grades 8-12
Timing
3-4 hours over multiple periods
Background Information for Teachers
- Freedom to Read — Challenged Works Archive
- Jessica Wong, CBC News — Calls to ban books are on the rise in Canada. So is the opposition to any bans
- Lucia Lorenzi, CanLit Guides — Literary Censorship and Controversy in Canada | CanLit Guides
- Richard Beaudry, Maclean’s — I help librarians handle book bans. Here’s why it’s getting worse.
Lesson Outline
Glossary
To begin the research project, students will require the vocabulary to talk about book censorship in Canadian schools. Provide the following glossary:
Agent: A person taking an active role and acting on behalf of a group such as the government.
Banned book: Books that have been prohibited by law or by limited or restricted in their circulation through other means.
Censorship: Censorship is when agents of the government exercise control over what can be printed, published, expressed, or broadcast.
Freedom of expression: Freedom of expression is the right to share and also to receive information, whether orally, in writing, or in print, and through any media of choice.
Ideological reasoning: The beliefs, values, and context that influence the way someone views the world.
Public institutions: Institutions controlled by the government, including public schools, universities, and libraries.
Shadow ban: The practice of blocking or restricting circulation or visibility of a resource.
Social context: The culture, events, and physical setting surrounding an event or leading to an event.
Spectacular event: A grand, remarkable action that occurs that is said to symbolize a greater movement or problem.
Project Steps
Ask students what they already know about banned books and censorship. This is a good time to highlight the difference between censorship from public institutions versus boycotts from individual citizens (see teacher background information section above as necessary).
Ask students what they already know about banned books in schools. Encourage students to focus on Canadian examples where possible. This discussion should allow students to provide examples, and foster class conversation around which agents are or were involved in a book ban. If students do not mention 2SLGBTQ+ content through this discussion, provide an example such as And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson, banned in 2006 in Calgary Catholic School District.
Distribute the Banned Book Research Project: News Article KWL Chart to students. Have them complete the “Know” and “Want to Know” sections of the chart after reading the title of the news article.
Next, have them read the news article: “Access to books with LGBTQ themes restricted by Ontario’s Waterloo Catholic District School Board” by Steven W. Beattie.
Provide a few more minutes to complete the “Learned” section of their chart. They should then discuss this with a partner for a few minutes, before sharing in a whole group discussion.
Ask students what kind of book content/subject matter they think leads an individual or an institution to push for a book ban. Brainstorm these ideas on the board as a class. There may be subheadings for more detailed ideas.
After the brainstorm and more discussion, distribute the Banned Book Research Project: Group Topic Research Handout. Arrange students into groups of three (3) or four (4).
First, as a group, have groups choose a content area from this list of commonly banned book subject matters. As the teacher, feel free to limit the topics on this list based on what is age and stage appropriate for your students. If you are working on a unit dedicated to learning about 2SLGBTQIA+ people, culture, and history, you could limit to those content areas specifically.
- Racism
- White nationalism
- Gender-based violence
- War violence
- Addiction
- Feminism
- Police violence
- Sexual orientation
- Gender identity
- Suicide
- Climate change
Next, each group should complete the Banned Book Research Project: Group Topic Research Handout.
Next, students will individually complete a Banned Book Poster Research Project. Each student will choose one banned book or book with an attempted ban and research its banning. This book should ideally be from the content area they researched with their group. Students can use the Banned Book Research Project: Poster Planning Guide to direct their research and plan their poster presentation. At this time, they should also refer to the Banned Book Research Project: Evaluation Rubric when completing their research.
Once students have all completed their individual posters, they should return to their small groups on their specific content area. They may wish to update their Banned Book Research Project: Group Topic Research at this time if they have any new learnings to add.
During the final class period for this research project, posters can be arranged around the room as a gallery.
Students should present their group research together to the rest of the class.
Students can then participate in a gallery walk to examine their classmates’ individually researched books.
Finally, the teacher can facilitate the closing discussion as a whole class with the following prompt:
Should any book be banned by government agents from public or school libraries? Are there cases where blocking information from children is justified? Is banning books reasonable in some contexts, but not in others? How does censorship disproportionately affect marginalized communities?
Possible Extension Activities
- Hang posters in the hallways or present them to other classes
- Contact the author of a banned book and ask them questions about their experience
- Read a banned book individually
- Study a banned book as a class
- Write a letter to a government official partially responsible for a banned book to persuade them to reverse their decision