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Academic freedom impacts researchers, teaching, and research practices, as limits and prohibitions can be dictated from governing bodies and funding agencies. The science discipline is particularly impacted as several areas of science have faced scrutiny which impacts learning opportunities for undergraduate students as well as potential research areas which may be prohibited by university professors or graduate students. This chapter explores the impact on the science disciplines as increasingly restricted regulations and political pressures have limited academic freedom. Several specific examples are examined which shed light on the current and future impact that these limitations have on advancements of science literacy and scientific research.

COVID-19’s influence on the teaching profession will be felt for many years as teachers faced experiences that they have never encountered. The pandemic forced already taxed teachers to assume additional responsibilities, many of which they were not prepared to deal with. The result was an exodus of teachers from the profession, and those who remained reported challenges that impacted their personal and professional lives. The authors describe the effects on teachers and the impact that this had on them, including reasons why many departed from teaching. In closing, the authors offer recommendations to teacher preparation programs, districts, and schools.

Prior to the spring 2020, education in the United States looked very similar to how it had always looked … students attended brick-and-mortar schools, used technology in their classrooms and homes to supplement their learning, and relied on the support of teachers as needed or wanted. Parents, for their part, were involved in the traditional supportive roles of checking over homework, monitoring attendance, and providing encouragement as warranted, and worked to balance this role with professional and community obligations and responsibilities. The COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, and parents as well as teachers were suddenly thrust into different and less familiar roles, as teaching and learning transitioned to a virtual experience. In examining this transition, a team consisting of researchers from Florida and North Carolina sought to determine the effectiveness of the parent roles in schooling from the educator perspective. In this chapter, the findings of this study are explored and analyzed, with recommendations made for research moving forward in this area.

The mission of education programs is to provide opportunities for preservice teachers (PSTs) to become comfortable working with all students they will encounter; therefore, changing the face of teacher education is important. Allowing professors a certain level of academic freedom to strategically and purposefully build curriculum designed to respond to an ever-changing educational landscape while making space for authentic experiences is invaluable. If we are wanting our future teachers to lead successful diverse classrooms, opportunities must be developed and provided even if this means thinking outside of the box and in our experience outside of the university. When developing future teachers, this cannot be taken lightly. Experiences must be developed to help prepare future teachers who will be challenged by parents and communities on the content decisions they may make in their own classrooms. If we model flexibility and independent decision-making skills, then our PSTs will learn these dispositions. In addition, allowing them to take the authority in developing and implementing professional development experiences such as the experience in Hato Mayor will be valuable in developing their knowledge of leading in the classroom, school, and teaching profession.

Academic freedom is an area of interest for many academic faculty and students who are typically protected from persecution or retribution from what they say within the context of the university. There is significant history of this freedom, and this protection has been challenged and as colleges and universities have focused attention on diversity and inclusion efforts, some have considered if this hinders academic freedom. The growing criticism of what is referred to as speech codes (limits on free speech) has created discussion in the academic community as to what extent, if at all, these limits negatively impact the spirit of free speech. Several of John Dewey’s works provide guidance on this topic, and in this chapter, the authors examine its relevance to academic freedom.

The First Amendment so states,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (United Nations, 2006)

Within the confines of this law are the foundational touchstones of our democracy identifying the protection of five critical freedoms of religion, press, speech, assembly and the freedom to petition to the government. Many institutions of higher education and spheres of academe outline academic freedom as the right of a scholar to express ideas without risk of potential professional consequence. Within that domain of the freedom to express and share information, the American Library Association defines intellectual freedom as,

the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.

In a time where democratic freedoms are being challenged, the concepts of intellectual freedom and academic freedom require examination as key tenets of our democracy to be upheld, celebrated and honored. This chapter will critique and consider how institutions, organizations and entities have a keen ability to be empowered and disempowered by the appropriate execution or the lack of execution of both the tenets of intellectual and academic freedoms. This chapter will deconstruct both concepts through the lens of a social justice framework, thereby posing the question how challenging key democratic elements of the citizenry to express and share ideas, inform and responsibly disseminate ideas handicaps both the will and core of a democracy to thrive. This chapter will highlight how communities expand and narrow the domains of intellectual and academic freedom, from within the United States exploring the role of the Constitution, yet also infusing a global perspective. This chapter will examine what both academic and intellectual freedoms look like outside of the United States, and how theoretically and tangibly the concepts are applied. This chapter explores the application of the core tenets of intellectual and academic freedoms through a social justice framework and the introduction of reframing the consideration of both freedoms as human rights. A social justice framework incorporates the principle of fair and impartial treatment being afforded and entitled to all members of the citizenry. Seemingly to oppose and prevent these modes of expression and foundational elements of freedom both obstruct the principles of social justice and disrupt a democracy.

Millions of children face food insecurity in the United States. Schools play a major role in addressing the problem of food insecurity through the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program which provide meals to children at little to no cost. During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools abruptly closed leaving students without their primary source of nutrition. This chapter highlights responses from federal, state, and local agencies. Additionally, responses from local organizations and school districts are discussed. The researchers review a partnership built to address emergency food relief after the school closures. Data from an impact and need study conducted by the South Texas community partnership demonstrate gaps in programs which left the most vulnerable populations in severe need of assistance. This study reinforces the need for and importance of community partnerships to identify and address gaps in the current programs.