[AAACE-NLA]free speech and parks

[Frances Keenan]

Free speech has been on my mind lately because of what has happened with
the NIFL sponsored listservs. (Like a lot of us, I have heard bits and
pieces of what's been going on and look forward to Gail's posting.) As a
former moderator of NIFL-ESL, I am upset that the hundreds of people on
the NIFL lists have had no word that filters have been installed on the
lists since late April. Most are probably not aware of the restrictions
under which the lists now operate. 

I am also sad and not that optimistic about the fate of the NIFL lists
now that NIFL is in a fight for its own survival.

I have been thinking about the functions the lists have filled as open
forums for exchanging opinions, asking questions, sharing resources,
crossposting information relevant to educators including yes,
information about policy, about funding, about all kinds of issues that
come up in adult ed classrooms and teachers lounges and conferences and
coversations. And recently, of course, about war and dissent. And yes,
discussion gets untidy at times and moderating the lists is a very
relative proposition. (They are not  moderated in the technical sense of
all messages passing by a moderator before being posted such as happens
on this list and the old NLA list.)

Adult ESL educators are not only interested in educational theory and
teaching strategies. Our classrooms are not hermetically sealed off from
the world--in fact, ESL classrooms have learners from all over the
world, people with very strong ideas about and appreciation for what the
US represents. 

Perhaps I am being naiive. I like to think that even though the NIFL
lists are government sposored they should continue to be open to free
discussions and information sharing of the sort that has happened
vibrantly over the last 8 years. That they are government sponsored in
the same way a public park is. No you can't urinate in public nor set
fire to the trees, but you can talk about whatever you want to.

What about a simple disclaimer that the views on the list do not express
the views of NIFL or of the US Department of Education?

Maybe I am wrong. Maybe the NIFL lists are now more like formal and
official stages, not public parks. 

Fran Keenan
PBS Adult Learning Service
fkeenan at pbs.org
www.pbs.org/literacy/esl




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