Freedom in Teaching and Learning
Ahmed A. Osman

Abstract
Academic freedom is a security against hazards to the pursuits of truth by those persons whose lives are dedicated to conserving the intellectual heritage of the ages and to extending the realm of knowledge. The rights of the teachers to teach truthfully and employ their reason to the full extent of their intellectual powers. Academic freedom is the freedom of professionally qualified persons to inquire, discover, publish and teach as they see it in their field of competence, without any control or authority of rational methods by which truth is established. Academic freedom is essential to the fulfillment of the purpose of the school. Teachers should be protected from censorship or restraint that unreasonably interferes with their obligation to expose students to controversial issues and to help students express their own views on such issues. The teacher’s responsibility should be to show objectivity to see that various sides of controversial issues are given. To carry out this responsibility the teacher should be well informed in the areas being studied. It’s recognized that every teacher has the right to a point of view and to express that view, but the teacher has the responsibility to tell the students that the statement is a personal view.

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