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Perhaps I don't reach a particular "credential" level to make a judgment, but the thrust of my blog post was more to probe for an answer rather than to give one. Hence the statement at the end of my blog post: "At the end of the day, however, when it comes to presenting young minds with big ideas through literature, I'm willing to be persuaded in either direction."
I did see that comment, but it would help to respond if you explain more why you made this claim in the first place. And why it is exactly you don't trust teachers. I am not trying to be argumentative, but you posed the question in a way that does imply judgment, of teachers certainly, and implicitly of students' capacity for challenging reads. In order to respond in an informed manner, it would help to know how you came to your conclusions.
It's a combination of elements. People have bias, teachers included, and often times present information or don't present information to further a personal worldview. Students who generally lack solid reading comprehension skills and/or critical thinking skills can be led to believe a whole host of things within the context of a work of literature that may or may not be what the author intended. It's cynical view, certainly, but not established without experience. (I've been in school and have seen it occur many, many times).
At the end of the day, however, I'm beginning to feel more convinced that to expose students to works of literature probably does more good than bad. It's just not perfect, but what is?
In my experience (15 years of teaching) students 'get it' when they spend the time it takes to do the reading and understand it. I have never worked with a teacher in all those years who doesn't take time to explain important concepts, clarity difficult passages and lead the students to understand a work and make their own judgments about it. I am sure there are teachers out there coasting along without going into these things, but I don't think that is the norm. And to remove important works from the curriculum will punish many for the laziness of the few.
Lara
Back off. People don`t need to wave their credentials to justify their opinions. And on your part, it only demonstrates a defensiveness that should not exist. You are a trained professional, with many years experience to hone your skills. There is no need to make mention of that issue with The Thousand Club
Having been a teacher for thirty years with parents consistently looking over my shoulder, I can appreciate Lara's post. Even Hunger Games is deemed too violent for some students. What are you going to do? To some degree, a person must pick and choose, but you're never going to please everyone.
Geoffrey, I think it's important that people who have actual experience with the subject get to state and defend their opinion instead of just having less experienced people throw around generalizations based on... well, based on what? How can you generalize the entire concept of teaching literature based on your personal belief that teachers aren't trustworthy and "...even seniors in high school [don't] have the reading comprehension skills to understand anything much more complicated than the most basic young adult fiction"?
Yes, everyone is biased. Yes, there are teachers who tell their students about their personal world views, and I don't think this is a bad thing in a class that's supposed to encourage people to think critically about important subjects. Yes, there are students whose reading comprehension is minimal, but you're talking about 14-year-olds in general in a tone suggesting you don't believe their capacity for critical thinking is any more advanced than a five-year-old's and they should be shielded from anything that's more difficult than Dr Seuss.
I'm a big proponent of letting people in high school read books about important topics and discuss them in class, even if it's just to get them acquainted with books that aren't "the most basic YA fiction". I don't really see a point in shielding high schoolers from influential books. If the reading curriculum should be dumbed down to limit exposure to The Unreliable Teacher's Opinion, then what should happen to subjects like history and religion?
I agree with what you are saying. I think that you should spend time in a class room with 9th graders to full understand what books are good and bad for them.
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thethousanderclub
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Jun 03, 2013 05:42PM
Perhaps I don't reach a particular "credential" level to make a judgment, but the thrust of my blog post was more to probe for an answer rather than to give one. Hence the statement at the end of my blog post: "At the end of the day, however, when it comes to presenting young minds with big ideas through literature, I'm willing to be persuaded in either direction."
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I did see that comment, but it would help to respond if you explain more why you made this claim in the first place. And why it is exactly you don't trust teachers. I am not trying to be argumentative, but you posed the question in a way that does imply judgment, of teachers certainly, and implicitly of students' capacity for challenging reads. In order to respond in an informed manner, it would help to know how you came to your conclusions.
It's a combination of elements. People have bias, teachers included, and often times present information or don't present information to further a personal worldview. Students who generally lack solid reading comprehension skills and/or critical thinking skills can be led to believe a whole host of things within the context of a work of literature that may or may not be what the author intended. It's cynical view, certainly, but not established without experience. (I've been in school and have seen it occur many, many times).At the end of the day, however, I'm beginning to feel more convinced that to expose students to works of literature probably does more good than bad. It's just not perfect, but what is?
In my experience (15 years of teaching) students 'get it' when they spend the time it takes to do the reading and understand it. I have never worked with a teacher in all those years who doesn't take time to explain important concepts, clarity difficult passages and lead the students to understand a work and make their own judgments about it. I am sure there are teachers out there coasting along without going into these things, but I don't think that is the norm. And to remove important works from the curriculum will punish many for the laziness of the few.
LaraBack off. People don`t need to wave their credentials to justify their opinions. And on your part, it only demonstrates a defensiveness that should not exist. You are a trained professional, with many years experience to hone your skills. There is no need to make mention of that issue with The Thousand Club
Having been a teacher for thirty years with parents consistently looking over my shoulder, I can appreciate Lara's post. Even Hunger Games is deemed too violent for some students. What are you going to do? To some degree, a person must pick and choose, but you're never going to please everyone.
Geoffrey, I think it's important that people who have actual experience with the subject get to state and defend their opinion instead of just having less experienced people throw around generalizations based on... well, based on what? How can you generalize the entire concept of teaching literature based on your personal belief that teachers aren't trustworthy and "...even seniors in high school [don't] have the reading comprehension skills to understand anything much more complicated than the most basic young adult fiction"?Yes, everyone is biased. Yes, there are teachers who tell their students about their personal world views, and I don't think this is a bad thing in a class that's supposed to encourage people to think critically about important subjects. Yes, there are students whose reading comprehension is minimal, but you're talking about 14-year-olds in general in a tone suggesting you don't believe their capacity for critical thinking is any more advanced than a five-year-old's and they should be shielded from anything that's more difficult than Dr Seuss.
I'm a big proponent of letting people in high school read books about important topics and discuss them in class, even if it's just to get them acquainted with books that aren't "the most basic YA fiction". I don't really see a point in shielding high schoolers from influential books. If the reading curriculum should be dumbed down to limit exposure to The Unreliable Teacher's Opinion, then what should happen to subjects like history and religion?
I agree with what you are saying. I think that you should spend time in a class room with 9th graders to full understand what books are good and bad for them.
