Cutting the classics out of the classroom

[Dozyproductions]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9729383/Catcher-in-the-Rye-dropped-from-US-school-curriculum.html

Don't know how reputable this is but still a good topic for discussion.

Schools in America are to drop classic books such as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye from their curriculum in favour of 'informational texts'.

JD Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye is to be replaced by 'informational texts' on the US curriculum. American literature classics are to be replaced by insulation manuals and plant inventories in US classrooms by 2014.
A new school curriculum which will affect 46 out of 50 states will make it compulsory for at least 70 per cent of books studied to be non-fiction, in an effort to ready pupils for the workplace.

Books such as JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird will be replaced by "informational texts" approved by the Common Core State Standards.

Suggested non-fiction texts include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California's Invasive Plant Council.

The new educational standards have the backing of the influential National Governors' Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, and are being part-funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Jamie Highfill, a teacher at Woodland Junior High School in Arkansas, told the Times that the directive was bad for a well-rounded education.
"I'm afraid we are taking out all imaginative reading and creativity in our English classes.

"In the end, education has to be about more than simply ensuring that kids can get a job. Isn't it supposed to be about making well-rounded citizens?"
Supporters of the directive argue that it will help pupils to develop the ability to write concisely and factually, which will be more useful in the workplace than a knowledge of Shakespeare.

[evandael]

fuck the idea that an educational system needs to 'prepare people to enter the workforce'


what are we, robots?

[chadthestampede]

This is terrible. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best books ever written.

Just keep dumbing it down. The idea of a zombie apocalypse is just an allegory for how stupid everyone is going to be.

[Jparkr]

Kids today are to stupid to understand the meaning behind those books anyway. Next generation will be watching reality TV for education.

[chadthestampede]

Kids today are to stupid to understand the meaning behind those books anyway. Next generation will be watching reality TV for education.

This is sad but true. You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to teach To Kill a Mockingbird to 11th graders. They couldn't be trusted (or bothered) to read it on their own so we had to read the whole thing in class.

[Dozyproductions]

This is terrible. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best books ever written.

Just keep dumbing it down. The idea of a zombie apocalypse is just an allegory for how stupid everyone is going to be.

perfect.

This is sad but true. You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to teach To Kill a Mockingbird to 11th graders. They couldn't be trusted (or bothered) to read it on their own so we had to read the whole thing in class.

That's actually awesome and hopefully they can appreciate what you did after the fact. Question though, what makes the classics, classics? Why were they in your curriculum in the first place? Honest questions.

[ColdAccord]

Just keep dumbing it down. The idea of a zombie apocalypse is just an allegory for how stupid everyone is going to be.

^.

Speaking of high school curriculum I just started re-reading crime and punishment, been ten years.

[chadthestampede]

That's actually awesome and hopefully they can appreciate what you did after the fact. Question though, what makes the classics, classics? Why were they in your curriculum in the first place? Honest questions.

It's hard to explain. I think they involve quite a few things. How well they depict, to the reader, a sense of realism in the characters and setting, for instance. If they make you think. Compelling dialogue and story line, but not ostentatiously so. All of these things can be present in a non-classic book, but I think the classics offer much more.

To Kill a Mockingbird, for example, captures the essence of a classic. The story is from the view of an innocent; someone teetering at the very edge of the cynicism, hatred, fear, love, loss, courage and the myriad of other emotions of adulthood. There is the slow realization that something is happening that is bigger than the event itself. That the town in the book is a microcosm of the entire south. It froze a hugely important transitional point in our history as a nation, and Harper Lee did so with such power and literary poise that it's truly an event to read that book. There are a few books that I can honestly say are life changing and that is one of them. It invokes the feeling that you are part of...something. Part of humanity.

It's difficult to convey why I think the 'classics' are so necessary, or indeed why they are even considered classic. Many so called classics are, while very good books or stories, very outdated. Many of Shakespeare's works, for instance, are difficult for anyone to understand not only because of the language but because they are set in a period of time so far separated from our own.

I think what we're really losing in our current system of education is a will to learn. I heard a teacher told once that the students in her classes were not learning because she was 'not being entertaining enough'. There is just no will or effort to learn. I saw it in my classroom as well. We're losing what should be paramount in our lives: a love of learning and knowledge. I think the classics help instill a wonder about life, about the world around us. I think they compel us, not just to learn, but to want to learn and to never stop learning. Students now seem to only want to know what they have to know and nothing more. They'd rather be playing angry birds or instagramming or whatever the hell else than just simply learning about anything at all. It's really pathetic that our education system has come to just churning out people to turn the cogs in the proverbial machine.

Anyway that sums up some of my feelings on this. My writing has suffered quite a bit since college so I'll see if I can stir up something a little less ambiguous tomorrow.

[Eric]

My wife said the other day that they no longer teach cursive in school? damn ipads.

[Dozyproductions]

It's great and shitty, once the reality sets in, to get the perspective from a teacher. My teacher buddy echos your sentiment as well.

I was going to say that a 'classic' has the caliber to insight some thought formation in kids today but as you said they don't care with what they know until they have to start learning some narrow amount of information to get a job.

When in HS I had a chemistry teacher who did make it 'entertaining'. So much so that I loved going to his class and (key word) trying to learn chemistry :) But he didn't back down the pace because he could usually recognize when people weren't getting the material or being to lazy to listen and learn.

[Herr Faust Schinken]

My wife said the other day that they no longer teach cursive in school? damn ipads.

i was always horrible at cursive tried really damn hard too, but i like to read and i don't think you can teach English (in america at least) with out books like To Kill a Mockingbird they are part of american culture.

[mrsleeve]

^

That

[chadthestampede]

It's great and shitty, once the reality sets in, to get the perspective from a teacher. My teacher buddy echos your sentiment as well.

I was going to say that a 'classic' has the caliber to insight some thought formation in kids today but as you said they don't care with what they know until they have to start learning some narrow amount of information to get a job.

When in HS I had a chemistry teacher who did make it 'entertaining'. So much so that I loved going to his class and (key word) trying to learn chemistry :) But he didn't back down the pace because he could usually recognize when people weren't getting the material or being to lazy to listen and learn.

Don't get me wrong, I try to make any material I teach as entertaining as possible, for me and the students. Sometimes it's just not possible though. The idea that students have to be entertained all the time in order to learn I think is dangerous though. It does require some work on their part. School isn't just watching a movie or playing angry birds.

Incidentally I'm not sure how much longer I'll be teaching. Right now I'm not officially teaching, just tutoring. Jobs are scarce and the pay isn't that great. There's too much bureaucracy and at least in NY the union sucks.

Also all you have to do to lose complete faith in humanity is browse through this a little bit:

https://twitter.com/herpderpedia

[Farbin Kaiber]

I would have no idea what a chifferobe is without To Kill a Mockingbird.

[Dozyproductions]

Man, schools shouldn't allow phones. It really is unfortunate how there's too much political influence on the school system. Good luck to you for which ever you decide.

What I don't get about this whole proposal is how it's going to be implemented. Is this shit really going to replace English class material? Plants?!