There were times in reading through the history of teaching English that I thought of my own philosophy or actions as a teacher and even as a recipient, as a student of certain ideological methods. I thoroughly enjoy a good annotated version of a text. I relied too heavily on an anthology in teaching some of my English classes. I taught classes that were the result of tracking, often resulting in the students feeling a lack of knowledge rather than “specialized” for their “level”. It is interesting to think of a teachers’ journey in understanding their own content area in terms of the larger, historic view of the discipline. Is there a general pattern that people’s thinking follows? I mean, I would think that people who are educators would want to make the best decision for their students, and reading about how the history of teaching English has evolved, I suggest that there is something to the steps and eras of educational philosophy coinciding with what comes naturally as the best option. If the population of secondary students is doubling in 10 years and then again in 15, the situation is radically different, and efficiency would seem to be the best option, and like a mind map or river, it just seems to feed into the next step – observable gains, cumulative exams, cutting out the fluff of “character building” and getting to what common essentials. I do not like where it leads, but it sure seems like the path that many would take if in these past thinkers’ positions.
I am partial to Dewey and Adams’ ideas of disregarding “classics,” for it emanates elitism. I think that we (read: I) should look more to contemporary writings, and let students discover the meaning, not have the ideas and values predetermined for them. How sad for us, who parse the words of Shakespeare and Milton into nothing but scientific fancies and have misnamed the passive osmosis of literature to be part of an “experiential” model. I think that I have the same problem that English teachers have had throughout the ages: how do I make my discipline important? But for me, it’s not about communicating it to the academy but rather the students. The project method seems to closely hit at that idea: a unit that is worthy of life and is a purposeful act. I think that sounds so inspiring, but that anthology already has all the stuff I “need” to get students ready for tests. Perhaps next semester…
How do we convince students that English is important? Especially when in high school, most of them would argue that they know how to read and write, so what else is there? Although, the teachers would probably think that their ability to read is questionable and their ability to write is even less favorable. I do think the more applicable to real-life their work is the better; however, that "real-life" phrase seems to mainly remain a phrase in lessons.
ReplyDelete--Jen
I know we are both really interesting in tracking (more like the abolishing of it), so I thought of you when I read about the progressives on page 49. According to Applebee the tension between preparing students for college and preparing students for life has been around for a while. It seems that those two different views of the teaching of English turned into the tracks that we now have. But the progressives thought that "preparation from college and preparation for life should not be differentiated" (p.49). Exactly! And if we teach that way, then there are no tracks, right?
ReplyDeleteAnd how funny that the Uniform List was actually full of "contemporary" texts!
Convince your principal to spring for books about drugs, sex, or other themes in texts they haven't had the chance of seeing on a reading list before. Convince your principle to buy books period. Once we buy the books, then there's an obligation to use them. Buying more? Really? What about all the ones we've got back in that store room? But don't let your students bring in their own books - can't force them to do that, and we wouldn't want them to read different things.
DeleteI appreciate your honesty--about better ways of teaching English, and about the constraints (time, effort, a system that seems to fight change) that keep us from acting on those convictions. Jen's question about how to convince students that English is important also seems worthy of a good chunk of thinking!
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