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…
