I've always believed in the joy of reading whatever I want, so I was very interested in this New York Times story yesterday about teaching literature. The question is: Should everyone in the class read the same book or should students choose their own books?Times reporter Motoko Rich focuses on a middle school teacher in Jonesboro, Ga. Last fall instead of assigning To Kill a Mockingbird, Lorrie McNeill let her seventh- and eighth-grade students pick out their own books.
Some chose challenging titles but if they didn't, McNeill nudged them in that direction. A seventh-grader who started with R&B singer Chaka Khan's memoir moved on to Maya Angelou's autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Which, actually, is a very cool transition.
(I remember when I was in high school we had to pick a science fiction novel to read, a genre I still don't like very much, and I picked Planet of the Apes.)
The article does a good job of exploring all sides of the issue and of course, it's not an either-or situation. You can assign some books and let students choose others. And there are good points to be made for all sides.
Obviously, the best way to encourage a love of reading is to let kids read what they love. The easiest way to turn them off is to force-feed them a book about which they have absolutely no interest. Reading becomes a chore instead of a pleasure.
(I still have nightmares about trudging through The Brothers Karamazov in high school. Or was it Crime and Punishment? I can't remember. But I think it permanently turned me off from all Russian literature.)
On the other hand, there is something to be said for everyone being on the same page. It fosters discussion and gets students thinking. I have to admit, even though I read a lot most of the classic works of literature I've read were assigned to me when I was in school.
But there was one quote that struck me as kind of sad. Before beginning the project O'Neill felt compelled to warn her very supportive principal: "I am not sure how it’s going to pan out on the standardized tests.”
Even though it's not exactly a revelation that schools today teach to test, statements like that still make me cringe.
7 comments:
I like the idea of having a list to choose from, so that there is some inherent direction (you can't just pick anything) but allows a choice for the students. We were never given that. It was always just read what you're told to read, and that makes for very boring work, not to mention a big turnoff to literature. You may not like to read, but if you have a choice, at least that gives you a bit of freedom!
Oh the list to choose from is a great idea. I had a bit of both assigned and choice which was nice.
I personally like the list of books to choose from. In my 11th grade World Lit class, we had to analyze two books and we were given a list of books to choose from and I think that it works like that. My only problem is that if you allow some kids to read "Maximum Ride" or "Twilight" instead of classic literature, how will they know what a well-written book looks like?
Of course, I enjoyed reading quite a bit and tended to enjoy the books we were assigned in English classes at both my junior high and high school.
I personally like the list of books to choose from. In my 11th grade World Lit class, we had to analyze two books and we were given a list of books to choose from and I think that it works like that. My only problem is that if you allow some kids to read "Maximum Ride" or "Twilight" instead of classic literature, how will they know what a well-written book looks like?
Of course, I enjoyed reading quite a bit and tended to enjoy the books we were assigned in English classes at both my junior high and high school.
I read a version of this article in our local paper yesterday. The problem I had with it is calling this a study of "literature". Some of the kids were choosing to read Captain Underpants! I think we can all agree that this is NOT literature. I also agree that choice is important. Nothing worse than reading something you hate. I like Amanda's idea of choice with parameters - when it comes to the study of "literature". If we are talking about reading for reading's sake - I say bring on Captain Underpants!
I'd like to see some assigned reading, so the group discussion will make more sense, and some choice from a list of generally accepted literature.
But I do have to say that Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, which I read in my 20s are still two of my favorite books! Which just shows that diversity is a good thing. - Kathy Boyce
Thanks for the comments! Sorry I've been so lazy about acknowledging them.
I agree that it's not an either-or type of thing. Out of a 10-month school year, teachers should be able to have their students pick one book totally of their choice, one book from a list and one that the whole class reads together. There definitely are benefits from each one.
And I give the teachers in this article a lot of credit for trying to instill a love of reading. It's something that's not always easy to do.
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