To Refuse a Classic...
Tuesday March 20, 2007
Ah, another twist on the story of those "boring" classics that nobody wants to read, right? In a recent article from thisislondon.co.uk, we learn: "Around 50 schools have refused to stock literary works by the likes of Jane Austen, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens after admitting that youngsters also find them boring."
I guess I shouldn't be surprised... When I went to high school, my English teacher recommended that we should steer clear of the novels of Charles Dickens and Herman Melville, because they were large and "difficult." Of course, those were always the novels that I chose to read, so I guess just the fact that a teacher tells you not to read a book doesn't necessarily mean you'll follow that advice.
But, back to the story... The whole sordid tale apparently revolves around the donation of sets of up to 300 books to schools across the UK by Millennium Library Trust. Jane Eyre, Middlemarch, Oliver Twist, and Lord of the Rings were just a few of the titles that were part of the donation. And, some of the complaint from the school involved the "ugly and unattractive" look of the books. What is the world coming to, when a free book is rejected because it looks ugly, or because the stereotype is that the book is too difficult? What about encourgaing students to read? Why don't we show students that we can find excitement even in the classics? Why can't we demonstrate that the classics are great for a reason--that classics are great because they are life changing, that they may make one reevaluate one's life, or that a great work of literature might lead to a life filled with a sucession of well-read books? This is an affair with literature we're talking about, aren't we? We're not talking about something that a student will experience for a moment and forget tomorrow.
David Cambell (who runs the Millennium Trust) said: "I believe strongly that if just one pupil in each school each year for the next 50 years has his or her life changed by new worlds being opened from reading outside the syllabus, this project will have been worthwhile."
An interesting story--all around. What do you think?
I guess I shouldn't be surprised... When I went to high school, my English teacher recommended that we should steer clear of the novels of Charles Dickens and Herman Melville, because they were large and "difficult." Of course, those were always the novels that I chose to read, so I guess just the fact that a teacher tells you not to read a book doesn't necessarily mean you'll follow that advice.
But, back to the story... The whole sordid tale apparently revolves around the donation of sets of up to 300 books to schools across the UK by Millennium Library Trust. Jane Eyre, Middlemarch, Oliver Twist, and Lord of the Rings were just a few of the titles that were part of the donation. And, some of the complaint from the school involved the "ugly and unattractive" look of the books. What is the world coming to, when a free book is rejected because it looks ugly, or because the stereotype is that the book is too difficult? What about encourgaing students to read? Why don't we show students that we can find excitement even in the classics? Why can't we demonstrate that the classics are great for a reason--that classics are great because they are life changing, that they may make one reevaluate one's life, or that a great work of literature might lead to a life filled with a sucession of well-read books? This is an affair with literature we're talking about, aren't we? We're not talking about something that a student will experience for a moment and forget tomorrow.
David Cambell (who runs the Millennium Trust) said: "I believe strongly that if just one pupil in each school each year for the next 50 years has his or her life changed by new worlds being opened from reading outside the syllabus, this project will have been worthwhile."
An interesting story--all around. What do you think?
Comments
I too was appalled at the rejection of free literature. I have been teaching in the FE sector in some deprived areas and have seen how the challenge of new texts has transformed the lives of both young students and older Access students returning to education.
To dumb down students with a disparaging assumption that they can only understand colourful easy texts is to return them to primary school early readers and quite frankly that is appalling.
I have had students clamour to create diaries from difficult texts, engage in lively and innovative drama sketches and enter into complex and free flowing debates that would challenge the greatest of thinkers outside the classroom. So why deny that engagement?
Yes we may all struggle with some texts (I would love to be grown up enough to read Ulysses but I will one day; I am only 47 now and still learning)but to add censorship of free thought into our education remit is appalling.
All modern writers have learnt from the craftsmen who have gone before. How can we generate a new wave of influential thinkers without giving them the tools of the trade?
I have just moved to a quite rural part of Wales and would gladly set up a reading project with any discarded books that schools feel unable to take. We should not let the rejection of the texts go unnoticed, especially at a time when schools and colleges are clamouring for funding and resources.