Saturday, August 14, 2010

Is Fiction Frivolous?

A few weeks ago I was reading an article by E.D. Hirsch, who said that reading choices in school should not be "random" and that fiction is "frivolous". His point was that the teacher should choose books based on topics of study, rather than students choosing books of interest to them, thereby strengthening other Core Knowledge subjects while improving literacy.

At first glance, taking every opportunity to interleave subjects and focus learning seems like a good thing, especially if your focus is on test scores and retaining Core Knowledge facts. But if you are concerned about nurturing a love of learning, valuing individual interests, or even getting kids to want to read, this is not a good strategy. This line of thinking can extend to art, music, recreation, and movement. If they do not directly contribute to a highly focused subject, than they are not worthwhile. I could not disagree more! Let's not squeeze all of the beauty of life out of education, please! Not only is education far less enjoyable when we do this, we fail to reach the most at-risk students and increase the drop-out rate.

Giving a reader, especially a struggling one, a choice in what they read encourages them to read more and to delve into a subject until they are satiated. Giving students a modicum of control over parts of their education is to invite them to actively participate in it.

In the effort to help boys who straggle far behind girls in literacy, there has been a concerted effort by educators and publishers to provide books that will greatly appeal to them and be within their reading ability to help nurture literacy. These books are called high interest/low level and feature subjects like sports, animals, and all things “gross”. I know from experience that these are the books of choice for many a struggling reader. Do we really think that keeping kids interested and active in their education is unimportant? How sad that curiosity and interest would be casualties in the maniacal effort to raise test scores.

In an article by Nancie Atwell (here), The National Council of Teachers of English were frantically looking for volunteers to defend the teaching of literature because the Common Core State Standards Initiative, dominated by test-makers and politicians, were busy writing the K-12 Common-Core Standards behind closed doors and did not see the worth of book reading. What? Even high-brow literature is unworthy?

When I was learning to read, I was taken to the public library once a week and was allowed to choose a bagful of any books I liked. At one point I was reading a lot of Danielle Steele books. These books did not boost my test scores or elevate my education (except maybe socially) but they kept my nose in a book for hours at a time until I grew tired of them. My bookshelves later filled with books that were not in the Danielle Steele genre, but I appreciated that I could choose what was interesting to me – both in school and at home to encourage a lifelong love and ability to read. I hope my children will have the same choice and say in their education.

12 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree with you more. I have just begun homeschooling my 2nd and 4th grade sons, and already I'm looking for ways to give them more say in what we study. Real education happens when they light up! It makes my stomach go in a knot when I think about the "test-makers and politicians" writing curricula... Thanks for this post.

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  2. David - thank you and thanks for reading!

    Hi Kooky, homeschooling used to be rare but it is now one of the fastest growing segments of education, increasing by leaps and bounds every year. There are so many reasons for doing it, and in my opinion, the Core Knowledge standards will help to create more homeschoolers. Good luck to you!

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  3. Read, read, read! That's what's important, not what you read...

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  4. I couldn't agree with you more!! Great post Tracy!!

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  5. great post - I just shared on twitter [tnlinational]

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  6. Kerry, yes, I saw several studies that showed the summer brain drain was stopped as long as a kid read - anything seemed to count.

    Thank you, Kimberly!

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  7. Curiously, some of the biggest devotees of Core Knowledge are homeschoolers, who have grown dispirited at the refusal of schools to give their children a rigorous, well-rounded education, with the schools preferring instead to worship at the altar of child-centered, anything-goes ideology.

    I want my child and my students to have a lifelong love of reading too. Unfortunately, people seldom spend their lives loving things they're no good at. And becoming a strong reader is largely a function of background knowledge (i.e., the more you know, the more you can comprehend) a fact well known to cognitive science, if not educators. So "read anything" is not a terribly efficacious long-term strategy for reading success. It's well-intentioned, but ultimately ineffective.

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  8. Robert, thanks for your comments. I know that people are motivated to homeschool for so many different reasons - some do have actual altars associated with them, of course, and many simply have preferences for an education that is different from the one offered to them in public schools. Some have an anything goes approach but most, in my experience do not.

    My son got a book today that he absolutely loved and he had his nose in it for most of the morning. It was a book that he liked and chose. When the book is not of interest to him, I have to badger/nag/plead/bribe to get him and he is barely willing to do it. It does seem that interest helps a great deal with willingness, which is instrumental in learning and success.

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  9. Agreed, Tracy. The content vs. choice argument is yet another in an interminable line of false dichotomies in education. There's room in a good education for plenty of both. Motivation and engagement matter, certainly. But we do our children a grave disservice when we allow them to miss out on essential knowledge because they're "not into it." As adults and teachers, we have an obligation to make sure our children are broadly educated and well-rounded--which will also increase the number of things they are engaged by.

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  10. I totally agree with you, and think that an interest in one thing can do wonders for teaching how to learn. If a kid is interested in soccer, for instance, they can research players' stats (math, anyone?), get physical exercise by practicing their favorite player's moves, and maybe even get interested in learning more about world geography. A book may be considered "trash," but it can also open doors to completely different worlds. I think the possible positives far outweigh any negatives.

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  11. I was getting nervous reading the first sentence, and then smiled. I am adding a Free Choice Reading Library to my Spanish classes this year with the $2,000 mil levy money Bill Roberts got. Fiction and non-fiction both because really, how can you go wrong reading, in any language?

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