High school English teachers often do not agree about whether teachers should choose books for students to read or whether students should choose their own texts to read. Generally, teachers who think students should choose their own reading material attach this approach to a desire toward maximum student engagement in reading. Those who think teachers should choose what books students read generally refer to the concept of the literary canon and the importance of students getting certain literary content, to understand literary movements and to tap into the cultural knowledge that great works of literature contain. I can see the draw of both of these approaches and ultimately want to figure out, who should choose the books students read for school, students or their teachers?
In "Who Should Decide What High School Kids Are Allowed to Read?" Rob Kunzig uses the example of an award-winning young adult book banned by a school board to pose the question about who should decide what books students read in school. Kunzig explains that the book in question, Emily Danforth's Cameron Post, shocked parents when it showed up on a summer reading list because of its profanity and sexual content in its story about a lesbian growing up in rural Montana. The author suggests that even though the board cited the book's language as the reason for not endorsing its use as an option on a reading list for incoming freshmen, the board was actually reacting to the content and how it challenged beliefs held by the adults in the community. The author illustrates that there was some dissent on the school board by quoting one board member: "'It would have been so helpful to me,' says board member Roni Posner--who, like Cameron Post, wrestled with her sexuality as a teenager. She says she understands why the book would rattle the more conservative members of the community: 'It's untraditional. But it's a very real, very honest book, and it's a very important book.'" According to Kunzig, this lead to controversy between the school board and the American Civil Liberties Union's Delaware chapter. This controversy has actually brought more attention to the book and more sales of it, explains Kunzig.
In "The Percy Jackson Problem," Rebecca Mead quotes Neal Gaiman's premise that there isn't "such a thing as a bad book for children," and that "Fiction is a 'gateway drug' to reading" but then questions this idea. She focuses her reflection on the Percy Jackson series, a retelling essentially of classic stories from mythology. She explains that whereas many students would more likely choose Riordan's series over a more traditional take on mythology, this does not mean that books such as Riordan's will lead young readers to a more literary reading life. She cautions, "But the metaphor of the gateway should prompt caution, too, since one can go through a gate in two directions." She worries that young readers will be enticed toward wanting more reading of the same ilk, rather than directing readers toward the classics of literature.
In "Start a Reading Revolution: Flip Your Classroom with Blogs," AP Literature teacher Brian Sztabnik presents feedback from his students suggesting that they were not actually reading the books he assigned to them in class. He presents flipping the classroom as a solution for this problem. He describes the conventional understanding of the flipped classroom: "students watch online lectures at home so that they can engage in project-based learning during the school day." But Sztabnik explains that this model of flipping is not a perfect match for a reading classroom. But, he goes on, if flipping means that you bring into class the work that students typically do at home, then for an AP literature class, that means bringing reading into the classroom rather than having students complete it on their own at home. So he gave over many class days to reading in class and asked students to choose their texts. He asked students to blog each evening about the reading that they did in class that day. Sztabnik claims that this classroom flip created engaged, excited, empowered readers like he had never seen before.
Kunzig‘s piece places importance on students being able to choose books that will help them figure out their identities, something that might not be possible if teachers are telling them what to read. But Mead worries that students will not choose to challenge themselves with the classics if left to their own in choosing books to read. Sztabnik seems to balance both of these viewpoints. His AP Literature students choose what to read on their own, but within a certain selection of possible texts, the sort that the College Board recommends in their curriculum materials for AP Lit. According to Sztabnik, this approach (students choosing what they read, giving over ample class time to reading, and having students blog about their reading for each other) has lead to more engaged readers who are also interacting with the “classics” and preparing for the AP Lit exam.
I’m certain that there are some perspectives missing here--I need to search wider to be able to articulate more fully the conversation about who should choose the books for high school students to read. And ultimately, I lean toward a balanced approach. There is balance in the whole class reading the same book together at the same time, even having the teacher select that text for the class specifically. But I don’t think this should be the entirety of students’ reading experiences in school. They should make some choices about their reading material. And the teacher should help them navigate those choices so that they end up with books that challenge them as readers and human beings.
Works Cited
Kunzig, Rob. "Who Should Decide What High School Kids Are Allowed to Read?" The Atlantic. N.p., 5 Sept. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/09/ who-should-decide-what-high-school-kids-read/379609/>.
Mead, Rebecca. "The Percy Jackson Problem." The New Yorker. N.p., 22 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/ percy-jackson-problem>.
Sztabnik, Brian. "Flipped Classroom: Start a Reading Revolution: Flip Your Classroom with Blogs." Edutopia. George Lucas Educational Foundation, 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2014. <http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ flip-ela-class-with-blogs-brian-sztabnik>.
Writer’s memo: This went fine. I do think my research is not wide enough yet and I have more work to do for the research paper. This slice of workshop teaching will be a part of my overall argument about workshop teaching, but I’m not sure if this will actually be a part of my persuasive argument research paper. Still trying to think that out.
