United Kingdom Ditches American Classics for British Authors (1 Viewer)

[BLReed]

Oh no. Typically in the U.S. students get at least one year of American authors and another year of British
authors. At least way back when. Today they are lucky just to get students to read. I grew up with
Charles Dickens as well as Mark Twain. If you can afford it send your kids to private schools or hold
more classes when they get home. We have the same problem. They can't dictate what school districts
teach, so instead design the national tests so that the students flunk if not taught the National core
curriculum. Off my American education soap box now.

"Academics and writers have reacted angrily to plans to drop classic American novels including To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men from the GCSE curriculum as a result of the insistence by the education secretary, Michael Gove, on students studying more British literature.

The new English literature GCSE syllabus to be published this week by OCR, one of the biggest UK exam boards, will leave out Harper Lee's Pulitzer-prizewinning 1960 novel of racism in the American south. John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, and Arthur Miller's play The Crucible – in which the Salem witch-hunts serve as a metaphor for McCarthyite anti-communist zealotry – will also disappear from the list, according to the Sunday Times. Another exam board, Edexcel, is expected to follow suit.

Although a statement from the Department for Education insisted that it was not banning anything, Paul Dodd of OCR attributed the change directly to the education secretary. "Of Mice and Men, which Michael Gove really dislikes, will not be included. It was studied by 90% of teenagers taking English literature GCSE in the past. Michael Gove said that was a really disappointing statistic," he told the Sunday Times."
Read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/25/mockingbird-mice-and-men-axed-michael-gove-gcse

 

[hotel3alpha]

Hey BL,

This ain't about books, its about the FIFA World Cup.

Yeah, I hear ya! In Texas, we had World History, American History and of course Texas History in high school. But, in Literature it was the American Classics (like the ones mentioned in the article) Shakespeare, and well I can't remember. However, in College my literary world was expanded beyond my belief! As a student on the GI Bill I was a little older than the next kid and really dug Shakespeare this time around while others yawned. Plus, I could go on and name probably a 100 books or so that I would have never read from various authors from all over the world. But again that was in college. I barely passed in High School and could of gave to rats butts about it and oh how I paid for that attitude later in life!

"Back to the lecture at hand" a la Snoop Dog...if the high borns/brows want to only read English centric authors then so be it. I mean they don't have to read American Classics in English Schools. I'm sure the Public schools already have their own rules and regulations and yes I know that public means private in Britain. But, I am pretty sure its not a requirement to read Steinbeck in Chile or China, so again if they want to read "British Only" authors then peace be with you brother.

HOWEVER COMMMA, yes there is always a however, if you had the opportunity to teach a kid-any kid-about some of these classics then that would be great. Likewise, if you had the opportunity to teach a kid about some British Classics that would be great too. But, this is about politics man and this Education Secretary dude is just looking for a little national "Who Haw" before the FIFA World Cup. Yeah, thats right I said it...ever since England embarrassing show in the last FIFA they ain't been right in the world. So, England is looking to start beating the Drums with its Nationalistic pride any way they can to elevate England as the Country to beat. Whether it is a via the education platform for "British Only" books or British only this or that, you will see England start to make themselves out as the "Godfather" of soccer and everybody "owes" them for that privilege.

Nevermind the Mayas and Incas started soccer and basketball by using the heads of their enemies as "balls". Nevermind the Eskimos balanced and jungled "balls" in Native Tribe Competitions. NO, no other culture in the world ever thought of kicking a ball around...only the British. Why? Well, because the were the first to "organise" the game and make it beautiful and not full of savages. Do I get a "here, here" here?

So, there you have it. Reading in between the lines if you will and like I said this ain't about books it's about the FIFA World Cup and England trying to delete the memory of the last Cups performance. And how do you do that? Well, you just got to look down through your nose and see at what you are reading.

For shame on the Education Secretary for making England look bad prior to the World Cup.

John from Texas

PS: Trust me my English friends we ain't perfect either. Hell, we are lucky to even be in the Cup.

 

[Jack]

Having taught literature courses at school and university level, I have no problem with attempts to concentrate on home grown authors. What used to annoy me - and still does - is when a classic is replaced by a lesser work. By the end of my career in schools , it appeared as though it was all about an overt political agenda. If it mentioned land rights, refugees or the evils of colonisation it was on the reading list. Only slightly worse than that were the teachers who chose books based on the availability of a two hour movie. In one course they pushed me to delve into a general theme of 'The clash of cultures' with the aim of teaching students how to write a film review. The entire department showed a series of 'I hate Western Civilisation' movies. I showed 'Zulu'.

 

[hotel3alpha]

Having taught literature courses at school and university level, I have no problem with attempts to concentrate on home grown authors. What used to annoy me - and still does - is when a classic is replaced by a lesser work. By the end of my career in schools , it appeared as though it was all about an overt political agenda. If it mentioned land rights, refugees or the evils of colonisation it was on the reading list. Only slightly worse than that were the teachers who chose books based on the availability of a two hour movie. In one course they pushed me to delve into a general theme of 'The clash of cultures' with the aim of teaching students how to write a film review. The entire department showed a series of 'I hate Western Civilisation' movies. I showed 'Zulu'.

Good on you Captain Jack!

Your right though...if replaced by lesser works then you are missing a true enrichment. Though I really did not want to read it, I read Run, Rabbit, Run and "got it" once and for all. Likewise, Babbit was another one I dreaded but turned around and loved. However, when I read A Fine Balance I finally got a window into another part of the world and its history. But, like I said that was not until college.

Good to hear from you Jack and thank you for teaching.

John from Texas

 

[Mitch]

definitely a Texan thing or, specifically a small number of texans.
Mitch

Hey BL,

This ain't about books, its about the FIFA World Cup.

Yeah, I hear ya! In Texas, we had World History, American History and of course Texas History in high school. But, in Literature it was the American Classics (like the ones mentioned in the article) Shakespeare, and well I can't remember. However, in College my literary world was expanded beyond my belief! As a student on the GI Bill I was a little older than the next kid and really dug Shakespeare this time around while others yawned. Plus, I could go on and name probably a 100 books or so that I would have never read from various authors from all over the world. But again that was in college. I barely passed in High School and could of gave to rats butts about it and oh how I paid for that attitude later in life!

"Back to the lecture at hand" a la Snoop Dog...if the high borns/brows want to only read English centric authors then so be it. I mean they don't have to read American Classics in English Schools. I'm sure the Public schools already have their own rules and regulations and yes I know that public means private in Britain. But, I am pretty sure its not a requirement to read Steinbeck in Chile or China, so again if they want to read "British Only" authors then peace be with you brother.

HOWEVER COMMMA, yes there is always a however, if you had the opportunity to teach a kid-any kid-about some of these classics then that would be great. Likewise, if you had the opportunity to teach a kid about some British Classics that would be great too. But, this is about politics man and this Education Secretary dude is just looking for a little national "Who Haw" before the FIFA World Cup. Yeah, thats right I said it...ever since England embarrassing show in the last FIFA they ain't been right in the world. So, England is looking to start beating the Drums with its Nationalistic pride any way they can to elevate England as the Country to beat. Whether it is a via the education platform for "British Only" books or British only this or that, you will see England start to make themselves out as the "Godfather" of soccer and everybody "owes" them for that privilege.

Nevermind the Mayas and Incas started soccer and basketball by using the heads of their enemies as "balls". Nevermind the Eskimos balanced and jungled "balls" in Native Tribe Competitions. NO, no other culture in the world ever thought of kicking a ball around...only the British. Why? Well, because the were the first to "organise" the game and make it beautiful and not full of savages. Do I get a "here, here" here?

So, there you have it. Reading in between the lines if you will and like I said this ain't about books it's about the FIFA World Cup and England trying to delete the memory of the last Cups performance. And how do you do that? Well, you just got to look down through your nose and see at what you are reading.

For shame on the Education Secretary for making England look bad prior to the World Cup.

John from Texas

PS: Trust me my English friends we ain't perfect either. Hell, we are lucky to even be in the Cup.

 

[hotel3alpha]

definitely a Texan thing or, specifically a small number of texans.
Mitch

Be nice Major General Mitch! I love Shakespeare yo!

John from Texas