I have never been a big fan of reading, like many students my age or even older and this is definitely an issue.
I feel my interest in reading all went down hill once I started high school. This is probably the same problem with many students today that are not avid readers. When you are young you are so excited to start reading, it means you are becoming a "grown up" but once you get to the age where it becomes more and more required for school and such you lose interest. It could be that you become a lazy teenager but personally I think it is what you read. You get so burnt out on reading boring textbooks in school, and the boring required books for English classes that once that is done where is the motivation to sit down and pick up an interesting book?
There is obviously no way to get around reading textbooks, it's just something you learn to deal with. But as for the so called "classics" that everyone must read in high school, why? For example, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is probably a great book but when teachers force it down your throat it loses its appeal. Isn't the point of reading it to learn how to be a better reader, and in turn a better writer? You don't have to read a certain book to learn how to analyze the plot or make everyday connections to whatever text it is. Why not let students read what they choose and reflect on that. If they are interested in the books the are reading, they will make more of an effort in the assignments that go along with the reading.
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I totally agree with you. I totally feel like being forced to read certain "classics" did more damage than good. The same goes for films. I took a film class here at EOU and at one point we had to watch "Citizen Kane" which is revered as one of the greatest films of all time. Guess what, after years of hearing how great it was, I was sorely disappointed in what I saw. It might be a pretty good film if it wasn't preceded by everyone drooling all over it and saying how amazing it is. As far as being told which books to read, I think that one reason they forced us to read certain books was because if they let us read whatever we wanted, then it would fall on the teacher to ALSO read those books so they could properly grade our work. It isn't an issue of lazy teens, it was lazy teachers!! (Just kidding...kinda.)
ReplyDeleteHi, Emma and Seth. I think you're right, and research in reading also suggests this. Regarding the lazy teachers, I think many teachers feel they have to know everything about everything to be good teachers. Trying to keep control of your own classes can cause this insecurity. But, teachers might operate a little more successfully if they let students be experts on some things, including the wide variety of their own reading. Nancy
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