Catcher in the Rye dropped from US school curriculum

by | Dec 8, 2012 | Individual.Elements.Commons.Arenas.School, Individual.Elements.Competence.Multipliers.Training, Individual.Elements.Competence.PUSH.Understanding and wisdom, Sectors.Education

Via The Telegraph:

Books such as JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird will be replaced by “informational texts” approved by the Common Core State Standards.

Suggested non-fiction texts include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California’s Invasive Plant Council.

The new educational standards have the backing of the influential National Governors’ Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, and are being part-funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Catcher in the Rye dropped from US school curriculum – Telegraph

Points:

  • Pro: “…will help pupils to develop the ability to write concisely and factually, which will be more useful in the workplace than a knowledge of Shakespeare.”
  • Con: “…education has to be about more than simply ensuring that kids can get a job. Isn’t it supposed to be about making well-rounded citizens?”

Ponder: I looked up the Common Core Standards and browsed the readings. The linked article makes it seem as if students are getting boring government documents rammed down their throats. There’s a little more to it than the Pro and Con statements would convey.

  • There are a lot (I mean A LOT) of texts listed in the Common Core Standards and in the appendix documents, including many in the tradition English canon like Shelley and TS Eliot. In contrast to the Pro statement, Shakespeare is still in the list. In contrast to the Con statement, the recommended exercises include lots of comparisons between works, a fundamental skill for well-rounded citizens.
  • The appendix documents are where you’ll find the recommended works listed. Each listed work contains an short extract to illustrate its complexity level. There are suggestions on how to use the works. Here’s is an example: “Students compare and contrast how the protagonists of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter maintain their integrity when confronting authority, and they relate their analysis of that theme to other portrayals in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature they have read.”
  • The government documents identified in the linked article are indeed in the reading list. However, the context appears to be so teachers can use them in comparison with other works to discuss how information is organized and presented.