big picture classrooms

I've thrown a shout out to Mrs. Stairet before in this blog, for her ability to teach a meaningful, in-depth AP literature course my senior year in high school. And now, it looks like I'm not the only one who was influenced by this class.

A recent Washington Post article, "A Tale of Two Literature Courses,"is the first in what they're calling an "occasional" series of articles exploring how popular courses are taught. It's conclusions should be no surprise to anyone in secondary education: teachers teach material they enjoy, not necessarily what the curriculum dictates. Sure, everyone has to teach the dreaded district-mandated texts, or teach to specific testing material, but for the most part, a good teacher is one who is passionate about their subject and thus conveys that passion to their students.

One example from the article is a teacher's decision to teach The Scarlet Letter because it "teaches well." In my own experiences, Hawthorne's story of adulterated love and Puritan double standards brings back both horror stories and memories of success. I first read the story in my junior year of high school, and anyone who knew me then could tell you it was not a pleasant experience (As a silver lining, though, I did get the privilege of capturing the essence of Hester Prynne as a band tramp for the class' final project). However, upon my second reading of the story in my college American Literature survey course, I found I was really able to engage with the story and get some real meaning out of it. Part of this I know is from our additional Hawthorne texts, which I greatly enjoyed and thus lumped The Scarlet Letter into that enjoyment. But I also know a large part of my 180 was due to the professor's passion for Puritan-era writings, and his amazing ability to bring the stories, and time period, to life in a meaningful contextual study.

This isn't to say the first teacher wasn't passionate, but rather she taught to a test, and not to our intellect. As the article notes, many high school students grumble at the seemingly formulaic discussions of "rhyme, meter, metaphor, tone, similes, themes and imagery." However, as was the case for me, teaching these fundamentals can be done in a way that reflects on their ability to create a meaningful story, rather than a form for classic literature.