tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post4399682205607671482..comments2023-10-10T09:26:30.309+01:00Comments on The Secret Life of an Unknown Housewife: Michael Gove removes To Kill a Mockingbird and other classics from the GCSE syllabus.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01317766743752185380noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-24795148861892150122014-05-30T01:11:18.384+01:002014-05-30T01:11:18.384+01:00This is actually very sad, classic books such as t...This is actually very sad, classic books such as these should always be part of the curriculum... It is very surprising that one person has so much power. It seems there should be a board of directors to make such decisions?? And many teachers on that board!<br />Tammy xtlcukjourneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18126317345680620502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-34151547885418688912014-05-29T16:36:53.478+01:002014-05-29T16:36:53.478+01:00Oh ... and I love the way you took the "liter...Oh ... and I love the way you took the "literate leftie" thing from a tweet by Daniel Hannan! I thought it was your own for a minute.xxxsarah at secret housewifehttp://secretworldofahousewife.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-72795694708549226702014-05-29T16:15:14.172+01:002014-05-29T16:15:14.172+01:00Thanks Inkling.Your comment is very interesting. I...Thanks Inkling.Your comment is very interesting. It has made me think that over here we tend, in my eyes, to be teaching so that children can pass exams rather than teaching to give children an in depth knowledge of literature.<br /><br />Hello Mark. Thanks for commenting.All the articles I had read before writing this post ( BBC News, Guardian, Independent) had said that the new syllabus had to include, as I said in the post, <br /> "at least one Shakespeare play, the Romantic poets, a 19th century novel from anywhere (US, European,British), a selection of post 1850 poetry and a British 20th century novel or drama."<br />I think that to say Gove has little to do with the syllabus is wrong and if you are right then surely as Education Secretary he should have something to do with it? My problem is that he appears to make sweeping changes without listening to education experts.The current GCSE students completed all their speech and language course work and then were told that actually this would count for nothing and they would have to sit an exam instead.I have never met anyone working in schools who speaks of Gove in glowing terms. If anything he and his policies are derided and teachers are leaving the profession in droves because of the way the system is going.<br />I am interested to see that you consider me a literate leftie ( much better than being an illiterate leftie!) but actually my politics are not on the left. If anything I lean more towards the Conservative party.<br />I could have written a post saying that Gove had banned all foreign books, as had been bandied about the internet, but my research showed this to be untrue. I have tried to write an honest post that shows my concern for the fate of our education system.<br />Thanks for commenting. Its good to get different viewpoints.sarah at secret housewifehttp://secretworldofahousewife.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-23733688022322108492014-05-28T22:25:19.520+01:002014-05-28T22:25:19.520+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14559568921103147931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-52111145405325703942014-05-28T21:09:49.277+01:002014-05-28T21:09:49.277+01:00I find this post really interesting. A friend of ...I find this post really interesting. A friend of mine who has her masters in library science mentioned this new change and was saddened by it. As I read through your post and the comments already written, it strikes me to be grateful for the classical education model talked about by Dorothy Sayers in her Lost Tools of Learning essay that has been revived and written about by an educator in the USA. There has been a resurgence of classical, literature based programs. Children still chant "amo, amas, amat", but they do it when they are young (age 8 or 9) while chanting and memorizing is still fun and not ponderous. And because the whole curriculum is literature based, they have from Kindergarten to grade 12 to be exposed to beautiful and challenging works by diverse authors. They even get to read an abridged Shakespeare in the elementary grades to prepare them for the Shakespeare in a Week play that the upper school students put on. I remember teaching that book to prepare my students for the play we would see that week, and realizing that I was finally enjoying and understanding the Bard. I only wish I'd had the benefit to be educated that way from the beginning, instead of indirectly through my own teaching jobs.<br /><br />It's a shame the curriculum has to be so limited and rather ethnocentric in so many schools today. We read a plethora of American authors, with very little exposure to anyone else when I was in school. It wasn't until I was exposed to the classical model that a world of literature was put before me. I felt a bit like Helene Hanff upon finding Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's book in her library and choosing to embark on a whirlwind journey.Inklinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07705228810421675423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-14797228427118957112014-05-27T10:24:49.634+01:002014-05-27T10:24:49.634+01:00Hi Nick
Yes I agree. I'm not against change at...Hi Nick<br />Yes I agree. I'm not against change at all and I'm not saying that we should keep the same books forever and ever. If anything I think there should be a variety of more modern books in there. Gove seems intent on making students study really old works.The only hope of studying anything post 19th century is his decree that they should study a British 20th century novel or play. This effectively wipes out anything from the US , Europe or elsewhere and I think this is wrong. Surely there have been some decent books written in the last 50 years? And not just in Britain? English lit is not just the works written by British writers.<br />I think we probably are thinking the same way. I might have to change my post to make my view more clear. xsarah at secret housewifehttp://secretworldofahousewife.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-65983302768102150202014-05-26T22:31:20.965+01:002014-05-26T22:31:20.965+01:00I agree with your argument up to a point, both boo...I agree with your argument up to a point, both books mentioned are fantastic and inspiring, however one was written in 1937 and the other is a 1960 novel set 1936. I find it difficult to believe that examination boards have not been able to find equally great and inspiring novels written and set in times closer to the lives that teenagers live now. Both are truly brilliant books but just as much period pieces as the suggested 19th century novel.nick lamberthttps://www.facebook.com/nick.lambert.1654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-45337803200197480502014-05-26T13:07:09.995+01:002014-05-26T13:07:09.995+01:00Not sure why I appeared as anonymous, sorry about ...Not sure why I appeared as anonymous, sorry about that! Mind you it could be worse, it could all go back to relentless DH Lawrence, that's a memory I can do without :) My family and other animals on the other hand I have very, very fond memories of.Tracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00027109433909327960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-88827731713592415622014-05-26T12:18:02.098+01:002014-05-26T12:18:02.098+01:00I have to say that I agree with you to a certain e...I have to say that I agree with you to a certain extent. I think we should be open to change. What I find frustrating is Gove's backwards step. There are so many texts that could be studied and yet he has narrowed the choice without listening to education specialists.His "bull in a china shop" approach is so destructive.<br />Thanks very much for commenting.<br />Sarahsarah at secret housewifehttp://secretworldofahousewife.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646749189327464337.post-86016883126099924522014-05-26T11:37:21.676+01:002014-05-26T11:37:21.676+01:00I think there should be more rotation of texts in ...I think there should be more rotation of texts in the syllabus to give freshness. As the mother of an 18 and 20 yr old, far, far too many young people have studied Of Mice and Men over recent years,to the exclusion of so much else! That's narrow too...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com