Study of Literature as education in lieu of appreciation? OR Literature as art in the high school classroom?

[Dan Murphy]

I am currently undergoing the National Board Certification Process for English Language Arts Youth and Adolescents (High School). In the reflective process, I came upon the simple schema that students must first comprehend literature, then they should interpret the art of the story, and then they can appreciate literature as art. Comprehension, Interpretation, Appreciation.

I supppose what I'd like to discuss with all of you is the question "Should we expect all of our students to reach the Appreciation level of understanding?" Is this our end game?

I think this desire that I have for all of my students to appreciate literature comes from a discussion that I had early in my teaching career. At a home football game, one of the parents told me that he had not read a single book for 10 years after he had graduated from high school because he learned to hate reading in his english classes. I don't want that; yet what can we expect when learning seems to be so focused on study guides and worksheets?

Simultaneously, if we don't do the study guides, or notebook checks, or some type of worksheet, then how do we know that the kids are understanding the story? Because if they don't understand, then there's no way for them to ever appreciate literature.

Just curious about your thoughts.

Dan Murphy
St. Louis, Missouri

[Eric Meyer]

Dan,

In many ways, I really don't care if the students ever come to appreciate literature. I don't see as part of my job to make sure that they both understand and appreciate the literature. I know that I appreciate the literature and that appreciation comes through in my enthusiasm when I talk about it. With the variety of artistic endeavors and the multitiude of aspects to each endeavor, I'm fairly confident that students will find something that moves them in the same way as literature moves me.

What I do care very much about is providing them the tools and skills to be able to approach literature, and a variety of literatures at that. Reading and writing are such necessary skills, like basic mathematics, that a person lives at a direct disadvantage without a working knowledge of them. There's my first goal, the goal that every student must reach, regardless of grade level, disability plan (IEP or whatever jumbled and truncated alphabet your district uses), age, race, sex, desire, and the list continues.

Understanding is the level we work hard to get to in class, the level that many kids become frustrated at--your football game's parent's comment. We push hard, ask difficult questions, want them to see all the details that create meaning that allows a reader to better understand his or her world. Maybe we push too hard, or push a kid over the edge who has already had too much that day. We want the kid to get it so he does well on the test so we're sure we're doing our job.

I don't see the steps quite as linear as you suggest: comprehension to interpretation to appreciation. Interpretation certainly can't happen without comprehension, but I believe appreciation could be the method of moving from one to the next. If a student understands and has faith that the hard work he puts in will be rewarded with greater, and applicable, insight, that level of appreciation carries him through the initial frustration to deeper levels of interpretation which opens up a wider breadth of appreciation.

Frost in "Education by Poetry" talks about the necessity of marking. He also purposely contradicts himself later when he says that he wishes he could mark a student on just one comment made during the semester, because that comment was the only definite proof he had that the student had actually learned anything. As teachers, I think we try to hit a balance between the necessity of grading (tracking the progress of effort and ability to follow direction) and the desire for insight (great realizations the student comes up with herself).

To answer your question, no we should not expect all students to reach a level of appreciation of literature, but that dosn't mean we shouldn't embody and strive for it.

Eric Meyer
also St. Louis, Missouri

[Taylor Johnson]

Dan,

Hi. First, I am interested in your process of pursuing National Board Certification. I, too, want to do that at some point, but I'm not far along enough yet in my career to be allowed to do so, although I have heard about Take One! and have considered trying that. What has it been like? I'd love to hear about the process and your experiences with it.

As for your question about appreciating literature, I wonder if you've ever read Gerald Graff's essay "Disliking Books at an Early Age." He discusses his own lack of appreciation for literature, and how it changed for him. He credits learning a critical language for talking about literature as the source for his eventual passion for it.

I am not foremost a literature teacher--I consider myself a writing teacher. At some point, I will go for a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition because I'm so ridiculously drawn to the power inside what happens when I can teach a student how to think better, to use his or her capacity for critical analysis to break open a text, and with it, his or her passion for learning, and finding out just what he or she thinks. This happens through discussion, through writing, and yes, through more reading.

Also, I believe there are many ways to assess comprehension besides worksheets. I have been using Nings with my students, and it is fascinating to be able to watch them communicate with one another about their ideas on a text. I haven't used literature in a ning with students yet, but that's next on my list. You might consider trying it with your students, and see what happens for you.

I also support the idea of literature circles. They can be harder to assess, but again, if the end result is an authentic assessment that asks a student to write critically, reflectively, and deeply, you will know more about what they learned, and they will learn more. And when a student has the feeling of having learned deeplyn through authentic learning activities like writing and discussing, a student can really come to appreciate literature. That is probably my highest goal--that the student appreciates him or herself as a learner, and a lifelong one. Unlike that parent at the football game...

Hope that provides some good food for thought.

Taylor Johnson
Tucson, AZ

[Dan Murphy]

Taylor,

Thank you so much for your thoughts.

Just to let you know, I did achieve National Board Certification this past year. It was quite rigorous, but I truly learned a lot about myself as a teacher, and the nature of education. If you have questions, I'd love to help others to achieve this level of distinction.

You know, one of the things that the process taught me was how much better my literature circles work when I have the kids in two smaller groups, rather than in one big-class group. They are more comfortable, and they lead the discussion better. Of course, I find that it's necessary to jump in and reevaluate the direction that the discussions are going, but for the most part, the kids take the responsibility on themselves.

I'm excited to hear that you've found the Ning to be helpful for your kids. I was trying to start a wiki at wikia.com for my summer school kids, but it just wasn't working the way that I wanted. I think that I'll try a Ning instead.

Hope that you're having a great summer.

Dan Murphy
St. Louis, MO