I think choosing the right books to present to your students is the most important part of the teaching process. I remember being in high school and I couldn't stand half of the books my teacher's were making me read. Not only did I despise the books, I didn't care to understand why I needed to read them .I think this chapter makes a very good point about how to choose books, and which ones you should choose.
The part of this chapter that I really enjoyed was reading Jago's criteria for choosing books. As a pre-service teacher, I have no idea who to choose a book for my students to read. I know that I would probably pick the books that I enjoy now instead of thinking about books that I had to read in high school. This leads to a dangerous pattern, because I believe that as an adult I can comprehend and enjoy classics more than I did when I was in high school. When Jago writes, "Great Literature deepens our experience, heightens our sensibilities, and matures our judgment," (Jago 47), I completely agree. Choosing the right for for students is more important that what the most popular classic literature is. She also talk about how teenagers don't know that these books can give them that experience. I agree with this statement because I think that when I was a teenager I didn't look at the grand scheme of things. When a book was explained to me in terms that I would understand, though not changing the text itself, I found that I really enjoyed reading the book.
You bring up important points. It is so important to have a rationale for the books we decide to teach (besides, "well, that is what I like," or "well, that is what I read in high school," or "well, that is what is on the district curriculum guide").
ReplyDelete