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Re: Little House Informs/Inspires Vietnamese Author
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From: Rosanne Parry <rosanneparry_at_comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 14:35:08 -0800
Well said JL Powers!
I've found the encouraging critical thinking approach quite successful with my own children's education. Once I had students in high school it became very apparent to me that many of their assigned works in English had sexual violence in them. Given the prevalence of dating violence young people experience I didn't want to see those elements of the books pass by without comment in the class room.
With a little encouragement the English department chose to reconsider the balance of books read. They also made sure English classes had a domestic violence hot line number posted someplace in the room and teachers made a point of reminding students that the acts they read in the book are in fact a crime though they are not treated as such on the page, which led to fruitful conversation. A far better outcome in my opinion than simply removing the books from study. It's not so much that the book is wrong. If the only story a teenager hears about love and sex is a violent one then they are harmed because the of "single story" not the particular title. But with conversation and alternative stories about healthy and non-violent love the power of the sexually violent story is not so toxic.
Rosanne Parry
Written in Stone, 2013 Second Fiddle, 2011 Heart of a Shepherd, 2009 www.rosanneparry.com
On Feb 10, 2014, at 2:00 PM, bookmarch_at_aol.com wrote:
>
> The goal is not to purify our shelves but, rather, to deepen students' ability to read critically, think deeply, question -- us -- constantly, and arrive at their own views -- even if totally different from ours.
>
> Marc Aronson
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 14:35:08 -0800
Well said JL Powers!
I've found the encouraging critical thinking approach quite successful with my own children's education. Once I had students in high school it became very apparent to me that many of their assigned works in English had sexual violence in them. Given the prevalence of dating violence young people experience I didn't want to see those elements of the books pass by without comment in the class room.
With a little encouragement the English department chose to reconsider the balance of books read. They also made sure English classes had a domestic violence hot line number posted someplace in the room and teachers made a point of reminding students that the acts they read in the book are in fact a crime though they are not treated as such on the page, which led to fruitful conversation. A far better outcome in my opinion than simply removing the books from study. It's not so much that the book is wrong. If the only story a teenager hears about love and sex is a violent one then they are harmed because the of "single story" not the particular title. But with conversation and alternative stories about healthy and non-violent love the power of the sexually violent story is not so toxic.
Rosanne Parry
Written in Stone, 2013 Second Fiddle, 2011 Heart of a Shepherd, 2009 www.rosanneparry.com
On Feb 10, 2014, at 2:00 PM, bookmarch_at_aol.com wrote:
>
> The goal is not to purify our shelves but, rather, to deepen students' ability to read critically, think deeply, question -- us -- constantly, and arrive at their own views -- even if totally different from ours.
>
> Marc Aronson
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Received on Mon 10 Feb 2014 04:35:30 PM CST
