10-second review: What is the justification for teaching Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye? Questions whether 9th and 12th graders are mature enough for its explicit sexuality and excessively vulgar language. English department: Raise student awareness of African-American issues and encourage intellectual discussion of issues of race, rape, incest and violence.
Source:
Comment: Discussion is not the same thing as teaching. Many censors equate the two. When a teacher teaches, the teacher wants the students to learn the content, to master the content, the ability to do fractions, knowledge of the circulatory system. When a teacher involves students in a discussion, students are looking at the many sides of the issue. It’s like the Bible. To teach the Bible as religion, to inculcate belief in the Bible as the word of God, is teaching religion. Teaching the literature of the Bible, the stories, parables, etc. as literature, is to give students help in recognizing the many allusions to the Bible in secular literature. Teaching is teaching. Discussion is recognition of the many sides of the issue. The two are not synonymous. RayS.
No comments:
Post a Comment