Worthy Texts: Who Decides?

Worthy Texts: Who Decides?

What is good poetry? Good literature? Who decides? These are the questions that this article discusses. One of the goals of reading in school is to help the student develop the love and enjoyment of reading. Teenagers who read for pleasure read a variety of texts – except in class. Teachers and schools play an enormous role in developing attitudes toward reading. Many schools and classrooms fall short of helping students learn to love reading for two specific reasons. 1. They adhere to the canon of Western literature. 2. They fail to motivate students through choice.
*Nearly half of all 18-24 year-olds read no books for pleasure.
*Less than one-third of 13-year-olds read daily.
*Teens and young adults spend 60 percent less time on voluntary reading than the average adult does.
These statistics should be disturbing. The way reading is introduced in schools and the classroom is important in shaping the love of reading.
When an adult searches for a book at a bookstore, there are hundreds of books to choose from and a variety of genres. If an adult was only given one choice, that would be frustrating, yet this happens to students every year in the classroom. The article gives some practical ways to instill a love of reading in students: choice.
1. Pair a nontraditional text with a traditional one.
2. Use reading circles in place of one canonical text.
3. Highlight outside reading choices.
4. Choose books that link content areas and coordinate across departments.
In order for this to be successful, everyone must be supportive. Administrators must allow time for the departments to get together and discuss which books could be cross-curriculum. Teachers must have rationales ready for parents who may not understand alternative reading choices. It is only through reading what is great, what’s partially great, and what some people think is great can young readers develop the ability to evaluate, compare, and think critically about what they read.

Gilmore, B. (2011). Worthy texts: who decides? Educational Leadership. 68(6), 46-50.