Alas, this is all more harrowing and serious than people would believe. We have replaced the tried and tested (literature) with positioning students in the English classroom to be social justice warriors: our children are forced to argue race or toxic masculinity in 'trash lit'. Some students will never (ever) taste the depths of good language and literature as they're busy finding the meaning (ie. representation) to a Snickers ad or the Australian cork hat. There's no time for grammar and spelling is obsolete. A plea to parents: please question what your children are doing in the classroom! Request of the teachers to view and justify the set tasks in English. Ask them how the 'set texts' explore the human condition rather than the ideological 'buzz words' of the 21st-century. Question them. You are the first educator. Good education is (and should be) the great equaliser. As Ben Johnson rightly said (of the Bard): “He was not of an age, but for all time!”
Sad that much of the world is coming to this. Good to see institutions such as the University of Austin tying to do something about it, and that it is inspiring a poetic response such as that here!
I was very fortunate growing up on Tyneside in the 1950s that London theatre companies would travel north and perfom Shakespeare's plays for school audiences. His understanding of humanity and his wisdom, as well as his poetical and theatrical skills, mean that everyone should read and see his work. Those who dispute this have a very limited and warped perspective.
Alas, this is all more harrowing and serious than people would believe. We have replaced the tried and tested (literature) with positioning students in the English classroom to be social justice warriors: our children are forced to argue race or toxic masculinity in 'trash lit'. Some students will never (ever) taste the depths of good language and literature as they're busy finding the meaning (ie. representation) to a Snickers ad or the Australian cork hat. There's no time for grammar and spelling is obsolete. A plea to parents: please question what your children are doing in the classroom! Request of the teachers to view and justify the set tasks in English. Ask them how the 'set texts' explore the human condition rather than the ideological 'buzz words' of the 21st-century. Question them. You are the first educator. Good education is (and should be) the great equaliser. As Ben Johnson rightly said (of the Bard): “He was not of an age, but for all time!”
Sad that much of the world is coming to this. Good to see institutions such as the University of Austin tying to do something about it, and that it is inspiring a poetic response such as that here!
I was very fortunate growing up on Tyneside in the 1950s that London theatre companies would travel north and perfom Shakespeare's plays for school audiences. His understanding of humanity and his wisdom, as well as his poetical and theatrical skills, mean that everyone should read and see his work. Those who dispute this have a very limited and warped perspective.
Spot on again Steven. May I offer a recent contribution of my own to the whole sad affair?
https://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=21838