Value of Historical Docs of English Education

January 4, 2009

How do we approach teaching texts in English classes? What methods are used? For what purposes?
To examine these questions and to see how the answers are relevant to project we need to look at the history of the field. Elbow, among others, have written on “What is English?” But what is more important is that there are historical documents that present what research was needed, for what purposes, etc. For example, see Basic Issues in the Teaching of English, Dartmouth Conference and English Coalition Conference. Of course, there were other documents: Committee of Ten, Principles of Secondary Education, Progressives, etc.

These documents are now available online, so we have access to texts that were formally difficult to find. And through these we can, like ethnographers, move into these worlds and peruse documents, etc.

Patterson and Mellor
They wrote a chapter in the Beach, Green, Kamil and Shanahan (second ed.) describing how syllabi changed when public policy or arguments changed. They provide the British or AU pov, and this could serve as an example of how to examine syllabi today and to see how the language and actions construct ways of reading.

Phi Delta Kappan or ASCD
Published something on different types of research, or types of models for reading, etc.

Some thoughts on newspapers (12/22/08)
Right now in terms of gathering news, we get the best of both worlds: we read news online as it happens and we get more in-depth looks through newspapers. However, recently papers have been cutting services and people. Example: Ann Arbor News recently explained the reasons for cuts; Fresno Bee and Sac Bee similarly cut; the Tribune company is in danger.

Where are we going to get information? Fox News demonstrated how untrustworthy television news can be. But shifting to English education, how will we keep up in the field? Right now at the moment cost of texts continue to rise—even used book cost are rising, especially since book groups and stores can sell online. Conference costs are rising; therefore, information costs are rising. I have access to people in the field; I can trade and ask for drafts, etc. But what about people not in the field? Where will they get their information? This is why it is imperative that we guide students to read, distinguish, etc. information, or even types of texts worthy of aesthetic readings.

We must triangulate information, medically, etc. May need to get people from different fields together and see how they proceed to read, interpret, respond to, compose and manage texts. Here is where ethnography comes in.

SO WHAT?
I am suggesting that students must be trained in approaching texts for selected purposes and objectives. By learning how to see contextual layers of reading events, particularly through an ethnographic perspective, students can learn to read the world of the text, or the world in which the text is assigned, appears, etc. But I am also suggesting that learning and applying ethnographic principles can help students: contrastive analysis, over time, sustained observation, etc.