Teaching Literature in the Secondary Schools

In an effort to prepare future secondary English teachers for the students and classrooms of the 2020's and beyond, this section of English 4800 will focus on a justice, inquiry, and action approach to English teaching.  We will develop understanding of various traditional approaches, the Common Core Standards, changing student populations, and past reform movements in the the teaching of literature including reader response, digital literacy, critical pedagogy, and cultural studies.

(In this course the term "critical inquiry" is in the tradition of "critical theory," not the more abstracted, decontextualized, and superficial approach of "critical thinking skills." Likewise, the term "inquiry" is richer than the simpler, but also of value, expression "questioning strategies.")

After the first part of the semester directed by the instructor, students will take significant responsiblity for course, choosing the reading, creating assignments and activities, and assessing learning as we explore  approaches to developing meaningful curriculum and instruction in contemporary secondary schools. This approach represents an experiment in Frierian teacher-student, student-teacher education.

In the era of post-pandemic, warming earth, increased violence and polarization around issues of race and inequality as well as neo-liberal educational reform, standardized testing, and the corporatization of curriculum, future teachers need to think critically about established curriculum regimes and consider how to develop the freedom they need to prepare their students as global citizens in an unfinished democracy.

Justice, Inquiry & Action

The starting point for teaching literature is engaging with issues of justice, fairness, kindness and human decency in the world and in the lives of adolescents via relevant and meaningful thematic curriculum. In dialogue with student questions and interest, English language arts teachers should be able to bring together a wide range of cultural materials, including traditional works, multicultural and young adult literature, visual and media texts including film, and cultural and informational texts, and address what texts mean, as well as how they mean, in historical, cultural, political and social contexts.

Thematic teaching facilitates teaching that addresses different abilities, learning styles, and backgrounds. English as a second language students now consitute 9% of the school population in the United States, and their numbers continue to increase. This class will provide opportunities to think about how to develop curriculum that will foster the engagement and success of all students.

By focusing on difficult, relevant, and potentially controversial possible areas for critical inquiry and social justice teaching during the student-led portion of the course, future teachers will gain understanding of approaches, strategies, curriculum, and issues involved in teaching literature at the secondary level, see Course Goals. (You may also want to review the WMU teacher education Mission.)

Student groups will select topics addressing current and controversial areas to inquire into such as:

literature and climate change;
literature and undocumented students and workers, immigration, border walls;
literature and White nationalism / neo-nazism;
literature, policing/the criminal justice system, and Black Lives Matter;
literature and pandemic;
literature and economic inequality;
literature and social protest;
literature and technology/on-line communication;
literature and healthcare as a human right;
literature and educational opportunity, equality, and affordability;
literature and terrorism;
literature and representation of Islam, and of Arabs;
literature and refugees;
literature and reproductive freedom;
literature and hunger/famine;
literature and transgender experience and rights;
literature and threats to information, government secrecy, Internet freedom;
literature and elections;
literature and democracy.

Expect to spend an additional twenty dollars on books, packets, and reading materials for each of the student-led units -- this reading will be announced throughout the course.

New Literacies and New Technologies

Rapid evolution in information technology offers many avenues and resources for critical inquiry extending and reshaping the teaching of English. During the COVID pandemic teachers and students enhanced skills to work and comunicate on line. So many traditional texts, indeed the inherited cultural archive, is available in digital format on-line. New genres of informational and visual texts, and an array of  resources and tools exceeding traditional textbooks are now available yet require thoughtful integration into learning.

The WMU English Department has, perhaps, the most advanced language arts teacher preparation classrooms in the world. Rather than training teachers to adopt cook book software or corporate "classroom management" packages, these labs foster teacher designed instruction, critical thinking about technology and curriculum, teacher and student publication, free, open-source, or low cost resources, and strategies for bringing the vast resources and communicative possibilities of the Internet to all students.

Our class will be organized by this on-line syllabus that also serves as an electronic, hyperlinked, textbook.We will use on-line threaded discussion, publish student work on a collaborative wiki, engage in virtual school discussions, and students will design technology enhanced teaching and use of the laptop classroom into learning in a variety of ways.  I recommend students develop their own teaching website, that can serve as both a portfolio of work and a real-world working site for future teaching.

Professional Involvement

Future English teachers should join NCTE, MCTE, and/or MRA and read regularly the English Journal or Voices from the Middle. The English Companion Ning is a remarkable resource with over 10,000 members -- join and draw on this resource throughout the semester. WMU has an NCTE Student affiliate; become an active member.

An important assignment in the class is to attend a professional teacher conference, and report on that to the rest of the class. This Fall there are two outstanding fully online choices: 1) Michigan Council of the Teachers of English (MCTE) Saturday, October 16 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Registration for students (before Sept 30) only $30! And/or, 2) one or more days at the National Council of the Teachers of English (NCTE) Conference Thursday to Sunday, November 18-21. ($112 - if you register by Nov 1).

I recommend gay and straight future teachers join GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network.

Teachers need to be informed about the world.  The future teachers in this class are expected to read regularly the New York Times and other sources. WMU provides a free NYT subscription. The Guardian is also a good news source, and can also be accessed for free.

Official information about the Michigan Teacher Certification test is available on the MTTC website.

Course Success

Electronic Syllabus

Sep 13: Introductions & Curriculum Approaches