Gove and his ideas
- 25 May 2014 17:52267045he is right in that English literature should be as the name suggests but the 3 books given the chop are great works,
maybe the study should be changed to just "literature"?
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/25/mockingbird-mice-and-men-axed-michael-gove-gcse - Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
25 May 2014 20:26267048I always thought of English Literature as literature in the English tongue rather than the country of origin.
Back in the dark ages when I was at school our English Lit lessons seemed to consist of either Dickens or Shakespeare neither of which I appreciated at that young age.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 25 May 2014 20:44267049fair point jan, didn't do the subject at my school so I assumed the books had to be written by English persons.
there are a lot of great American writers from the first half of the 2oth century that are worthy of a read, off the top of my head jack London, john Steinbeck, herman Melville and scott fitzgerald. - 26 May 2014 07:12267059The view at my school was that the subject covered works written in the English language. Hence we studied poems by Robert Lowell (American), novels by James Joyce (Irish) as well as those by English authors. I don't think Gove is right on this.I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
- 26 May 2014 12:42267076I think gove just wants to be remembered for something, plus this keeps his name at the forefront of things ready for any leadership battle.
- Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
26 May 2014 12:52267079Which I very much doubt he will win, I could never imagine him as the PM,
I am sure Gove will be remembered by the teaching profession but possibly not how he would prefer to be remembered.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 26 May 2014 12:52267080He has achieved a lot, although challenging the vested interests of the teaching unions is something he hasn't done adequately. For now I can forgive him a bit of blinkered, xenophobic philistinism but he needs to take a leaf out of Teresa May's book.
Pause to don tin helmet and await DT1's reply.I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson - Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,397
26 May 2014 13:03267081FFS don't believe everything you read in the Daily Mail!
Here's the document that you are supposedly;y commenting on:-
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/254498/GCSE_English_literature.pdf
No mention at all of only 'English' authors.
Frankly Mockingbird,Crucible,Mice and Men + the ubiquitous Lord of the Flies have been clogging up the curriculum for decades and whilst it's great that English teachers have not had to change their lesson plans and still have the 'vijos' for those too lazy to even read the book it's about time the set books were changed.
As for the 'Classics' it's literature we are talking about.
Just as I would expect the study of German literature to cover Goethe/Hesse/Grass/Mann etc or French literature to cover Dumas/Zola/Flaubert etc I do not think anyone can claim to have a knowledge of English Literature (as opposed to english writing) who has not read/studied Shakespeare/Dickens etc.
"The world is still a weird place, despite my efforts to make clear and perfect sense of it".
Dr. Hunter S Thompson - 29 May 2014 18:32267240Here are the full details, pleased to see Alan Bennett's "The History Man" included I watched the screen adaptation last evening on BBC 4 - absolutely brilliant.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/29/harper-lee-steinbeck-dropped-english-gcse