Question: Should school curriculum's be able to teach more controversial novels and subject matter?
It is my belief that students who are deemed able to handle this material should have access to it in the classrooms. I feel many students become disillusioned with literature having spent a majority of their educational careers studying books that they have a hard time grasping. While I do not intend to devalue the importance of the "traditional cannon" it is my firm belief that students of the coming generations require more subversive material to hold their attention.
In my personal experience high school literature seemed dull. I could not forge a connection to the material and my life, an important step in appreciating literature. It was not until college where we analyzed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest that I began to fully appreciate the importance of analyzing literature. This book is quite dark and would not be deemed appropriate for the average high school student but this book taught to students who are seen as able to handle the material would both enjoy and appreciate this masterpiece.
Teaching of controversial material has several positive benefits for students. Controversial content inspires debate and discussion within the classroom. A study conducted in 2007 concluded that a student who takes part in a classroom discussion is more likely to vote, "support basic democratic values," and "take part in a political discussion." If the discussion is handled responsibly and maturely I believe that content with a subversive nature could successfully and positively be taught within the classroom.
http://www.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=2016
Source:
Keith Barton and Alan McCully, "Teaching Controversial Issues...Where Controversial Issues Really Matter," Teaching History, June 2007.
I completely agree that the “traditional cannon” of literature was hard to connect to when I was a high school student. It seemed that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, was suppose to be the controversial literature that we were exposed to at the high school level, and I never finished the book even though it was assigned. If a book does not grasp the interest of students, it is too easy for a student to turn to sparknotes.com or another source that will provide him or her with the information that he or she needs to write the paper or pass the test. It is quite possible that contemporary young adult literature would provide the controversy or intrigue needed to grasp a student’s attention and encourage him or her to read the book in its entirety.
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