WHO WE ARE: Better living through English

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Who We Are

To discuss if there is too much Australian content on television, go to The Tribal Mind
For regular updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald 28/9/2008
In ancient tribes, the values of the community were passed on to young people via stories told by elders around the campfire. In modern society, this function is performed by the television set at home and the English syllabus at school. A body called the National Curriculum Board is currently trying to determine the essential values and stories the elders in the classroom should pass on to the kids of Australia from 2010 onwards. The board didn't ask, but this column and its readers can give them some suggestions.

Mind you, they don't need to look much further than the current NSW English syllabus for years 7 to 10. I read the whole thing last week (it takes an hour) and was amazed to find that it doesn't just give students tools for communicating clearly in adult life, but it actually wants to turn them into decent people.

These are among its aims: "Enable all students to develop positive self-concepts and their capacity to establish and maintain safe, healthy and rewarding lives";
"Prepare all students for effective and responsible participation in their society, taking account of moral, ethical and spiritual considerations";
"Promote a fair and just society that values diversity."

That's pretty ambitious for an English syllabus (click here to read the whole thing). In my day, the teacher was happy if you left school able to quote a bit of Shakespeare and tell the difference between a metaphor and a simile.

It's not just about books any more. The syllabus uses the word "text" to cover movies, TV shows, poems, comics, articles, books, plays and even video games. In offering a recommended list, it says: "Texts were selected for this list on the basis of their ability to challenge the reader -- texts that have layered and multiple meanings, and that provoke thought. The classroom use of texts from these lists should help students gain pleasure and power from the exploration of real and imaginary (including virtual) worlds."

Shakespeare is still there, but the suggested reading also includes Lemony Snicket's The Bad Beginning, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Looking for Alibrandi, To Kill A Mockingbird, Northern Lights (which turned into the movie The Golden Compass), and John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began.

The suggested movies include Apollo 13; Babe; Breaker Morant ("invites discussion of the injustice meted out to the defendants and the portrayal of different moral and ethical systems and situations"); Chariots of Fire (which deals with themes of "friendship and loyalty, faith and belief, racism and nationalism"); Chicken Run; E.T; Ever After ("A gender reading of the film is a clear base for study. Danielle challenges the viewers' preconceptions of Cinderella. She is independent and strong, and can fight with a sword, saving Prince Henry and later herself from attack. She is well-read and intellectual, and challenges the prince's patriarchal and aristocratic thinking"); Gallipoli; Picnic at Hanging Rock; Raiders of the Lost Ark; Shine and Shrek. (Click here to read all the recommendations).

They sound stimulating, but where are Crocodile Dundee, Dead Calm, Mad Max, My Brilliant Career, Priscilla Queen of the Dessert, Puberty Blues, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Romper Stomper, Romulus My Father, Strictly Ballroom, Ten Canoes, They're A Weird Mob, Two Hands and The Year of Living Dangerously?

They all incorporate the kind of social conscience the syllabus wants to instill in pre-adults. And they might help a new generation to overcome the current assumption that Australian films are clumsy and boring.

Go to Comments to discuss what else should be taught in The New English. And to discuss what Australian history our kids should learn at school, go to last week's column.

Pictures show Crocodile Dundee, Ever After, Mad Max.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

COMMENTS

Strictly Ballroom is a HSC text

by John on September 27, 2008 at 10:07 AM

GRAMMAR!

by Shoopie on September 27, 2008 at 10:34 AM

When I browsed the list of fiction I could not believe the kids would get to read The Eyre Affair for school - lucky buggers and then I saw that the next book was a novel by Lisa Forrest and thought "then again".
I was disappointed that no versions of the greatest ever speeches made it into the non-fiction options. It would be nice to give kids some exposure to the power of well crafted spoken English to balance out listening to footballers talk about how tough the game was.

by Cat on September 27, 2008 at 07:49 PM

Shoopie, competent writers are always keen readers.
Leaving aside those who learn English as a second language, the people who do not write grammatically are usually those who do not read (I do not include the very small number who cannot read: they often have a specific learning difficulty)
Mindless rote learning of "rules" does not produce good grammar. Some of the worst offenders are the over 60s who experienced this mindless rote learning, but who did not (and still do not) read.

by Nonnie Mouse on September 28, 2008 at 01:34 AM

Whilst admirable examples of Australian cinema, some of the suggestions for inclusion in the list (Romper Stomper, Dead Calm) wouldn't satisfy the G or PG rating required for years 7-10. I'd like to add The Year My Voice Broke (rated M) with Noah Taylor. Challenging themes about small town mentalities and prejudice, peppered with poignant teenage sexual awakening still haunt me 20 years on and I'm sure it would offer teenagers something of value to reflect on today.

by enid on September 28, 2008 at 04:37 AM

If only it took an hour's reading to be an English teacher. A little further exploration and discussion with those in the business would reveal that your Aussie films already have a place.

by AL on September 28, 2008 at 05:38 AM

Texts studied in Years 7-10 can't be studied again at HSC level. Don't despair completely: Strictly Ballroom, Rabbit-proof fence, and Romulus, My Father (novel) have all been saved for the HSC syllabus.
Cat, students also have the option to study eight "Great Speeches", as selected by the Board of Studies at HSC level. However, Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln have been replaced for next year, and the speeches included seem to reflect political aims rather than an accepted canon of great speeches (Margaret Atwood, Paul Keating, Noel Pearson, Aung Sun Suu Kyi, Denise Levertov).
The NSW has very good aims and intentions, in my opinion, but because the HSC syllabus is so crammed, the idea of values is often covered in a simplistic and cursory nature, so that students don't end up discovering for themselves the significance of the different values in the texts they study. Although they can reel off the ways in which older texts differ from modern adaptations, or how feminist/marxist/freudian schools of thought can colour certain texts, few of these students graduate the HSC having "been challenged" by the texts they study.
As for turning students into "decent people", many of my students can spout proverbs and wise phrases like "A journey of a million miles begins with a single step", but few think deeply enough to apply this to their lives. Students can be very cynical of the things curriculum boards want them to learn, and whenever anything is examined, even values can be rote-learned.

by Ivy on September 28, 2008 at 05:53 AM

Cat - speeches are an option on the HSC Advanced Syllabus and will continue to be from 2009. Orators include Paul Keating and Noel Pearson, so some definite contenders for "better living".

by Gretch on September 28, 2008 at 06:21 AM

Yes, Strictly Ballroom is a HSC text - perfect for the 2009 Area of Study 'Belonging'. The novel Romulus My Father features, and I could swear Ten Canoes is in there somewhere. And if Rabbit-Proof Fence isn't on this year, it was in previous years. And Cat, there are speeches on the HSC list in non-fiction - my class has chosen them.
Visit http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/hsc_english_poster_09-12.pdf for the full list of HSC texts.
The kids at our school study a wide range of texts - some recommended, some not. At the moment one of my classes is working on 'Fighting Ruben Wolfe' and 'Cinderella Man' and loving it.
As much as I love Puberty Blues, there is no way I would use it in class. Can you imagine the quotes flying around the playground afterwards? "Danny says ya dropped 'cause ya too tight" "Go get the Vas"

by Miss! Miss! Miss! on September 28, 2008 at 06:48 AM

I've just finished my Preliminary course and have recieved my book list for my HSC studies. Over time, I have come to study those various texts and from each I've learnt something completely new about life and learning. I must say, when I look back, it has partially shaped who I am. I've never had a problem with school texts and I am looking forward to studying Romulas my father, some more Shakespeare, Catch 22 and even some Sylvia Plath. Also...just to add... i had to study rabbit proof fence when doing Aboriginal Spirituality in English as well as Religion.

by RRC on September 28, 2008 at 06:55 AM

I think the students should study Rambo I, II, III and IV.

by Fred on September 28, 2008 at 08:55 AM

Do you really believe the avenues of value delivery in the modern world are so narrow David? What about the net, parents, friends, peers, aqcuintances and the countless events we experience on a daily basis beyond school syllabi and TV?
I'm also not too sure what your point about "it only takes an hour" (to read) regarding the current English syllabus is; though I suspect it's not a compliment to those who toiled over it's creation... whilst the mentioning of the syllabus "aims" seems somewhat aimless, given that every course curriculum and syllabus document must conform to the policies of equal employment and opportunity that our State and it's statutory bodies, such as the Education Department are expected to adopt.
I wonder what you'd expect students in your care to achieve as ultimate outcomes from any course that you offered?
You also seem to place too much emphasis on the importance of the literal interpretation of the syllabus, which could be due to your experience of a teacher who appeared to you to be "happy" with your gaining a literal (or fundamental) grasp of some basic communicational skills.
Fortunately, there are teachers (and students)... individual human beings; who aren't so patently literal in their interpretation of curricula, syllabi or words in any form, that could have been manipulated in the hope of achieving a political or personal goal.
Sure... I can understand "having a go" at an education system that's so far up itself that it can't accept that things may have gotten over-ripe on it's watch; but sticking the boot in over the contents of a document that is a guide rather than a proscription against creative interpretation, seems rather churlish.
Oh, BTW: 'Tropic Thunder' may be worthy of study...

DD replies: My intention was to praise the existing NSW syllabus. I was hoping to encourage readers to look at it by pointing out that it only requires an hour.

by Steve C on September 28, 2008 at 10:57 AM

Comics and graphic novels are a fine choice for any English teacher. There are several worthy choices -- for example Maus, Safe Area Goradze, Ghost World, Midnight Nation, I Never Liked You, Domu, to name just a few off the top of my head. The Sacrifice, by Melbournian Brice Mutard is almost tailor-made for study in the HSC. There are plenty more.

by Barbara Schweizer on September 28, 2008 at 12:15 PM

How about making the syllabus a little more eclectic, a little less Eurocentric: include people like Gandhi, Buddha, even the native American "Indians" for example?

After all, didn't the world exist a long long time before Europeans went around it helping themselves to whatever they came across? Maybe it's time white Australians also got to see the world from the point of view of those who are not white?

As the celebrated management guru Stephen Covey puts it so succintly, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood".

by Sharan on September 28, 2008 at 12:56 PM

For year 11 extension english (this year) we had to study the film "titus" (which is rated R) as an appropriation of Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus".
The play was very violent, but i still liked it, unlike some books and movies the violence was an essential part of the plot and characterization. We studied the language, techniques and how it was apropriated. Infact it was my favorite topic. But watching the film just made me feel sick, the play was grisly enough but watching torture,multilation and decapitation (even though we knew it wasn't real) was horrible. So, my point is that reading about violence and watching it are arguably two separate things and there has to be alot of consideration given before setting a movie that is/could be offensive and disturbing as a high school text.

by aah. on September 28, 2008 at 01:26 PM

Cat, speeches are in the present HSC course. Luther King, Keating, etc.

by Pristine on September 28, 2008 at 02:08 PM

Strictly Ballroom, Rabbit-Proof Fence and Puberty Blues are commonly studied. Strictly Ballroom being a recommended HSC English text.

by Goutham on September 28, 2008 at 08:10 PM

David, I would like to congratulate you on raising the topic of the English syllabus in a way that encourages constructive discussion about what students could be reading. Some of the suggestions that bloggers have posted are great and would give teachers some extra ideas about how to engage their students.
What impresses most is the fact that, unlike so many in the media who claim the right and space to comment about educational matters, you have actually read the syllabus! You are aware that the texts students study in class are simply ways into the actual learning that takes place in a classroom. So many education commentators seem to believe that students study texts for their own sakes � as if for example the imagery in Macbeth (brilliant and beautiful as it is) was somehow critical to students� lives.
Students use texts to learn to be selective about the language they use for different audience and purposes, critique the language and assumptions of texts so that they can come to understand the ways texts reflect personal and public worlds. This means that they can learn from texts drawn from many areas of life � the literary, the everyday, the popular. It is how we engage with these texts to make meaning that they need to understand so that they can use texts for their own purposes and not have texts use them for the purposes of others.

by Evie on September 29, 2008 at 06:30 AM

Thanks to all those who let me know about the presence of Great Speeches in HSC syllabus. I am relieved. As I wrote of my disappointment I was thinking about standing in the graveyard at Gettysburg listening to the words of Lincoln's address and thinking that would have made an effective school excursion. Not sure Burma would be as pleasing but I guess both might offer valuable lessons on values.

by Cat on September 29, 2008 at 07:55 AM

The Sun-Herald

Who We Are

WHO WE ARE: Better living through English

COMMENTS

POST A COMMENT

Comments Terms & Conditions

RECENT ENTRIES

ARCHIVES