This last Monday, Dec. 7, 2015, I spent the day at the UNLV College of Education Summit on Nevada Education. It was interesting, innovative, and, at times, exciting. Like every conference, some speeches are better than others. Some confirm what you already think, some challenge you to think anew about issues that you thought were fixed in your mind, and others are frustrating. I especially appreciated the keynote speeches of Governor Brian Sandoval, Jaime Casap, and Dale Erquiaga. They all suggested that, in our democracy, Americans rise up in unity to solve problems. Gov. Sandolval reminded us that we were holding this event on the anniversary of the infamy of Pearl Harbor. While the event was horrible and traumatic, the heroism that began there revealed the patriotism of America’s greatest generation. Casap, Google’s Education Evangelist, pointed to the role of collaboration and innovation in the future of both business and educational pursuits. At the center of this educational vision, Casap still sees the teacher at the center. Erquiaga cautioned that instead of reacting to events like the self-centered seagulls in Finding Nemo, by shouting “Mine, Mine, Mine” at every opportunity, we should approach problems collaboratively with a view of solutions that attempt to meet the needs of the community, of the whole community, of the disadvantaged and those with means. In my view, it is public education that can produce an educated populace capable of participating and contributing to the complicated, but promising activities of our democracy. Thomas Jefferson advised: Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.
| However, during the entire day, I kept thinking that the advice, recommendations, and council, of these politicians, business leaders, non-profit group leaders, and policy creators suggested types of activities that lead to very different classrooms than those that have been created in an age of accountability and constant standardized testing. In fact, the pre-lunch activity was a presentation by ToeTag Monologues which allowed students to present stories that depict issues that, if not confronted and solved, might result in the application of toe tags on too many of the children and adolescents that attend our schools. Throughout the afternoon key participants talked about the power of these monologues. Ironically, the activities that produce these monologues-and other participatory activities like them-require planning, writing, rewriting, collaboration, presentation, cross-curriculum understanding, and critical thinking, but are minimized or deleted entirely in classrooms that are driven by scripted curriculum, test preparation, and endless rounds of standardized tests. | |
In my opinion, for too much of the journey, we have been going down the wrong road under No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. The new legislation offers some changes, but nothing that educators would recognize as a complete shift to collaborative activities (as suggested by the conversations of the summit), and project driven learning that might help us develop a cross-curricular focus that would allow educators to return to the frequently neglected subject areas of science and social studies. Instead, while states may gain some autonomy, there seems to be money for further privatization of teacher education. There are other troubling uses of public money that might involve profiteering on the backs of well-meaning teachers, their students, and their unsuspecting parents (but that is a blog for another time-investigate on your own and see what you find). I might suggest that we all follow Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post through her blog, Answer Sheet. On the same day of the summit she posted a blog that points to areas of concern in the new legislation.
What does this have to do with Young Adult literature or children’s literature? Actually, quite a bit. There was very little discussion about reading. Oh, there was some talk about the new Read by Grade Three legislation. I keep wondering: Will classroom libraries be funded? My word, will school libraries be funded? What books will be provided? Will students see only windows in the books they read or will there be mirrors as well? How diverse will the books be? Will there be books that allow students to see possibilities? To envision hope? And to create? Will they be provided time to read and then to discuss the ideas they encounter? The list of questions goes on, but we do know some things. Much of schooling under routinized, scripted instruction is boring students to death and they don’t seem to find much joy or rejuvenation in such settings. No wonder students often seem lazy and disengaged.
Amidst all of the chatter about collaboration, I kept thinking about one of the collaborative YA novels that I recently read--All American Boys. I think about this book frequently. Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely have provided a powerful and intriguing investigation into racism and police brutality. This beautifully written and co-authored novel demonstrates the power of collaboration. I imagine that some of the conversations between Brendan and Jason were difficult. Perhaps they had fits and starts. Perhaps they had to reshape their ideas and opinions the same way we ask our students to reconsider their ideas and apparently fixed opinions. I recommend that when you finish All American Boys; read the acknowledgment section, it hints at their work, their research, and the people that helped them produce this exceptional text. Their model of collaboration might suggest avenues of learning and exploration in our classrooms and within our society.
Clearly, Jason and Brendan are not the only ones in the community of YA writers who have produced a collaborative novel. We can look to many others, Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green; Upside Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins; Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan; These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner; The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler; and books by James Patterson with Chris Tebbetts and Chris Grabenstein. This list doesn't even begin to include edited collections of short stories and other projects that foster collaboration. I am sure that many of you can add to the list. Let’s begin to imagine more ways to use YA literature to inspire collaborative reading, writing, discussions, and investigative projects that explore the problems and solutions, the hopes and defeats, and the aspirations and challenges that engage the adolescents in our classrooms.
Until next week.
Until next week.
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