This was being read 30 years ago when I was in school. Would have thought they’d have updated the reading list by now
This seems silly. What’s more annoying is the culture war nonsense response its going to trigger from the right wing.
I’d be curious to see a wider scale and longer term research / report into the impacts on black children. Because they seem to have a point;
>”This is safeguarding the wellbeing of children who have told us how awful those discussions have made them feel in those classrooms… they’ve very often been the only black child in that classroom when discussions all around them are focusing on very derogatory, negative depictions of black people.”
[…]
Marley, 16, listened to the audio book with the rest of the class when he studied Of Mice and Men.
>When it came to the racial slurs, people “laughed and giggled and stared at me and it made me feel really uncomfortable”.
>Bowen Cole, 18, studied another classic novel, To US work, To Kill a Mockingbird, which also does not feature in the new qualification.
>It is using “the words that should not be said in this day and age” in class that is problematic, not the books more generally, the former Welsh Youth Parliament member said.
>”I was the only black person there in a class which was completely white,” said Bowen, who found hearing the racist language in the book repeated in lessons “really awkward” and “confusing”.
I think the easy responses are to dismiss this and say “Y*ou need to teach about this so that kids know about racism!*” or “*Listen to black people!”…* but… I want something more nuanced than that. Not sure what that looks like.
But this is 2024 Britain. Nuance is the last thing people want.
Lucky kids. I Had to study this in my English Lit. It was painful not least because we only had 8 months to do a 2 year course (long story).
I just couldn’t engage with the story, and while I preferred the film I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
I just didn’t get the requirement in studying how we thought the main characters’behaviour towards each other in a book, that was not noted for bringing their characters to life in the first place, had any noticeable appreciation on my view of the era of the time, or some bs like that anyway.
It’s not as though there weren’t any notable British Authors to choose from??
My daughter is currently studying it
Studied this 30 years ago. About time they changed it
It feels a very, very small step to change a book like this if it will mean that some pupils will feel less alienated, as a result. There are plenty of books out there which could be studied instead, at no detriment to the curriculum.
Some dumb fucking comments in this thread. “I read it 30 years ago” Yeah, because it’s a fucking Classic.
Without them saying what the replacement book is, it’s impossible to say if this is a good idea or not. The fact they’re combining English lit and language doesn’t really inspire confidence.
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This was being read 30 years ago when I was in school. Would have thought they’d have updated the reading list by now
This seems silly. What’s more annoying is the culture war nonsense response its going to trigger from the right wing.
I’d be curious to see a wider scale and longer term research / report into the impacts on black children. Because they seem to have a point;
>”This is safeguarding the wellbeing of children who have told us how awful those discussions have made them feel in those classrooms… they’ve very often been the only black child in that classroom when discussions all around them are focusing on very derogatory, negative depictions of black people.”
[…]
Marley, 16, listened to the audio book with the rest of the class when he studied Of Mice and Men.
>When it came to the racial slurs, people “laughed and giggled and stared at me and it made me feel really uncomfortable”.
>Bowen Cole, 18, studied another classic novel, To US work, To Kill a Mockingbird, which also does not feature in the new qualification.
>It is using “the words that should not be said in this day and age” in class that is problematic, not the books more generally, the former Welsh Youth Parliament member said.
>”I was the only black person there in a class which was completely white,” said Bowen, who found hearing the racist language in the book repeated in lessons “really awkward” and “confusing”.
I think the easy responses are to dismiss this and say “Y*ou need to teach about this so that kids know about racism!*” or “*Listen to black people!”…* but… I want something more nuanced than that. Not sure what that looks like.
But this is 2024 Britain. Nuance is the last thing people want.
Lucky kids. I Had to study this in my English Lit. It was painful not least because we only had 8 months to do a 2 year course (long story).
I just couldn’t engage with the story, and while I preferred the film I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
I just didn’t get the requirement in studying how we thought the main characters’behaviour towards each other in a book, that was not noted for bringing their characters to life in the first place, had any noticeable appreciation on my view of the era of the time, or some bs like that anyway.
It’s not as though there weren’t any notable British Authors to choose from??
My daughter is currently studying it
Studied this 30 years ago. About time they changed it
It feels a very, very small step to change a book like this if it will mean that some pupils will feel less alienated, as a result. There are plenty of books out there which could be studied instead, at no detriment to the curriculum.
Some dumb fucking comments in this thread. “I read it 30 years ago” Yeah, because it’s a fucking Classic.
Without them saying what the replacement book is, it’s impossible to say if this is a good idea or not. The fact they’re combining English lit and language doesn’t really inspire confidence.
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