I was in a bookshop in England a while back, when a mother came in asking for help finding a book for her son, who was 11. He loved to read, she said, but was frequently coming from home from school with a book that his teacher wouldn't let him read. Because, the teacher said, it wasn't appropriate.
What he liked, his mum said, was books with adventure. Horror. Monsters. But he couldn't take those to school because the teacher would stop him reading them. (I have no idea what the teacher thought was appropriate; the mother didn't say.)
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. At a time when kids are reading less and less, when lessons set aside for reading are being scrapped and book sales are declining, we have a teacher stopping a child who wants to read, from reading.
I can't remember all the books we recommended, but I do know we put a copy of The Call by Peadar o' Guilin her hands.
I'll bet he loved it.
2 comments:
Well done. Nick. and I hope he enjoys it.
If as described, that's a very limited awareness of RfP on the school/teachers part. On the other hand, some UK schools might use IT programmes where pupils answered questions on pre-chosen titles, and all his 'horror' titles might not be included in the scheme. Curriculum-wise, there might also be a policy about widening children's reading across the various book genres.
Incidentally, I think the 'click/choose/add the right answer' programmes don't help young readers to love books and reading, though they may encourage certain reading skills.
I take your point, Penny. I had a teacher at school who pushed us to read fiction because fiction ment engaging your imagination. And I'm all for that. In this case, though, it was very much a question of the teacher deciding the boy shouldn't read such a book. The teacher's taste; not the boy's.
And it reminds me of the school the children of friends - under 10s - went to in Reading in the 90s. The assistant head stopped sports and physical play during breaks because he didn't approve of competition. (His words.) So my friend got together with another mum, set up a sports society for after-school and had a 95% sign up.
Post a Comment