AIBU to think they might actually read a book in English? (Secondary)

[runningoutofnewnames]

DS's English class start reading books, then the teacher uses them to demonstrate some kind of grammar exercise or other construction of the English language - then they never actually finish it.

He's in Year 8, and they've only read one book from beginning to end in class since he started at secondary last year.

They're told they're not allowed to read ahead and often they're not even given the book, they're given photocopied sheets each lesson.

So, they read half of Animal Farm. The point of that was to teach them how to write a paragraph with a persuasive argument, apparently. Once they'd done that exercise, the module was finished and they stopped reading the book. DS loves reading and wants to discuss the content of the book in class. This isn't allowed.

This half term, they've done dystopian fiction but they've only read passages from books, not whole books (e.g. photo copied pages from the Hunger Games). The point of that was to demonstrate the elements needed to do a "creative" short story exercise - they were marked on the inclusion of these specific elements, not encouraged to be creative.

He's only read one whole book at school since he started nearly 18 months ago.

Do your DC read whole books in school?

We used to read loads when I was young! We did English Language AND literature when I went to school - it wasn't all about the mechanics of language, it was about appreciating books too and exploring ideas. I loved doing Animal Farm. We certainly read it to the end!

There's a similar focus on the mechanics and lack of creativity in his art lessons too, but that's another story.

Is this is the curriculum (fucking Gove's influence, still?) or his school, I wonder?

My children studied English language up until year 10 when they sat the GCSE early - if they passed they swapped and did literature. The rest resit the language exam - no literature at all.

I read whole books when I did GCSEs back in the 90s. I never questioned my lot much about whether they read the whole book. They love reading, they hate English. All of them. Even though it was my DCs best grade at gcse he still hated it. Luckily it didn't put them off reading. I shall question them more as to why they detested it so much.

YANBU and this makes me feel sad. When I was in secondary school, 20 years ago, we'd all get tatty copies of the books to take home - some of them more than ten years old, used by a different student every year. I was an avid reader so I'd read them within a few days, even if we'd been told not to read ahead. Extracts just aren't the same.

Might also be worth mentioning that they stream them for English and he's in the top set, so it's not even like they have to go at the pace of very slow readers, they're in the other class.

I was at a girls' grammar school in the 1950s, and we studied a book, a
play and poetry each term. I was horrified when my granddaughter for the Shakespeare element in Y9 had to read just one scene from The Tempest. The teacher had told them absolutely nothing about the characters or the setting, and before people mention time constraints, how long would it take to say that the play was set on an island, Prospero and his granddaughter, Miranda, are stranded there, and there is a monster, Caliban.

Coincidentally I was having this exact same conversation with DS1 last night. He is in Year 7 and i asked him about what books they are reading because all his homework is bits of this and bits of that. Mostly bits of paragraphs or poems (including the awful Case of Murder which gave him nightmares). He is in an independent school and reads well but is not a natural reader. In primary he became enthralled by War Horse and the Harry Potters and other books because they read them in class.

I am still reading books to the Dcs at night. So hopefully we can fill any gaps there but it seems a shame that there is just so much that needs to be covered in the surriculum that there is no room for getting all the way through a book.

This is just so incredibly sad. I did o level literature and language and they were completely different parts of the timetable with different teachers. We had to know the books inside out to be able to quote them in our essays, and there are still a few quotes that I can remember.

My daughters 23 and I’m pretty sure they studied books thoroughly. We certainly had to buy her own copies of the books so she could write notes in them.

How are this current generation going to produce literature of their own if they’re only taught about sections of books.

I did my GCSEs twenty years ago and we definitely read full books. We did To Kill a Mocking Bird, Jane Eyre and A Midsummer Night's dream.

I remember we read the whole of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase in year 7 and we did Romeo and Juliet in year 9. I have no memory of year 8 for some reason.

State school. We bought our own copies of the books and I always read ahead.

I live in Ireland now and my eldest is in his first year of secondary school and they are reading The Giver by Lois Lowry.

How are this current generation going to produce literature of their own if they’re only taught about sections of books.

Yes, and never encouraged to be genuinely creative, but to always be writing (or painting) by numbers?

Gosh when I was at school (20 yrs ago) we absolutely read the whole book! You had to buy or borrow it yourself so it wasnt a funding issue as school didnt buy 30 copies. They repeated the same novels so you could often get one second hand locally for very little. The point wasnt to read it in class - the point was that your homework was to read x chapters/pages , then it would be discussed or there's be a writing exercise etc in class

I was a teenager 50 years ago and we read the whole text of all the books plus we were actively encouraged to read more. I'm not surprised some young people don't see the value in reading when it's shoved at them like this and it must be soul destroying for the teacher

We had to know the books inside out to be able to quote them in our essays, and there are still a few quotes that I can remember.

This. I remembering being able to quote extensively from Enduring Love in 6th form.

I remember reading whole novels but also plays and poetry. Pretty sure there was as a minimum a whole book and a whole play plus a poetry anthology (either around a theme or the work of a particular author) each year. I can remember all the plays!
The glass menagerie by Tennessee Williams
Journeys end by RC sheriff
Absent friends by alan ayckbourn
The importance of being earnest by oscar wilde
Romeo and juliet
Othello
Measure for measure
I also remember reading lord of the rings, poetry by Keats and sylvia plath

And as for not being allowed to read ahead.... lol. The first thing I always did was read the whole book!

It sounds as though the Engish curriculum has changed a lot since I was at school - which was a long time ago. We read whole books. I remember Dickens, Bronte, Austin, Orwell, plus a Shakespeare play every year. Our English teacher was enthusiastic about some of the more "modern" novelists: we read DH Lawrence, Alan Sillitoe, A taste of Honey, Francois Sagan (my mother went to school & complained about that one). We read lots of poetry and had to learn poems by heart. We also had a lesson each week in the school library where we selected our own books to read & wrote reviews of them.

This thread makes me so sad. I was in a big standard secondary but my English teacher was amazing. We had the school book guides etc. And she shoved them in a cupboard, I can teach you too pass or I can teach you to understand. I hope too pass my love of reading onto my kids. And i will certainly encourage them to read the full book!!!

And this is why I have a lifelong loathing of English grammar and the Classics.

Endlessly analysing the author's intentions paragraph by paragraph instead of being allowed to read the bloody book properly. It absolutely did my head in, and I'm an avid reader normally.

My ds did dystopian fiction in year 8 , he definitely read the whole of animal farm and then they also had a choice of other examples to read from the year 8 reading list . He also did a Shakespeare play every year , MacBeth in year 8 I think, also did Midsummer Nights Dream, the Tempest and Romeo and Juliet for GCSE can’t remember which others . He left school in 2020. They were always given the whole book and expected to read ahead to prepare for the lesson , admittedly they were set for English and he was in the fastest set.

He’s noo ok w reading English at university

Now reading ( sorry )

I work in a high school. We read the full book. I didn't realise not reading the full book was even a thing!

This thread is so depressing. Unfortunately it reflects the experience of my DC (y9) too. He's in top set at a non-selective, high performing state school. He's a keen reader and clever, but too lazy to read anything that will challenge him.too much.

I teach in an SEMH school so all of our students have additional needs. We read:

_Year 7 (Reading age typically

I just wanted them to give me the book and let me read it from cover to cover, not have to spend an eternity going through it lesson by lesson, page by page. We weren't allowed to take the books home and had to sit in class in pairs reading them during the lesson, sharing a book. I sat with someone whose reading speed was considerably slower than mine - she read at a snail's pace. I was bored shitless for years.

This is reflective of the whole school experience, that's the thing. Kids aren't taught how to think, they're taught how to pass exams.

This was a huge part of why I pulled mine out to home educate in the end.

@Faffandahalf

We teach all of: Roll of thunder (7) Anita and Me (play in 8) Of mice and men (yr9’s as it’s not gcse any more)

Aaannnd…that’s probably it.

We don’t read an entire shakespeare play at ks3. We often use extracts of novels in order to teach creative writing (that’s pretty standard really). We use extracts from novels for other things too.

There just isn’t the time. We have assessments every 5-6 weeks. You can’t read a full text and teach the skills necessary for the assessment in that space of time. Teachers would love to just read and talk and enjoy teaching a love of literature. The reality of the English classroom is very different. It’s all about progress and data entry points and the assessment flight plan. 😴😴

That is so depressing! We probably read about 6-8 books in English every year in high school, as well as studying stand-alone texts like individual poems, and learning critical anlysis, writing skills etc. But I suppose funding must have been less of an issue then (even though I recall teachers complaining about lack of funding), as every person (30 per class) got their own copy of the novel to read during class and at home, use as a reference to answer questions etc.

This focus on assessments rather than actual education is crazy and will create massive problems further down the line. (Who wants to employ someone who can pass a test but doesn't know how to research a subject, cite references, have the concentration to focus on a long task or have a broad understanding of their own language, which one only really gets through reading?) No wonder teachers are leaving the profession in droves - it must be so demoralising!

We always read a whole book and lots of them! We even have a Reading for Pleasure lesson and a whole year group reading book in form time alongside Accelerated Reader. We are a very comprehensive school in London - by the end of our Year 11 our pupils will have read 11 whole books, 4 Shakespeare and at least two modern plays. We pride ourselves in reading being the core of our English Curriculum. So far my Year 8s have read the whole of The Tempest, Sherlock Holmes, Animal Farm and half of Chinese Cinderella and will now do creative writing and poetry. We do extracts but to teach a particular skill as a separate task away from reading a whole book and writing a final essay on it.