EDUC 232: Reading, Writing and Teaching for Social Change
This course
Literature can motivate us to change. It can widen our world view. This course will involve reading fiction, poetry and memoir that present stories and images in such a compelling way that we see the world differently after having read them. Often it is empathy that is the basis for effective action. This empathy can come from a well- written short story as well as an essay or poem. It need not be didactic, Zora Neale Hurston, Sherman Alexi, Anne Fadiman and a collection of poets will provide models of literature that create such empathy they motivate students to act. We will be doing creative writing on themes from literature as well as planning effective ways to use such literature in the classroom. We will reflect on our own high school experiences and read about some ways of presenting literature to inspire meaningful and open discussions.
Students who have not done a lot of writing, as well as those who write regularly, are invited to take this course. Students who do not intend to go into education but who want to explore the connection between fine literature and social justice are also encouraged to sign up.
Objectives/goals
The main purpose of this course is to encourage students to see the connection between reading a piece of literature and writing effectively about a topic that arises from that literature. It is also a course where we will discuss how to teach such a connection, making student voices the center of the curriculum. I believe students can find their own lives reflected in poetry and prose. At the same time they can also see through a window into other cultures and ethnic groups dissimilar to their own. In response to these mirror and window experiences, a class can become an exciting, involved and safe place. The goal of this course is to provide such a community within the class itself and to talk about how to create such community in other classes composed of a variety of age groups, ethnicities and cultures. By the end of the course students will have read novels, short stories, poems and essays that reflect on the authors� varied life experiences. Participants in the class will thus be able to understand how reading such literature and writing from its themes can create sensitivity to issues of social justice.
Structure
Class sessions will vary from large group to small group discussion, speakers, videos and final projects. We will work in writing notebooks each day at the beginning of class. Each of the three days of the week will be devoted to one of the areas of emphasis in the course: reading, writing, and teaching. I do require attendance and ask that students participate in the discussion, writing and reading of the literature.
Texts
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
The Toughest Indian In The West, Sherman Alexi
Spirit Catches You You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman
Reading Writing and Rising Up, Linda Christenson
An Invitation to Poetry, edited by Robert Pinsky, and Maggie Dietz
Requirements
1.Class attendance and active participation
2.Completion of assigned reading
3. Occasional in- class responses to literature
4.Four short papers reflecting on novels, short stories, memoir, and poetry
5.Lesson Plan for two week unit
6.Final Writing Project
7.Final Exam
Grading
Topics and Readings
Week I
March 29
Questionnaire
Week II
Week III
Week IV
Week V
Week VI
Week VII
Week VIII
Week IX
Week X
Assignment Due Dates (Descriptions of assignments will be given in more detail as class goes along)
April 7: Reflection Paper, Poetry
April 21: Reflection Paper: Eyes Were Watching God
May 12: Reflection Paper: Spirit Catches You You Fall Down
May 26: Reflection Paper: The Toughest Indian In the World
Two Week Lesson Plan Due
May 31: Final Writing Project Due
FINAL EXAM