READING WOES AT A CORE KNOWLEDGE SCHOOL

Much angst this last quarter: too much to do in an environment I am just beginning to understand. Lots of family stuff too, which is always more important. I am teaching in a Core Knowledge school, which at first and second glance seemed like a great match for my educational profile. But we are hitting the bumps in the road now, and I am not sure whether to just adapt or to try and shift the perspective of those in charge. I have a chance, since I teach in the high school, to do the latter. Core knowledge really only goes to 8th grade, so in our new high school, we are still paving a new road. But I am not sure that my instincts match the mission of the school, and I do not want to become a squeaky wheel.

My problem is this: core knowledge in an overarching way, means "there are things we all ought to know." I am good with that--it helps us build community, when we have cultural touchstones. And I am (maybe) naive enough to believe that we can tweak the definition of core knowledge to include some changes to represent who we are NOW--less Ben Franklin in American Lit, more Zora Neale Hurston and Naomi Shihab Nye, for instance. So beyond that issue, I am troubled by the forced reading of texts throughout the lower grades to make sure that everyone has read the same stuff. It totally ignores the need to create lifelong readers--and ensures that many will not be. Reading Julius Caesar in the fifth grade? There is not a place in the world where that is ok or even contributing to a child's core cultural knowledge. Reading Harry Potter, on the other hand, or John Green in grade school, will prepare my high schoolers for Shakespearean investigation of leadership or the poetry that he wrote, still inspiring a young writer like John Green to title a book with a Shakespeare quote 400 years later. I Am Malala would provide inspiring content and perhaps open young minds to the value of our differences--I still believe that our differences will be our strength, if we just lean into it.

SO I can state the problem, but it does not end there. My colleague is teaching what she needs to teach by school standards, and always exceeds standards--even with reading and writing. Is she teaching the same kids? Is she just a better teacher? She has abandoned many of the practices that are MY core practice and is succeeding--how do I do that? Do I want to do that?