Prescriptions/Strategies for Teaching/Learning English.

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 070 082

CS 200 251

AUTHOR

Green, Jerome, Ed.

TITLE

Prescriptions/Strategies for Teaching/Learning

English.

INSTITUTION

New York State English Council.

PUB DATE 72

NOTE

54p.

JOURNAL CIT

English Record; v22 n4 p4-53 Summer 1972

EDRS PRICE

MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29

DESCRIPTORS

.*Affective Objectives; Behavioral Objectives;

*Cognitive Objectives; Communication Skills; Creative

Writing; Dramatics; Elementary Education; *English;

*Language Arts; *Reading; Secondary Education;

Teaching

ABSTRACT

This special issue of "The English Record" contains

12 articles about the teaching and learning of English at the primary

and secondary school levels. The issue includes: "Reading Education

in New York State" by E. B. Nyquist; "Writing and imaginative

Writing" by D. J. Casey; "Creativity Theory and Language Arts" by R.

P. Smith; "Communication: A Two-Way Street" by R. Dykstra; "Let 'Em

Talk" by R. L. Knudson; "Creative Dramatics: Field of the Future" by

S. Schwartz; "Research and the Teaching of English" by R. L. Cayer;

"Asking the First Two Questions" by C. R. Cooper; "Sequencing in

English K-12: A Model" by D. R. Wood; "Making Sense of Behavioral

Objectives and Accountability" by F. J. Tutera; "The Teacher in a

Changing Society: Will the Leopard Change Its Spots?" by A. R.

Mangione; and "Books of Yesterday" by E. Bennett.

(Author/DI)

NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH COUNCIL

the

enaish RecoRo

Special English Education Issue

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Lot

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hobo liabinno

PRESCRIPTIONS/

STRATEGIES

FOR

TEACHING

LEARNING ENGLISH

VOL. XXII, No. 4

Jerome Green

SUMMER, 1972

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Research Paper: A

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Linguistics and Teaching:

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English Morphophonirs: Implications for the Teaching of Literacy

by Henry

Lee Smith, Jr., State University of New York at Buffalo. $1.75 a single copy;

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On Transformational Grammar: An Introduction for Teachers

by Roderick A.

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20 or more copies, $.85.

No. 12

A Bibliography of New York State Authors from the Colonial Period to the

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No. 13

English Teaching in New York State Public Schools

by Roger E. Cayer of New

York University and John E. Reedy of State University College. Buffalo. $1.50

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No. 14

Studies in

Englisit to Speakers of Other Languages and Standard English to

Speakers of a Non-Standard Dialect

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ettost Editor:

Jerome

Green

Associate Editors: Daniel J. Casey. Elizabeth Drake, Edward II. Kelly,

Richard Knudson. David %tieback

VOL. XXII

SUMMER, 1972

TABLE OF CONTENTS

No. 4

Page

LEARNING AND TEACHING ENGLISH: ARTICLES

REAtnN EDUCATION IN Ni: W Your STATE Elold 13. Ntiquisi

WRITING AND IMAGINATIVE \\*OFFING

Daniel I. Casey

CREATIVITY TIIEOIIY AND LANGUAGE ARTS

Rodney P. Smith

CosistuNicATioN: A TWO-WAY STREET

Hobert Dykstra

:19

LET 'Est TALK

Richard L. Knudson

CHEATIvt: DitAstATics: FIELD OF THE FUTURE

Sheila Schwartz

REsEAucn ANo TI E TEAciusc OF l G1.1511

Roger L. Gayer 34

ASKING THE FIRST TWO QUESTIONS

Charies U. Cooper

SEQUENCING IN ENGLISH K-12: A Mimi.

florid R. Wood 42

MAKING SENSE OF BEHAVIORAL OM LCTIVES AND

ACCOUNT:WHAT)*

Prank I. Tutera 45

TnE TEActiEtt IN A CHANGING SOCIETY:

WILL THE LEOPARD CHANGE ITS SPOTS? Anthony Roy Mangione

BooKs OF Vt.:smutty'. Esther Bennett 52

AFFECTIVE ENGLISH: ARTICLES AND POEMS

LET THE VOICE BE YOURS. TEACHER Kenneth Gambone 54

ANALYZE: SLOW LEARNER GUILES

Patrick I. Morrissey. Ir. 55

ENLAncE

Richard Latta 5(3

VEIN Tunis Youtis

Burton Schaber

150,000 STUDENT CONFESSIONS

A. Blinde:man

DEpAnTNIENTS

EDITORIAL: PRESCRIPTION FOR ENGLISH

eronw Green

REtEws:

JOHN AND HORNER'S Early Childhood Bilingual

Education

Margarita Mir

Ln.mAy NVEnEtt's The English Infant School

and Informal Education

Dorothy Hitcher!

N1cKA AND NIAcKEN7.1E's On My Mind:

A NVriling Series

Stuart Scott

(i7

COMING IN "TuE ENGLISH REcono"

Inside Back Cover

Member of the NCTE Information Agreement

TIIE E.VG 1.INII

REI*011

'm1111%1.'41

quarterly

%rioter,

spring.

and autnutorl

by the New Yolk

Slate

Council.

Editorial Office: Daniel

.1. Casey.

State ViihersitY

College, Oneonta. New York 1:Is2 0.

General artleico of

int ereat to English

leaeliers on all

levels

of instruction AS vrll AA

and

llrlinn

ore United. :tfontior7int4

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Incholtd it,

the text.

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to The English

Record)

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buliiidaal

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oulnieript limit and adtt.r

I %sing Month!

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to Patrick

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Secretory: Union College

Ilumanitiell

eger, Schenectady. New York

1 2:4 tin

COYEI!

: Mary Ann Nliller

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RIGHTED MATERIAL HAS REEN GRANTED

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TO MC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING

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MISSION OF THE COPYRiGI41 OWNER

READING EDUCATION IN NEW YORK

STATE

Ewald B. Ny(jaist

From time to time it

is essential that a State Education I)(

part-

mem revicv policies and

1)111;;rallIS in all areas of operation, revise

and update these in the light of

"toy research, present needs. and

Heller pajiccs, Iv() factor; served

10 focus the 1)epartment's at-

tention on reading in OR. past

year. One \\as the declaration by

our

late Commissioner, James E. .Men.

of a Bight to Ilea() effort

to he

mounted nationally.

This, coupled with the

continuing evidence

gathered through the 1)epatment's

mandated reading tests at grades

and 9, that in certain

areas of Nett York State large numbers of

children \veil, notable to succeed

in the academic activities usually

carried out at their assigned grade level

\\lien these involve reading,

led to the revision mod updating of

the Regents statement of their

po-

sition on the teaching of reading. That

revision was issued in July,

1971, as Position Paper \o, I.

Its coutviit summarized the thinking

of the 1)epartment and the

Regents 011 the nature 01 the good reading

program, the needs which

mum he filled if

this sort 01 reading

program is to he generally im-

plemented throughout the State and

the action which must be taken

to make general implementation

a reality.

The paper states that reading

programs should be leane -cen-

teed in practice as \yell

as theory.

is an educational aphorism,

especially in Ne\v York Stale \\liere

the goal of the State Education

1)epartment is to make of each all that he

is capable of becoming,

that education sh000ld be individnalized

in its goals for each learner.

Past practice in reading instruction \vhile

mowing toward this goal

thong!' its general practice of ability

grouping in the elementary

reading program has centered,

not on the child and his needs, but

upon the materials and methods through which

the child receives

instruction. Each child is lilted to the

program, rather than the pro-

gram being lilted to the child. The major atljustment

for individuali-

zation is often differential

)acing

permits some children to

move mow, others ll'titi rapithy,

.1s programs beeonc

more learner-centered, selection] of the ob-

jectives for reading instruction will precede

the choice of the materials

and these objectives will

serve as part ()I the criteria fon the develop-

ment or selection 01 materials. But before

any decisions arc III ode as

to the objectives for instruction

or On...materials and methods to be

used,

there must come all assessment ()I the

status mod the nature ()I'

die child himself. Continuing diagnostic

assessment of the child and

his progress becomes the base

on \\inch all decisions affecting the

kind of reading instruction he will

receive will be

Ewald B. Nygnist is President of the

University of the State of

New York and Commissioner of I.:due:idol]

in No.\\. York.

...

THE ENGLISH RECORD

/1.

This assessment in fact becomes the major part of the ex ;dila-

tion process. Evaluation (II skill mastery at any point in time \y ill serve

as indicator that itxv goals or objectives must he set to carry him

further along the xvay toxxard the ability to apply reading skills

satisfying his needs and desires.

The paper does not argue the advantages of specific methodolo-

gies.

proposes that many ways for decoding xvritten language

must eventually he a part of any individual's skills repertory, for no

one way is enough. Even though one system is used initially to teach

(Iccotling, any early phonies (n linguistics skills !mist soon be supple-

mented by a large stint

of sight

xx ()ills for efficiency. Consistcm.y

in providing sequentially sound instruction in any good method is

more apt to determine the individual learner's success in beginning

reading than the nature of the method itself,

The policy ..*,:tleitint also deals with the pre-school child and the

role his parents play in their child's physical and intellectual develop-

ment.

I hvever, it assigns the responsibility to the school for stimulat-

ing and developing the readiness of all children so oaeli may read.

fective kindergarten programs most teach those who are ready and

willing to leant to read as well as those not yet physically and men-

tally mature enough to cope with the early reading program.

I Imvever, the Itegents' concern is not limited to the voting child

only.

It extends through UK secondary curriculum as well and applies

the saute learner-centered, diagnostic-prescriptive approach to

this

area. Secondary teachers are resposil)le for providing direct instruc-

tion in the comprehension skills related to their subject area. This in-

struction should be geared to the abilities and achievement levels of

the students in their classe.i.

In mIdition, it

is the responsibility of

the secondary school to provide special reading programs for second-

ary students who are not able readers. For many stu.li students, spe-

cific plans for career or for education beyond high school renew their

motivation for improvement in reading. Not only most the less al)le

reader be helped but the gifted artist also he challenged to increas..

his understanding of written language.

At this time, however, the prinlary focus of attention at both the

state and local level must fie directed toward the vast numbers of hil-

(en and older students who have not succeeded in making reading

useful for acquiring information and xxlio have not found pleasure itt

reading on their own.

Unlike previous statements out instructional programs. this paper

proposes action to be taken by both the Department and the schools

to implement the program design outlined in this paper successfully.

The school itself has the basic responsibility to evaluate its present

reading program and begin the process which will bring it in accord

xvith stated policies, However, the State Education 1)partment !mist

provide both personal and technical support to the school as they

review and rex ise their reading curriculum.

Itealizing that the final determinant of the success of any program

lies in the effectiveness of teaching, within each classroom. the State

seeks to provide criteria for leacher preparation and supportive ser-

SUMMER, 1972

t.)

vices which will enable teachers to provide the individually focused

diagnostic-prescriptive teaching within tiler classrooms,

A first step has been the introduction of a reading requirement

for elementary certification, This requirement has two parts .The first

applies to

all

students who will he certified through completion

of a state approved program in elementary education such-

as those

offered in our State Universities. This requires that each candidate

will have mastered a set of basic and minimal teaching competencies

which should he characteristic of all good reading instruction. The

college will develop and administer a system of proficiency

measure-

ment. This system must be approved by the State Education Depart-

ment. The colleges will be required to testify that all candidates for

elementary certification have acquired at least

a minimal set of pro-

ficiencies needed in the teaching of reading. Since this is

an entirely

new concept in certification for this State, we may expect so in

early

unevenness in application which, however, should be quickly elimi-

ated as we learn from our experience in administering and evaluating

the criteria.

There is a six-hour coitirSe requirement for those people who

receive their teacher training out of state or in colleges whose teacher

education programs are not approved. The Department is already

exploring the possibility of adding a proficiency examination to the

requirement for such candidates.

But the greater part of Department effort will be directed at in-

service education to help classroom teachers. The first large scale

effort has been directed toward the teachers of the educationally dis-

advantaged since these pupils and their learning problems

are a grave

concern. Fifty-three districts will participate in a leadership training

program which will use existing summer reading programs as leader-

ship training labs for select,c1 local in-service leaders. These leaders

will then organize and implement in-service programs in their home

school building. The programs will zero in on the collection and

use

of individual and group diagnostic data in planning instruction and

ways classrooms can be organized to permit a variety of reading ac-

tivities to occur simultaneously. Other kinds of in-service activities

are proposed as well for administrators, aides, paraprofessionals, and

volunteers.

In addition, the Department has projected and is constructing

a statewide instructional support system for program planning and

evaluation which will be the first of its kind in the United States.

This system will provide a bank from which selected objectives

may

be drawn by the local program planner. These objectives

are de-

signed to be measured by criterion test items. For

an individual pro-

gram, series of tests especially constructed for that program will be

given at regular intervals during the period of instruction. fly random-

izing the test forms over the total number of program participants

at each testing all objectives selected will be tested each time. At

some points the test scores on specific objectives will be pre-instruc-

tional, at others, immediately post-instructional and thereafter will he

retention scores. Continuous feedback will permit the school to evalu-

THE ENGLISH RECORD

ate the results of instruction (hiring the program ,is

%yell as before

and after.

Unique to the system is the tree(hini

it allms the local

district in determining its mvii instructional goals and electing

its

mvii organization an(' methodology for instruction. The 1)epartilleill

believes that readitig can he talight through mim media and ire

man).

mrganizationid patterns from open schools to learning laboratories.

The State Education Depaimnt is firmly (amounted to individuali-

zation am' ititends to replace verbal commitment %yid% action in order

to tap the full potential of each learner and give each that most im-

portant of learning tools the ability to read.

13iit the responsibility for improving reading is not the Depart-

ment's alone.

It is firmly placed on the local district as yell.

It rests

with the school administrator whose commitment 811(1 leadership

must

ptve the way for the changes %%inch must take place. And

it rests with each classroom teacher %vim must be accountable to each

child, his parents and the community for the quality 01 instruction in

each and every classroom.

MONOGRAPH NUMBER THIRTEEN

English Teaching in New York State Public Schools*

Roger L. Cayer, N.Y.U.

John E. Reedy, S.U.C., Buffalo

Profile of the N.Y.S. English Teacher

Preparation of the English Teacher

Subjects Taught in Secondary School English

Recommendations for School Districts and Colleges

Available at $1.50

Philip J. West

Department of English

Skidmore College

Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 12866

*Research Sponsored by the Research Committee of

NYSEC with a

Grant from N.Y.U.

=11,

SUMMER, 1972

t.*.1

WRITING AND IMAGINATIVE WRITING

Daniel J. Casey

Universities, traditionally the worst teachers of writing. have

manned the gaps in composition programs with

a drove ol uninitiated

assistants impressed by a department senevhimsell unimpressed.

Up to now the fare has been most unimaginative. English education-

ists have long dallied with the notion that creativity might he taught.

but in the end the demonstration lesson is all too frequently -the topic

sentence" by the numbers. The elementary and secondary teachers

English have been caught up running the language, literature, and

composition gamuts as part of a great coverage conspiracy: they

are

only beginning to question their roles

as full-time skill builders. lin-

guistic mechanics, or mnemonic prompters for ontmoded examina-

tions.

The periodical offerings on imaginative %%Tiling have been disap-

pointing, to say the least. The same article is resurrected

on a cycle

by John Brown, Associate Pro fesso of English at S'uog State. by

Jane Smithers, English Chairman at Owanka High. and by

Bessie

Oglethorpe, third-grade teacher at Sparse Hills Elementary. Surely

the ideas are reshuffled now and again, but there k

a mimeograph

likeness in the diagnosis and the preseripti(?4. The journals, like

the

institutions and

faculties, have preferred exposition and die-

torie, and, over the years, they have concentrated

on the surer stnE

of the craft.

The human imagination cannot he lammeled by

wearisome

formula exercises forever, nor can it continue

to lie in perpetual catal-

(psis.

Universities are responding to student demands for workshops

in writing poetry, drama, and fiction: secondary electives

programs

are introducing more courses and independent studies in imaginative

writing, and elementary curricula are calling for greater emphasis

creative development. The narrow trichcomy and

coverage, the con-

venient self deceptions, have been challenged and limed wanting, and

English teachers at all levels are shilling their stance. The malaise

in imaginative writing is,

I believe, at an end.

What we must do now is question the validity of earlier

concepts

and practices related to the creative process and the teaching

imaginative writing. What we moist do is inquire further

into the

faulty premises that have mivginded us in the classroom and begin

reconsider not only the 'itemises but their unfortunate

consequences.

Imaginative writing has been given short shrift for a variety of

rea-

sons, few of them defensible.

First, we have made the assumption that creativity is meted

out

in large doses to a chosen few artists and intellectuals. Therefore,

Daniel J. Casey is an associate professor of English

at State

University Uollege, Oneonta. Ile has published more than

twenty-

five articirs alttl reviews. Professo Casey edits the English

Berard

and co,dits the

Noslier.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

reason, to devote a block of valuable class time to culling the talents

of the elite is to abrogate responsibility to the basic needs of the many.

But creativity is universal, We arc all sent naked and uncertain into

the world, and we all carry a spark of creativity, a spark that may

not be as I.ght or enduring as another's. yet a spark.

Donald NIcKinnon's research, reported

in a Nati:ably Review

article in February, 1962, entitled "What Makes a Verson Creative?"

sought out the common denominators of creativity.

NleKinnon re-

vealed that the stereotypethe genius with an exceptionally high

1.9., the eccentric in thinking and appearance, the Bohemian, the egg-

head, the long hairis unlounded. Among the six hundred in his

sampling, 1.9. scores ranged widely, suggesting that the correlation

between intelligence as measured by the test and actual creative per-

formance is insignificant, The fact is the sterotypc failed the test.

What then are the qualities and traits of creative individuals? The

research finds that they have an unusual capacity to record and re-

tain experiences, that they have wide experiences, that they operate

;n the reahn of symbols rather than by logic, and that they tend to pre-

fer perception to judgment.

if one accepts the research. he should

set the objectives for teaching imaginative writing to compliment

observed behavioral patterns.

lie should then provide training

observation and perception, offer a variety of experiences, and en-

courage youngsters to exercise intuition and imagination.

McKinnon repudiates the stereotype and his comprehensive study

suggests that creative individuals have traits that are common to a

large segment of a population. The research, McKinnon's and others',

reenforces the notion that every child has creative potential, that no

child can he ruled out. To continue attributing such potential to the

elite, the logicians, the Bohemian types, is short-sighted and wrong

headed. As teachers of English. we are charged to discover creative

potential and to tap it, to extend the syllabus beyond skills, exposition,

and rhetoric.

The second faulty premise is as egregious as the first, for it holds

that creativity ends in communication. The effectiveness of imagina-

tive writing seems to depend on its having meaning to the teacher.

What an individual creates need not communicate beyond self.

lie

sees what he has wrought first as a private experience and "perhaps"

later as a public expression. Emily Dickinson's poetry is a powerful

persuasian of the degree to which that is the case. And Julio- Fowles'

recent statement, that he didn't care whether anyone read his books,

that the joy came in the writing of them, would seem to bear that out

as well.

When imaginative writing does communicitc beyond self,

does so because the author has managed to to:;:h common ground

with the t.eader.

In other words, the reader has had an experience,

real or vicarious, thsj parallels the writer's.

In the developmental

stage a tea; ier may provide a common starting point to strengthen

the possibility of communication, if he is at all concerned with com-

munication. But the audience of one should not be overlooked. The

SUMMER, 1972

kindergartener, whose pride in a vague design finger

painted on oak-

tag and the adolescent, w hose torrent of

nonsense words shames the

local politician, IllaVC touched the spark of

imagination. They. have dis-

covered a uniqueness of style, tout, and

imagery, a singular talent

for self-expression. They have managed

a Insion of human passion

and the medium. In the cud they

may, of course, publish or exhibit,

or they may silently press the creation into the

pages of an incon-

spicuous text.

.1'he creator is the arbiter elegattliac.

The third fallacy is that a strong tic exists between

formal writ-

ing and imaginative writing. Indeed,

to many teachers the two are

indistinguishable. Formal writing emphasizes

a grammar, a structure,

research techniques, and expository method;

imaginative writing may

be lyric, unstructured, and fluid. Formal

writing and the skills of for-

mal writing are incremental

or cumulative, and the teaching of it is

rewarding, for it can be taught. imaginative writing

is not cuula-

tive; it is a response, a reaction, rather than

a consciously or system-

atically acquired skill, and it may be (logical and

irrational. Imagina-

tive writing cannot really be taught. It

can be channeled, encouraged,

tended.

John Ciardi, in his article, "On Writing and

Bad Writing," put

it this way:

No teacher can hope to build for the student that haunted

house of the

mortally excited talent and self. The good teacher

recognizes the real ex-

citement when he sees it.

lie can encourage it

as one cot:wit-ges a lire

by poking, prodding, and blowing

it.

Bin

it is

dangerous for

teacher to let himself think that the fire is his

doing.

At hest, the teacher

may strike the match. But the match must fall into the all-blazing

possi-

bility of soul-tinder.

(Saturday Review, Dec. 15, 1962,

Teachers of basic skills and teachers of

exposition have for years

unintentionally attacked youngsters exercising

imagination.

They

have developed creative writing

assignments only to destroy the

writers with grammatical, structural, and mechanical

barrages that

have had little to do with the imagination.

Teachers have unwarily

superimposed an artificial style and their

own best thoughts on every

piece of writing to cross the desk. Worse

yet, they have often des-

troyed the spontaneity of the piece by

intraduing a rarified air, in-

capable of supporting stylistic vitality.

To paraphrase an

expresso!'

heard recently, "If you think

you can't kill imagination, then you un-

derestimate the power of education."

Skills, exposition, and rh'toric

must be taught, but somewhere

along the line the teacher should decide

whether he wants to strike

a balance between formal writing and imaginative

writing.

lie will

first have to make the distinction between

the two, and having made

the distinction, he will have to.live by

it.

The fourth premise bears directly

on the third, for the fourth

premise says that imaginative writing should be

corrected and graded

to compare efforts, to note improvement,

or to measure it against a

standard. English teachers find it difficult

to break out of !,lie correc-

tion synchronic. Even as they reach: for the

morning im,d, they un-

sheathe the red pen or blue pencil to do it

justice. For the English

THE ENGLISH RECORD

teacher no artifact may simply be: it must be correct or be corrected.

On what basis (I() we measure imagination?

13y what criteria

does the teacher of English judge the creative act:'

to the gallery

or the concert hall and consider, if you will, a modern painting, a

modern sculpture, a modern orchestration. While we luav agree on

the merits of Raphatbrs "Coronation," Nlichelangelo's "bavid," or

Berlioz's "Symphonic. Fantastiqutb,"

e certainly will disagree, and

sometimes violently, On the merits of modern aesthetic expression.

Oscar Wilde, in his preface to The

Picture

of Dorian Gray,

assures

us, "Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is

new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree the artist is in accord

with himself. We can forgive a main for making a useful thing as long

as he doesn't admire it. The only excise for making a useless thing

is that one admires it intensely.

All art is quite useless."

Correcting and grading imaginative writing is

I suspect, more au

unconscious than an unconscionable art. There is a positive urgency

about correcting misspellings, revising awkward phrasing, and attend-

ing to conventional punctuationthe stuff of grading.

Teachers

find it uncomfortable adjusting to the idea that imaginative writing

cannot begin with those eoncents. The writing may be inspired or

aggravated by a teacher, but the process is essentially non-directive

and the product is non-corrective. Imaginative writing is evaluated by

its sternest critic, the writer himself. Correction, especially at the out-

set, should be regarded an intrusion ...othtbr than an assist. Imagination

and creativity are, at best, difficult to evaluate; they are impossible

to grade.

The fifth premise is that imaginative writing should be taught

only by the teacher with expertise, a teacher who is a creative writer

himself. The classroom teacher has often shied away front the chal-

lenge because he lacks confidence in his own writing ability, because

he hasn't the imagination, or because he hasn't studied the subject or

the process formally. The professional writer may, in fact, be the

worst teacher of imaginative writing; the classroom teacher, the best.

The professional has already laid out his course and determined

his approaches, and he may be unwilling to accept the unfamiliar or

encourage the unorthodox. Even if he is willing, students too often

model themselves on the master, tending to regard his suggestions as

ex cathedra pronouncements. There is at certain romance in imagining

that if I want to write like Wolfe, Anderson, or Faulkner,

I should

live and dress like Wolfe, Anderson, or Faulkner.

I suspect, though,

that retiring to a cold water flat in Brooklyn and scrawling on ac-

countant's ledges propped on an icebox would not result

in Look

Homeward Angel Revisited,

or hying off to a rear office in a paint

factory would not give me

Winesburg, New York,

nor would seeking

out a boiler room in Mississippi put me in touch with Brave New

Yoknapatawplia. If I would write like Wolfe Anderson, or Faulkner,

I need to be Wolfe, Anderson, or Faulkner. To write imaginatively

I only need to be me.

The non-professional writer hasn't to dispel preconceptions about

the subject and its limitations.

Ile is less likely to overwhelm the

SUMMER, 1972

impressionable student with arbitrary

cautions and precautions and

more apt to respond to the student and .the stmlent's

expression. That

is not to say that incompetency is

a preferred quality in the teacher of

imaginative writing, Ind it is to

say that imagination and enthusiasm

arc more prized than publication and recognition. The

student can

trifle

with habits, tehiopies. and idiosyneracies

professional

..vriters, but in the end he has

it' grapple with his own peculiar psyche

to effect his own peculiar style. The teacher.

meanwhile, provides the

atmosphere conducive to creativity and

generates ideas to instigate

the process.

If any one thing

can be said of imaginative writing, it

is that

the teacher of English has neglected

it. And %dial I have been ,saying

is that the neglect has been due

to deceptions that, on the .;,irface.

appear altogether reasonable. They

are not.

If no one type has

monopoly on creativity, imaginative

writing should be introduced

to)

every student at every level.

II imaginative writing

can provide for

private aesthetic expression, it should

find a place in the curriculum.

'We have failed to make cleat'

the distinctions that exist

between

formal and imaginative writing,

and we have treated

every written

composition the samecorrecting, grading,

affixing appropriate

sy-

bols.

Finally, we have lacked

training and experience

as creative

writers ourselves, whih is to

say, we have lacked confidence in

our

ability to) provide leadership and

guidance. Once

we made the de-

cision not to offer imaginative

writing, but that decision is

no longer

in our hands. Students

arc petitioning for writing workshops and

independent studies, and

programs on all levels are reflecting student

preference.

magina t lye writing deserves

greater attention

the English

classroom, The composition

of imaginative literature

should be

seen as at least as important as its appreciation,

its synthesis at least

as important as its analysis. The miracle of

the classroom is that the

synthesis can occur there, if only

the teacher will

encourage it.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

CREATIVITY THEORY AND LANGUAGE ARTS

Rodney I'. Smith

One of the finest justifications for creativity ever written is to be

found in John W. Gatrdner's Sell

- Renewal, a book which is subtitled

The individual and the innovative Society.

In this hook, Gardner

speaks of the need for society to renew itself, to innovate, and for

individuals to be ereath.c. Ahout a third of the way through the book,

Gardner writes a statement which' poses a question to which this

short essay responds. Gardner asks:

it possible to foster creativity? The question is not easily answered.

1)..m..

lx)oks on the subject seem to be saying that the trait

in question

is like a muscle that profits from exercise (and the implication is that you

too can bulge in the right plaees).+

Gardner goes on to add a statement which is intrinsic to

any

writing on creativity:

research workers believe that this trait and the qualities of character,

temperament, and intellect that contribute to it are laid down in childhood

. We know too little about these early influences .

. As far as adults

are concerned, it

is not certain whether anything can be done

Rut

much con he done to release the potential that is there

. .

certain kinds

of environment smother their creative impulse and other kinds permit the

release of these impulses.2

Working Definition of Creativity

Thus we have provided ourselves

a somewhat direct thesis to

follow. That thesis is that creativity is

very important to mankind,

and that we ought to question, to find out if creativity

can be culti-

vated, The first part of this thesis perhaps needs amplification.

There are several possibilities in

a world of inevitable change.

One may be, or attempt to be, unbending against change.

lie may

bend with it and flexibly adapt to it;

or one may learn to direct

change and through innovation learn to create and control

change.

A great deal of inventiveness and creativity of the

past has been

directed toward adaptation to change and

creation and the attempt

to control change.

Mostly, though, this spontaneity, this

creativity,

this uniqueness and imagination has been

an accident of nature. And

though scientific interest has been shown

in creativity since before

18693, even today very little concerted action has been

mounted in

this area.

GattlIpT, Ithp \V. Self Renewal.

Ne'n 4mrkt Mawr ('.,("pimp

Itp"to,,

1110). P. a i

2 thmlprr. Op. Cit.. PP. :14.35

Rodney P. Smith, Assistant Chief of Curriculum

and histrue.

lion in the state of Florida, is known

as a teacher, lecturer, author

of the NCTE book on

Creativity in the English Program,

and as

Editor of

Elementary English.

SUMMER, 1972

What is creativity anyway? Words such as divergent. growth. in-

dependence, risk-taking. multiple -answers. inventiveness, and im-

aginative come readily to mind.

However, Guilford discusses the

process of creative thinking in terms of ideation and

problem solving,

both of which ate related to the following little understood modes of

thought:

1. Fluency has to do with recall of stored information. A greater or lesser

degree of fluency can be noted, but the process of using information

"stored" in the brain is a little known operation.

2. Flexibility has

to do with transforming one type

information

another.

It can be observed that one may classify and reclassify

various orders --e.g. in a

list of items.

Here again one finds it easier

to measure outcomes than to explain the process.

3. Elaboration is best viewed as the old game of associations. What is the

process of one thought leading to another? Though elaboration may be

observed, an understanding of this chain of events is as yet not known.

4. Transfortnations

are viewed

sudden and intuitive

shifts,

brilliant

flashes of insight. The principles and laws surrounding this process are

unknown.

5. The phenomenon of incubation is cited by Guilford as being observed

by only one intentional study. The knack of leaving one's work or

partial creation, followed by a period of relaxation of effort, and then

the return to fruition, is noted but is not explainable by present research.

A working definition of creativity is given in the book Creativity

in the English Program.

It is as follows:

. .

a working definition of creativity might be uncovered by examining

such processes as the ability to identify Probletns and to use imagination

in seeking unique solutions, the use of divergent thinking,

flexibility in

adapting to changing situations, and the ability to use evaluative thinking

toward new syntheses.4

Theory and Practice

It might be well to attempt to present some idea of practice

based on creative theory that could be useful to the classroom

teacher. Such an idea ought to confront head-on the often mis-

understood idea that creativity is almost total permissiveness with

neither form not structure. For though such "openness" might lead

to creativity, it would be the accidental creativity generated by

chaos. And it would seem that mankind is far removed from this

early start and is able to begin on another level of creativity some-

what further up the ladder of human concern.

Certainly this

not without danger; for structure and form, stemming as they do

from cultural mores, have built in restraints, built in walls and

3 Smith,

Ihnlory

P. Creativity

In Tho English Program. elmmInlino:

National

Connell of

Trarlivra of

int11,11,

19711.

IP. SO

Smith. Ili,.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

fences which are not always supportive of creativity and

innova-

tion. Yet it must hastily be said that without form

or order little

of empirical importance is apt to

occur. And it is the change, the

accidental inventiveness of the past which

we are attempting to

transcend. Thus our paradox becomes

one of freedom and disci-

pline.

It happens that two rather well known theorists have ad-

dressed themselves to this problem. One is Alfred North

White-

head in a work called "The Rhythmic Claims of Freedom

and

Discipline,"g .

second work is that of Carl R. Rogers, "Toward

Theory of Creativity"g. Let us see if these authors provide further

explications,

helpful

theories,

and

directions

toward

practice.

\VIthrthead's ". .

. Freedom and Discipline"

It is Whitehead's belief that three requirements

must be met

in the mastery of any field of endeavor. These

are interest, disci-

pline, and freedom. No student is apt to devote his

energies to

that in which he has no interest. That which

we hope a student will

master most forever draw the student to the stage where lie wants

to fully comprehend

it.

Yet

full comprehension and eventual

mastery of anything entagles the student in a sticky web of techni-

calities and laborious study. This is the discipline of which White-

head writes. From this inital interest leading to

a self-committed

adherence to discipline, the student

goes on to practice of a skill

or a lifetime endeavor. His self-earned deeper insight now provides

him freedom because lie now has control

over that which lie hoped

to master. Whitehead's theory of learning, then, requires that, in

order to attain mastery, one must pass from interest through disci-

pline to freedom,

D. S, Robinsong, in commenting on this, maintained that

actuality a cyclical theory of learning was involved. For

as a.stu-

dent advances he must feel progressive stages of freedom

as lie

goes along.

His interest, too. insist be maintained. As Robinson

states: ig

Unless interest and freedom are both being satisfied,

even while he wrestles

with the details, the student

lose his enthusiasm for the subject and his

sense of its importance. His work will become an unrelieved and meaning-

ler.s drudgery..

Hence studying a subject must alternate between

interest,

discipline, and freedom from the beginning

to the end,

How the teacher works within the ideas of Whitehead

and

Robinson is half attained by

a knowledge that high student in-

terest must be sought, a knowledge of the student is of vital

im-

portance in this regard.

This perhaps implies periods of time,

necessary space, and teacher freedom for student-teacher conferen-

II.

S. An Introduction to

Living

Philosophy.

St%

York: Tinuinis

V. (Yum,

ID:12. 17,. :15.11

6 Atitivt461,

11$6,11,1

II.

Creativity and

Its Cultivation.

Nsn York: Iloriitir and

g Ih,htuNnl, lip. (it.

3;1

SUMMER, 1972

ces. Secondly, it implies for the teaher well thought out curricula

based on a Firm understanding of the skill,

or subject, or endeavor

at hand.

It might imply, thirdly, a combination of technologies,

both human and multi media, to provide constant interest.

Finally,

feedback through student "performance- (for lack of

a better

word) is needed since the student, according to Robinson

most ex-

perience accomplished abilities as he goes along.

I-low such a theory legislates against isolated minutiae

some-

times associated with the teaching of English provides too long

discourse for the allowed space, but nevertheless provides much

food for thought.

Carl Rogers "Toward a Theory of Creativity"

The second theory which has much to

say to teachers of the

language arts is that of Carl Rogers in his

essay "Toward a Theory

of Creativity.-7 In this essay Rogers sees

a "desperate social need

for creative behavior .

." and he sets forth a tentative theory of

creativity which would seem to be easily adapted to the classroom.

Rogers' theory of creativity cultivation

seems to imply that the

teacher-learner interaction involves openness and

a lack of rigidity,

a tolerance for ambiguity, the ability to delay closure. Secondly,

Rogers gives as a fundamental condition of creativity that internal

evaluation, only, is really meaningful to the student. And, thirdly,

Rogers maintains that the ability to toy with elements and

con-

cepts, though less important than the two previous statements, is

condition for creativity.

In this latter consideration, Rogers

asso-

ciates openness and a lack of rigidity with the ability to play with

ideas, shapes, colors, and relationships. For as he

says:

. . .

to juggle elements into impossible juxtapo: ,tions,

to shape wild hy-

potheses, to make the given problematic. to express the ridiculous. to trans-

late from one form to another,

. . .

is from this spontaneous toying

and exploration that there arises

. . .

the creative seeing of life in a

new

and significant

way.o

Rogers continues to set the terms for creative growth. These

are two

psychological safety and psychological freedom.

psychological safety, Rogers means the acceptance of the individual

as of genuine worth. Secondly, he implies a classroom climate in

which external evaluation gives way to internal (within the

stu-

dent) evaluation,

Application of

Theories

If one were to wish to adapt the theories of Whitehead and

Rogers for the English language arts classroom, he might devise

checklist such as this.

7 AnOisoit,

111)

At011rrion. (W.

ell.,

II. SO

THE ENGLISH RECORD

ll'hitehead

Rogers

1. interest

1. Student self-criticism based on valid

2. discipline

information

3. freedom

2. helps to shape an open and accept-

ing environment

3. which leads to further internal com-

mitment on the part of the student.

Using the Checklist

This checklist would bring the important points of White-

head's theory of learning and Rogers' theory of creativity together.

In this way the classroom teacher or other practitioner would be

reminded to include within daily, weekly, and other time spans

such considerations as the following:

From Rogers:

1. How may the student become involved in the planning for

his lear&ng.

is assumed that students involved in planning

might cooperate with the teacher in devising a student-teacher

contract wherein student and teacher objectives are spelled out.

Such an arrangement would allow for student self-criticism

or self-

assessment based on the valid information which the student had

helped to accumulate.

2, The discussion, hopefully a give and take one between the

student and the teacher which would lead to a contract, could

create the open and accepting environment.

Certainly all along

in this process and in the process of number one preceding, there

would need to be continued "negotiations." Perhaps certain times

could be set for these negotiations.

Internal commitment on the part of the student, theor-

etically, would occur since he has helped to shape the "life" the

"classroom climate" which is so important to his existence for

certain time during the clay and week.

From Whitehead:

1. Interest of the student would bear heavily on the student's

curriculum. This would be what we often call individualized in-

struction.

2. The discipline or the tough parts of this or that particular

subject or process would no doubt have to be approached through

something like independent study on the part of the student.

3. The freedom which a student would feel would come about

because he was able to do things better, or do things which he had

not clone before at all.

This last category places great demands

on the teacher and requires a great wealth of things to do which

tie in with the multitude of steps in any topic or process.

Such a design, as conceived by Dr. James E. Miller and re-

ported in

Creativity in the English Program",

addresses itself to

,, smith, np.

SUMMER, 1972

such a combined theory of learning and creativity.

In a brief but

effective treatise on imagination and the teaching of literature.

Miller assumes imagination in the individual.

Ile then sets up a

sequence which would be applicable at any level of student growth:

1. The student is exposed to the great variety of stories, fairy

tales, myths, and fables of the world and enters into discussion

based on his own experiences.

2. Patterns of world literature are related to the student by

the student as he is helped to order his

Own experiences.

3. The student learns to dis;..ern and interpret metaphor in his

own life, based on his experiences and interest.

4. The student is helped through an open accepting

stance on

the part of the teacher to see the multitude of possibilities

in his

own imagination, and the imagination of others; he learns to pro-

duce and be open to divergent thought.

5. The student becomes aware of his

own style as he recog-

nizes the style of others in thought, speech, and writing.

6. The student learns to contrast and compare

reason and

imagination. He conies to understand imagination

as a way of

knowing.

7. The student learns to open the emotional life of the

vi-

carious, to relate, understand, and appreciate the broad play of

emotions in literature and in life.

8. Much of what the student begins to order begins

to shape

his own philosophy of life.

9. At an "advanced level" the student may wish

to learn to

analyze various literary works and to acquire

an understanding of

plot, theme, character, mood, setting, and the interaction of

these

parts. He will probably learn to differentiate between

a structured

critical approach and the greater whole of experiencing the

work.

These, then, provide a type of sequential curriculum in literature

through which student-teacher contracts might be devised.

Other

sequences could be available to students.

In fact, if the student

were not interested in any of the available sequences, he might

adapt some combination of them to fit his

own interests, or com-

pletely devise a new sequence with the help of his teacher.

Such suggestions as are given here from theory to practice

are

not given in any didactic way nor with any sense of pomposity,

but are meant to express the beginning of

a professional commit-

ment perhaps somewhat deeper than we have heretofore felt.

is a commitment from which the teacher has been held by

a number

of what can only be called system constraints. Finally, it

must be

said that in order for teachers to take the leap from creativity

theory to creativity practice, the system itself

must be open and

innovative. When that day finally comes, and it

is nearer than

most of us think, then the theory and practice of creativity will

not

only make for renewed educational institutions and creative

stu-

dents but for a more innovative and creative world, not only

capable of survival but more worthy of it

as well.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

. C

COMMUNICATION: A TWO-WAY STREET

Robert Dykstra

A bank teller was given the responsibility of informing a cus-

tomer that her checking account was overdrawn. lie was predictably

taken aback when she replied, "How can that be?

still have 25

checks left." The customer's lack of understanding about the rela-

tionship between her bank account and the number of checks remain-

ing in her checkbook interfered with the message the teller was try-

ing to communicate, even though the mechanics of the communica-

tive act were handled flawlessly.

Another incident in which communication was something less

than perfect involved an English clergyman who delivered a guest

sermon at the regular Sunday service of an American congregation,

after which he was invited to a parishioner's house for dinner. As he

prepared to return to his hotel he commented to the hostess, "You

certainly are a homely person." The speaker in this case intended

to convey his appreciation for the hostess's gracious hospitality, but

it's quite unlikely that the receiver of the message reconstructed the

intended meaning correctly.

There are also many examples of breakdowns in communica-

tion which result from the extensive use of jargon. A recent want

ad read: "Wanted. Man to work on nuclear fissionable isotope mo-

1-!ctilar reactive counters and three-phase cylotronic uranium photo

synthesizers. No experience necessary." The jargon so obvious in

that example is really not very different from everyday newsworthy

phrases such as incursions into Cambodia, strategic withdrawals from

Laos, continuing Vietnamization of the war, and ping -pang diplom-

acy.

Unquestionably, communication is hampered by the all

too

common practice of resorting to catchy phraseology.

Not all difficulties in communication are as frivolous as the ex-

amples in the preceding paragraphs would seem to indicate. Tragic

examples of communication breakdowns abound. Consider all of the

recent failures in communication between whites and blacks, between

hawks and doves, between union leadership and business manage-

ment, between military and civilian authorities, between the national

government and the public, between those who are under thirty and

those who are over thirty, between parents and children, between

faen:ty members and students, between state legislators and university

faculties, and between those who choose to wear their hair long and

those who prefer shorter hair styles.

It is interesting to note that communication problems reach all

segments of society. A Gallup Poll recently indicated that four out

of every ten young Catholic or Protestant clergymen and six out of

Robert Dykstra is Professor of Education in the Elementary

Division of the University of Minnesota. He has served as Chair-

man of the Elementary Section Committee of the National Council

of Teachers of English.

.1.

SUMMER, 1972

every Jewish clergymen roealed that they had seriously

musidered

leaving the religious life at

one time or another. The most

common

reason cited for leaving the clergy was

an increasing difficulty in

communicating with parishioners.

In a similar vein, baseball fans

can readily sympathize with lion Swoboda, who before

being traded

by the New York Nets decried Nlanager

Gil flodge's inability to

communicate with his players. As still another

example, newspapers

recently reported a situation

on the campus of North Dakota State

University where a professor

was under fire for having failed

one-

half of his students during fall

quarter and for having awarded

grades of C or better to only 7

out of .53 students. Campus inter-

views indicated that the professor's difficulties

with students could

largely be attributed to

an inability to communicate. The interesting

part of all this is that the professor in question

was on the faculty of

the Speech and Hearing Department.

The examples chosen to illustrate the widespread

nature of inef-

fective communication can he replicated in the

daily lives of everyone.

Inability to communicate is the

reason given for many of the problems

which disturb relationships in the family, the

school, the community

and in society in general. Although the school

is not totally responsi-

ble for the high incidence of ineffective

communication today, it must

share the responsibility.

Practically any statement of educational

goals includes within it

a strong commitment to promoting effective

communication skills.

Effective communication

was certainly sub-

sumed under Principle II "Command of

Fundamental Processes" of

the well-known seven cardinal principles of education

enunciated in

1918. Furthermore, when the NCTE Commission

on the English Cur-

riculum in the early 1930's listed

as one of the goals of the language

arts program "effective use of language in the daily

affairs of life,"

they stressed the importance of using language

to communicate.'

Prospective teachers, when asked what they consider

to be the pri-

mary goal for teaching the language arts, inevitably list

"helping

each pupil to learn to communicate effectively."

If schools have accepted the responsibility

for teaching students

to communicate, they must (particularly in this

age of accountability)

examine what has gone wrong. Can anything be done

to improve the

chances that students will develop effective

communication skills?

An essential first step in the direction of answering

this question is

a re-examination of what is meant by the term "communication."

Definitions of communication tend to emphasize

one of two

ideas. On the one hand, thinking about communication

emphasizes

the transmission of ideas, the imparting of information,

or the "send-

ing out" of a message. For example, communication

is defined as "the

art of making one person's ideas the property of two

or more." The

Standard College Dictionary states that to communicate

is "to convey

knowledgeto tell, as one's though

In the same dictionary

com-

munication is defined as "the act of imparting

or transmitting," Wil-

liam Moulton in the 1970 Yearbook of the National

Society for the

Study of Education defines human communication

as "the transmis-

sion of information from one person to another."5

THE ENGLISH RECORD

Each of these definitions stresses the

transmission of ideas with

less attention given to the responsibility of the

receiver, the one for

whom the message is intended. A

cartoon encountered

illus

traces dearly the problems surrounding this view of

ommunica-

tion.2:74 The cartoon depicts a glum-looking husband

in one room.

an equally glum-looking wile and her mother in another

room, the

two rooms connected by a large open doorway. Each

room has a

telephone, the two phones connected by

a telephone line; each room

has a large megaphone; each

room has a blinking signal light such as

those used aboard naval vessels; each

room has a complete set of

code flags and pennants such

as those used aboard sailing ships; and

each room has a pair of flags similar

to those used by the Navy in

its semaphore system of signaling. The caption under

the cartoon

reads "Lord knows we've tried, Mother. We

just can't seem to com-

municate." This couple had tried

a variety of techniques for trans-

mitting messages but had found out that this

was not sufficient to in-

sure communication.

the other general definition of communication

is well stated by

Fran): Smith: "Communication requires the

interaction of two par-

ticipantsthe transmitter and receiver of

a message. The receiver

whether reader or listener has to make

a contribution at least as great

as that of the transmitter if communication is

to occur."7.t3

The

Encyclopedia Britannica also stresses the interaction

between sender

and receiver and emphasizes that communication

can be evaluated

on the basis of the effects of th:! message. In their view of communi-

cation, the Britannica authors discuss

a process which encompasses

a number of components. The first component consists of

an idea in

the mind of the sender which may

or may not be sufficiently clear

to be communicable to the receiver. The second

component is the

formal expressions or the encoding of the idea. which

constitutes the

message. The third component is the receiver's interpretation

or de-

coding of the message.

These first

three components correspond

roughly to the first definition of communication

which places the

emphasis on the transmission of ideas. According

to this second view

of communication, however, the

process doesn't end there. The fourth

component consists of the receiver's response to the

message, reactions

which may or may not come to the attention of the

sender of the mes-

sage.

if they do, they constitute a fifth

component, the feedback.

The sender's interpretation

or decoding of this feedback to his mes-

sage would then complete one round of the communication cycle.

The re-examination of the contrasting definitions

of communica-

tion is helpful because it is likely that

many problems can be attribu-

ted to the simplistic view that communication is

more or less a one-

way street. Parents and their children take turns lecturing

one an-

other about the evils of drugs and alcohol. Adults

and youth talk at

one another about the merits and the shortcomings of the

system

without ever listening to what the other has

to say. Teaching, at the

college level at least, still is most often

characterized by the lecture

method.

It is also likely that the first view of communication, that

of trans-

mitting ideas, is the prevalent view in

many, if not a majority, of

SUMMER, 1972

elementary school classrooms.

In this view of communication, pri-

mary attention is given to accurate transmission of the message and

effective communication, therefore, is that which is accurately en-

coded and decoded.

Instructional practices in a classroom %%inch

views communication in this manner are predictable.

For example, the language arts program is likely to focus on the

mechanics of expression.

Attention may be given to teaching the

standard dialect on the assumption that Standard English is essen-

tial for unambiguous expression of ideas. Some teachers today, for

example, still insist that children should learn to avoid the double

negative because it confuses the meaning of utterance.

Its interest-

ing that people continue to hold this view in the face of overwhelm-

ing empirical evidence that persons don't ordinarily reach for the jar

when the child says, "I don't want no mustard." Furthermore, in

the classroom which emphasizes communication as

process of

transmitting information, children are likely to practice giving short

reports on which they are evaluated according to how well they

organize the report, how well they use standard dialect, how well they

have learned the techniques of public speaking, and how well the

information has been presented.

In this type of classroom there is

likely to be no real audience. That is, no one is expected to respond,

no one is expected to interact, no one is expected to agree or disagree

with what is said or to ask for clarification and expansion of any

ideas which have been expressed. Any feedback which may be re-

quested typically deals with the speaker's performance and not with

the ideas presented. Feedback is likely to consist of "he said 'ale quite

a bit; he didn't stand on both feet; he used a pleasing voice; he spoke

so that everyone could hear; he used or did not use slang; he spoke in

complete sentences; and he did or did not talk with confidence."

Group oral language activities which stress interaction such as conver-

sation, discussion, drama, or debate are less likely to be emphasized to

any degree.

Although in this view of communication the majority of the re-

sponsibility seems to lie with the speaker, there is inherent in the con-

cept of transmission the necessity of the listeners' decoding the mes-

sage accurately.

Therefore, the curriculum may include lessons in

listening but these lessons are likely to stress such skills as listening for

the main idea or listening for some sort of specific information. Listen-

ing tapes may be utilized since there is no real expectation of inter-

action or an interchange of ideas. Time listener is charged with the

task of getting information and is generally not responsible for pro-

viding feedback to the speaker.

Similarly, the reading program is

likely to emphasize accurate decoding of the printed page and literal

comprehension of what is found there. Material to be read is selected

because of its potential contribution to the development of reading

skill rather than for its contribution to stimulating thinking among

readers.

Just as in the oral language program, instruction in written lan-

guage is likely to emphasize the mechanics of writing.

If communica-

tion is to take place, if an idea is to be transmitted accurately, it is

THE ENGLISH RECORD

essential that the message he accurately encoded.

Nloch of formal

grammar instruction is predicated on the assumption that such instruc-

tion has a positive influence on composition skills.

Pupils are asked

to write reports by and large for the teacher and the goal

the lesson is largely one of helping them to master the mechanical

aspects of writing. Seldom is writing done in which there is a real

opportunity for an interaction to take place between the writer and

the reader. Teacher comments, if any, are likely to focus

on sentence

construction, spelling, or the mechanics of punctuation.

Relatively

little ilttention is paid to what the pupil has to say. Perhaps teachers

in classrooms such as those described agree with Paul Roberts, who,

in a speech before the Nlinnesota Council of Teachers of English in

1968 deplored the fact that in the few decades previous the subject

matter of English had more and more become the child himself.

this speech Roberts said,

"We

earnestly pursue George Robertson, third grader, begging him to share

with us his views on war and peace, the value of poetry. the relative worth

of cats and dogs, the desirability of being the oldest child, the youngest

child, or the only child in the family. This may have some use in getting

him started

writing, but

has no other use.

The views of George

Robertson, third grader, are of very little interest on any subject vhatso-

ever, except perhaps whether he has to go to the bathroom. And further-

more, never will be unless early on we start

putting information into

George instead of forever trying to pull

out of him. The business of

English is not to ascertain what he thinks but to make available

to him some

of the things that other people have thought and written,

not in the spirit

of indoctrination but in that of education.-6

It might be added parenthetically that perhaps

we have convinced

all too well the George Robertson's in

our elementary classroom that

they have nothing of value to

say. Perhaps we have also convinced

the George Robertsons' in elementary classrooms that

their class-

mates have nothing of value to say. Moreover, perhaps

we have never

convinced them otherwise as they grew older. An unwillingness

the one hand to express ideas and

an unwillingness on the other hand

to listen to other people's ideas are major factors in

the general

breakdown in communication which

seems to prevade society.

Now how does the classroom in which communication is

deweu

as an interchange of ideas differ from the classroom just describeu,

one in which communication is viewed as a process by which infor-

mation is transmitted?

Accuracy of encoding a message to be

com-

municated is still important and instructional time

is still devote(' it,

the mechanics of written composition. There is also likely

to be some

instruction in helping children to acquire the standard dialect and

master the art of unambiguous oral composition. However,

many

aspects of the program are likely to be quite different.

The receiver in this second view of communication has

a sub-

stantially different expectation of his role. The receiver's

responsi-

bility goes far beyond accurate perception of what is spoken

written, and is not so much one of -getting the message"

as it

is of

interacting with the sender, providing feedback, asking for clarifica-

tion or expansion of what has been said or written, and, in general,

SUMMER, 1972

.44-,

being an active participant %vho shares equally with the sender

re-

sponsibility for whether or not communication takes place.

In classrooms which emphasize this interactive aspect of

com-

munication, oral reporting is replaced or supplemented to

a major

extent by group discussion, conversation, debate, and other types of

group interaction. Actual instruction is provided in the dynamics of

the group process, in learning how to become a contributing member

of a discussion group. In all of this, the mechanics of the transmission

play an important but a subordinate role to the interchange of ideas.

In general, much interaction takes place between and among students

and the teacher's role as receiver in the communication process is

minimized.

When oral reporting is practiced the goals of the lesson

are sub-

stantially altered. The feedback which is expected from the audience

deals primarily with what is said and less with the mechanics of

re-

porting. Furthermore, any "standards" which are developed to help

aid the evaluation of the quality of reporting are supplemented by

standards which emphasize the listener's role.

If attention is given

to the acquisition of standard English by those students who speak

a non-standard dialect, equal attention is given to helping students

to realize that what is said is of far more consequence than how it

is said.

In this regard, great importance is attached to the child's

developing a positive attitude toward himself and others. Since

com-

munication is not likely to take place in the absence of mutual respect

on the part of the communicants, the human relations aspect of com-

munication receives major emphasis.

The teaching of communication can doubtless be improved by

emphasizing that communicating is indeed a "two-way street" Jean

Little'032 very eloquently captures the essence of what this

paper ha,:

tried to say in a poem titled "Communicating."

Communicating's more than merely talking

Opens the door.

REFERENCES

1.11111111i*linll

the

netli.lo

rurrlinhoo,

Nutionel

Connell of

Teerherm

1,1

1:nelh.h.

The

English Language Arts. Neu York! AtiohlleloCrhturYVrnit,. 19:2

2 Foe ler. nay Elizabeth. Teaching Language, Composition, and Literature.

Nee York: 31(ifee

11111 Book roolonoy.

1114r;

3 Funk and Wagnall's Standard College Dictionary. Now York:

mt. Brace tint Work!, 1903

4 Little. Jvall.

The World of Language, Hind( R.

Chicago: Fuller( Etlueet baud

rorporetIon.

Stithilitil MWiety for the Stud) o.1 Ederiiiton, Yvette.); I.XIK. Port IT.

Linguistics In School

Programs.

NSSE. IPTO

Itioliertg,

Vold.

Eill.:11,11 TeachingSigne P101111111,4.

Minnesota English Journal,

Vol.

IV,

No. 2

(.1ori1 lulls

7 Hinilli, Flank.

Understanding Reading. Nee York: Holt, Itiochert. nod Who.too. JUT!

THE ENGLISH RECORD

C*1 A

LET 'EM TALK

Richard L. Knudson

Want to solve your language arts problem the easy way, the

only way?

I know that panaceas are often offered. but here's a

proven program %%nch fosters growth in all of the language arts. And

tile kids enjoy it.

When the author taught in South Paris, Maine. he authored a

Title III E.S.E.A. proposal entitled "Specialized Language Activities

for the Rural Disadvantaged."

It was first funded in 1967 and is

presently being continued by local funding on an expanded basis

which includes the middle grades.

The program was developed

originally for slow secondary students who were potential dropouts.

The students participate in groups working on interest-centered units

which has as the culminating activity the production of a short skit

for videotape. The students form the production team, and all po-

sitions on the team rotate regularly.

Thus, a student might be

camernian on one segment and talent on the next. All participate

in the development of the shooting script.

The shooting script requires research

IWAX.] could have team

members in the library or in the community consulting various re-

source possibilities.

The script

is complete except for

lines to be

memorized; therefore, when a student is the talent, he must use his

own language ability to communicate.

After a segment has been taped, the students view and discuss

it.

They readily see technical errors and often spot errors made in

language use. Technical excellence is not a goal of the program, but

students often insist upon redoing a tape.

The main object of the Specialized Language Activities approach

is to provide a relaxed atmosphere which will encourage the students

to use the language orally. A great deal of research shows that when

skill in one of the language arts is developed, then the others will also

improve. This program maintains that speaking (oral language)

the most attractive and should receive the emphasis in schools.

It is not meant to create the illusion that the students in the pro-

gram do no reading or writing. A classroom library of high interest

books is available, and the students are expected to be reading one.

They do not, however, have to "do something" after reading a book.

Often they will share the book with the teacher or students in a role-

playing situation. Writing is

Daniel

mainly with a journal in much

the same way described by Daniel Fader in

!looked on Books. Stu-

dents fill a set number of pages in the journal each week. That they

Richard L. Knudson is a member of the English Department

at State University College, Oneonta. His articles on English Edu-

cation have appeared in

the

English Journal, Research in

the

Teaching of English,

and

Audiovisual Instruction.

SUMMER, 1972

improve in writing skill is testimony

to the theory of learning to write

by writing. Of

course, the group work in preparing the shooting

script also provides opportunities

to practice these skills.

Some units which have proved popular

have concerned crime,

parent-child

relationships,

local

job opportunities,

entertainment,

comedy, and politics.

After a class had chosen crime, they

broke it

up into the following study units: shoplifting, drugs,

car stealing, and

murder. Research sent them

to the library to consult

newspapers,

magazines, and books. They also contacted

state and local police

as well as interviewing area merchants. The final

tape on shoplifting

had the production

crew on location in a local drug store, the jail, and

the courtroom.

It is not too difficult to imagine the

variety of high

interest learning experiences which took place,

and all of these experi--

owes provided opportunities to use language

on all expanded basis in

a realistic situation.

The federal project was the subject of

detailed research

over a

three year period.' Attention

was given to obtaining control

groups

which were of similar ability

yet enrolled

traditional English

programs. Data gathered show that the experimental

groups dis-

played significant growth in language

skills (speaking, writing, and

reading) when compared with the control

groups. Even though no

formal instruction in usage, reading,

or composition took place. the

Specialized Language Activities

youngsters made progress in these

areas beyond expectations.

Time success of time Specialized

Language Activities program has

prompted the school officials to extend and

expand time program back

to the middle grades. Some modifications had

to be made, but the

original concept is still the

same. Teachers at this level find that the

groups forming the production teams work better if

there are only

five members. The students have readily

adapted to the concept of

finding a topic of mutual interest and then

pursuing it to the point of

writing a shooting script.

Time developmental reading

program has

been separLted from this

program as it is locally felt that a

formal approach to reading is

necessary at that level. Teachers

are

pleased with the progress students

are making in the language arts,

and they frequently comment

upon the attitudinal changes taking

place.

Students participating in the Specialized

Language Activities

program are developing positive attitudes toward self,

peers, and

school. The program gives them the

opportunity to take considerable

responsibility for their

own education. Student groups make

many

decisions concerning the direction for the

unit under study. Couple

this decision-making responsibility with

the numerous opportunties

to view oneself, and the result is an improved

self-image. Students

have improved attendance and performance

in other classes

seems

to be up.

41m,

NOT of this rt,earoh

the author's article The Effect of Pupil Prepared

VI,I,IaInd Drama, rpou the I..tutotagt ot $cicucd Ittual

hIldrot.

Research In the Teaching of

Engi9h. s0. I.

:Amin 1971.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

Role-playing in language arts really is not anything new. The

use of videotape and a full-time commitment to a program

which al-

lows students to work in groups upon something which really in-

terests them is newin practice if not in

theory.

Curriculum re-

searchers have long realized that existing language arts programs are

ineffectual in really making a difference in the way a child uses the

language.

It appears that we must try something else if we are to

educate. This writer feels that a program such as that described here

is a logical course for curriculum revision to

follow.

MONOGRAPH NUMBER FOURTEEN

Studies in English to

Speakers of Other Languages &

Standard English to Speakers

of a Non-Standard Dialect

Edited By

Rodolfo Jacobson

An outstanding collection of original

essays by recognized U.S. Linguists

Available at $4.25

Philip J. West

Department of English

Skidmore College

Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 12866

SUMMER, 1972

CREATIVE DRAMATICS: FIELD OF THE

FUTURE

Sheila Schwartz

A look of horror and incomprehension

sweeps across the face of

the boy playing the condemned

man. "But I thought I got life im-

prisonment,'

he says bleakly.

Ile believes completely that this

happening to him; the condemned

man's fate is his.

This is but one episode from

two remarkable films, DRAMA I

and DRAMA 11 (Available for

530 Rental from Time-Life Films,

Inc.)

produced by BBC to show The

extraordinary growth which

creative

dramatics has had in recent

years in the English school curriculum.

These excellent films provide

one of the best orientations for

American secondary school teachers about

the ways in which creative

dramatics can be used in the classroom.

The film shows four dif-

ferent classroom situations; four

different schools; four different

grade

levels; but in each of these

situations we see teachers who have

adopted the philosophy that the

teacher's prime role in the classroom

should be that of director rather

than actor. These four teachers

illustrate the idea that the teacher's

role should be primarily

to elicit

the talent, thinking, originality, and

creativity which lie within each

child and can be brought to the fore

if he is given the motivation

and

setting in which to function.

The techniques of creative dramatics

become a philosophy which

affects every aspect of classroom life.

First, let us consider the role of

the teacher. The teacher functions

as director rather than as central

actor, but this shift of function in

no way diminishes his importance in

the learning situation.

It restores a natural balance which

has long

been needed.

The teacher is needed

as prime mover. In each of the incidents

of the drama films, it is the teacher

who establishes the framework

through her questioning. Once the

framework has been established,

the choices becomes the students'.

At that point the teacher's

re-

sponsibility is not, as in the traditional

classroom, to cover a specific

subject or to maintain discipline. It

is, instead, to function

as facilita-

tor and stimulator. It is the teacher, again

in a role of great import-

ance, who arbitrates, questions, moves the action forward,

and plays a

role in the dramatic situation, if this

is called for.

Where does the teacher find the

situation to be dramatized?

Anywhere and everywhere.

It is like anything else;

once a teacher

knows what he's looking for, he finds

many examples of it.

In one of

the DRAMA excerpts, the teacher asks

a group of boys if they would

like to dramatize something that happened

long ago or in the present

time. As we might expect, the boys pick the

contemporary world.

Sheila Schwartz, Professor of English

Education at State Uni-

versity College, New Paltz, has published

over fifty articles and

three books, the most notable of

the latter being Teaching the Hu-

manities:

Selected Readings.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

'1'

Any English teacher who has seen how much

more interested students

are in current literature than in the old workhorses of the

past, would

expect this choice.

Then the teacher sets this group of boys the task of

finding some

situation in which there woulcl be all males. They

came up with the

idea, a gang of criminals. When she asks them

further what crime

they are contemplating. they decide they will

plan and execute the as-

sassination of the President of the United States. And then

they are

off.

This situation collies from current events

as does the final episode

in the films in which the setting is Vietnam. In this happening,

South

Vietnamese villagers must decide whether

or not to turn a fugitive

member of the Vietcong over to the Americans. The

conflict arises

from the fact that they like neither the Vietcong

nor the Americans.

After the basic situation has been established, the

dramatization

begins.

The problem situations which are the

core of creative dramatics

can also be derived from literary works. One of the episodes in the

film deals with Juliet's torment before she takes the drug

given to her

by Friar Lawrence. She fears the drug;

suppose it does not work.

suppose it kills her. But she fears marriage to Paris even more than

the drug. As with all of these situations, much talk precedes

the

actual acting out.

Moral, social, and psychological issues

can also provide the basic

situation. One such episode in the films concerns the reactions of

group of children to one of them who is a boaster.

Either teacher or students can provide the basic situation

from

which the improvisation grows. At the beginning the

teacher will

have most of the responsibility for this, but with practice the

students

will be able to take over.

is merely a question of familiarizing

them with the goals and techniques of this

new approach to school

work.

The role of the student also changes in the creative dramatics

situation. This can best be understood in relation to specific

con-

tent. Let us look at the literature area, and, in particular at the book

A Separate

Peace.

In the most traditional type of class the teacher

would lecture on the book. In a less formal

one, the class would dis-

cuss the book with the teacher with question and answer going only

from teacher to individual student and back to teacher. In

a still less

formal class the larger group might be divided

up into smaller groups

to discuss the book and this would give a far larger number of indi-

viduals the opportunity to participate.

All of this procedure, how-

ever, would involve discussing the book from the outside: the charac-

ters of Gene and Phinny, the World War II setting, the plot of the

novel, the private school setting, etc.

However, in creative dramatics, the student

can get inside the

book and inside the characters. }Toren Harper, drama teacher

at New

Canaan High School, has taught A

Separate Peace

through an inter-

SUMMER, 1972

esting role reversal situation (of course this is only

one of her strate-

gies), The situation is that Gene, who may or not be responsible for

Phinny's injury, must visit Phinny in the hospital to

try to make

things right.

I he scene is played without script by students who

are

familiar with the book. Then the roles

are reversed. The boy who

played Phinny plays Gene and the boy who played Gene plays

Phinny. In addition to greater understanding of the literary charac-

ters, the actors develop empathy for them as people and, by exten-

sion, achieve greater understanding of other human beings.

In creative dramatics the student does not function merely

actor, as he does if he is working from a published script.

Ile func-

tions both as playwright and actor for lie is generating the language

and movements which help to explain the character.

He is not memorizing the words of someone else. Not ihat this

is necessarily bad. But for too many students the only learning skill

which has been utilized in traditional education

is the ability to

memorize and parrot. This is a second-level of creativity, of problem

solving, and it is not enough.

Creative dramatics forces the student to invent, to cczninunicate

(after all, another actor is going to react back to his words and

move-

ments), to express-himself and his ideas.

It helps him, in addition, to

function completely as an individual within a group situation, prob-

ably the most desirable position a !minim being

can attain; that is,

doing your own thing within the safety, vmrintli, and acceptance of

the larger group. There's no mystery abcfit this: in

any theatrical

group enterprise, a person may never lose sight of the others on the

stage, no matter how impassioned he may become. In the Vietnamese

incident, each participant reacts in a different way to the dilemma.

Some want to turn the Communist in; others cannot turn against their

brother, despite his political philosophy, to help the foreigners who

have destroyed their land. The children react differently from the

adults and the men, differently from the women. The total effect is

a montage of individual attitudes, a

far cry from the traditional

classroom in which the only viewpoint which is expressed and

ac-

cepted is that of the teacher.

In addition to the cognitive, problem solving side of creative

dramatics, this technique plays an important affective role. Students

learn to work cooperatively in groups. Interaction is fostered rather

than the competitive spirit which now predominates in mark-centered

classrooms.

Students also learn that each of them is of importance to the

group. It

is as if character actors were to find that they were

necessary to a film as were the stars.

Life situations do not ask

1Q's before action is permitted. The assassination episode takes place

in a school for boys, described by the announcer as "second string."

But that in no way inhibits them from

meaning/ ul

participation. And

the boy who plays the assassin is the kind of student who would be

rejected by many teachers as insufficiently verbal. Each of these boys

is able to feel a sense of purpose. "Every part of the person functions

THE ENGLISH RECORD

together as a working unit, one small organic whole within the larger

whole of the agreed environment w hick is the game structure.",

Another "affective benefit" of creative dramatics is the fact that

it enables students to use their bodies and it thus serves to reduce

that false dichotomy between the mental and physical which hampers

joy and learning in our schools and which, furthermore. because stu-

dents are kept in unnatural postures, serves to create discipline prob-

lems. Few adults can sit for six hours.

Still fewer could survive if

they had to sit for six hours in repressive and sterile situations.

'I'lw

vast dropout rate is clear evidence that it

is difficult to endu.re this

repression.

But creative dramatics gets students out of their seats.

The reason is simple; there is no other way to do it.

Movement, body language, nonverbal communication, all of the

things teachers are just becoming conscious of, are all part of cre-

ative dramatics, for creative dramatics requires "physicalization," that

is, thinking and doing with the body. If in some future world teachers

started to grade creative dramatics (this horrible possibility is men-

tioned only for illustrative purposes). students who remain rooted

to their seats would be the ones with low grades not, as is now the

situation, the ones who receive the highest grades because they ap-

pear to listen and give the teacher little trouble. In addition. "physi-

calization" gives expression to the theory of John Dewey who stated

in Human Nature and Conduct (1922) that play and games should be

an integral part of the school curriculum and not merely used as

relief front the other work activities.

Play involves the individual

completely, as, for example, in a game such as tennis, and it

through using the paradigm of sports that we see the necessity for

"physicalization" for complete understanding of any activity.

In its emphasis on the total participation of individuals within

a group situation, creative dramatics is probably closer to the field of

simulation games than to traditional drama as we have known it. As

in simulation games, the "play" element is paramount. The players

are deadly serious but they are playing a game which is removed

from the greater society and which begins with a problem to be

solved.

has been said that the educational innovations of the 1960s represent a

second more accurate, translation of the principles of educational progres-

sivis into classroom practices, and the development of simulation games

would certainly support such an argument. The core principles of

techniquee.g., the active and simultaneous participation of all students

in an educational game, with the teacher in the role of aid rather than judge;

the internal rather than external locus of rewards, and thus motivation, in

a game; and the linking of the student to the outside world through the

simulated environment. which, by "reproducing the conditions of real life"

within the classroom allows him to practice taking the kinds of roles and

making the kinds of decisions he will face in his own later lifecan all be

traced to one or another of Dewey's works.2

In relation to creative dramatics, the teacher changes, the student

changes, and the curriculum changes. Problem solving

experiences

SUMMER, 1972

replace the memorization of facts.

After all,

chat can creative dra-

matics do with abstract grammar, population and rainfall statistics,

or multiple choice vocabulary tests?

Methodology also changes:

student movement and talk become desired rather than censured

behaviors and the teacher who does not and cannot involve the siti-

dents will be held accountable.

Creative dramatics has links to other emerging human potential

and educational movements. It is a technique for confluent educa-

tion, that is, education which merges the cognitive and affective ele-

ments in learning into humanistic education.

A recent book, Human

Teaching for Human Learning,

applies

activities used at Esalen Institute to classroom learning. These ac-

tivities are almost identical with those of creative dramatics.

For

example, the following activity is suggested in this book for the study

of William Golding's

Lord of the Flies:

Circle of students.

In the middle a table with a rubber mallet.

Set the

problem:

"You are a group on an airplane ...gat

I I

hair.1aVC crash-lallded

on a remote and unchartered island in the vast Pacific. Your pilot is dead;

your radio is dead. No one knows

on are missing. This group, as you are

now, is thew. You are alone on the island.

It is your problm." The teacher

remains completely silent and assumes the attitude that these students arc

in that situation.

It will take days, but eventually the students will form a

government of their own in the same manlier as the boys in Lord of the

Flies.3

We are standing on the threshold of a new world of education;

we are living throng!' a revolution against the old as demonstrated by

dropouts, riots, alienation, boredom, and drugs.

If we listen to what

students are telling us we perceive that they want

a deemphasis on

the extrinsic and a new emphasis on the intrinsic value of every in-

dividual; an end to meaningless education learned under threat to

new and relevant education which will help young people to under-

stand themselves and other individuals; a change from competition

to love, brotherhood, and the communion of !Inman spirits; and a

change from the Puritan work ethic to a philosophy of learning

through joyous play. The best new teaching method to emerge, which

has demonstrably been able to achieve relevance, involvement, and ef-

fective sharing of meanings has been that of creative dramatics. Every

teacher now going through a teacher training institution should

re-

ceive extensive experience in its application.

Creative dramatics is a valuable approach to creative writing, to

social studies, to literature, to values clarification, to sociology, and

probably to many other disciplines.

There is no area of the cur-

riculum which could fail to be enriched through the application of

this technique.

John Dixon, in

Growth Through English,

a report on the Dart-

mouth Seminar, sees creative dramatics as evolving naturally, if not

impeded by the school, from student "talk." "Talk", he writes, "enters

THE ENGLISH RECORD

into the whole range of human interaction. and drama builds, from

that interaction and talk, images of human existence...

One of the most optimistic notes in contemporary education is this

emerging perception. Play, whit: i once w as what students did for

one-half luau at recess, as lunch for the relict of the teacher as for

their own, has progressed into a means for achieving images of human

existence.

It is through this kind of encounter experience that teach-

ers and students will be helped to achieve a higher and more satisy-

ing level of educational experience.

11E1,1:.11ENCS

Improvisation for the Theatre.

11111,k. N.bi I lot...I. en rt,,,,.r.it)

I tujil.

1. 0.

2 S.Ir.111t S

It. mnIN "I"1,111 I.11 \ lit) 11%111

In IA TOOL

. \u ,nrr 11

Ow ,.1

Lit,LI:UI C.111,'".

Simulation Games in

Learning. .1,

k and

it.

50111.1. Itrrly

: 1411.11.

In, I

3 throti3 Isaat Itn, 1.,

Human Teaching for Human Learning: an

Introduction to Confluent

Education, Nv.

Ti,,' Vildlog Pry,. 19;1.

621.3.

4 31.1111 I /awl.. Growth Through English, Saittd,.,1

hit 14 ou

h,r ji 1%, bil.;

of 1511:11.11.

Eutgimpl, 1967, R.

:Is.

MONOGRAPH NUMBER TWELVE

The Literature of New York:

A Selective Bibliography of

Colonial and Native

New York State Authors

Lewis Turco, SUC, Oswego

Available at $1.95

Philip J. West

Department of English

Skidmore College

Saratoga Springs, N. Y. 12866

SUMMER. 1972

RESEARCH AND THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH

Roger L. Cayer

Just over ten Years ago the National Council of Teachers of

English in its The .atiol Interest and the Teaching of English

con-

cluded that, ''a strong national program of research to improve the

teaching of English is essential to develop

more efficient methods of

teaching." This was a forceful recommendation, based

as it was on

a comprehensive study of the state of English teaching in the United

States. Along with the establishment in 1961 of Project English,

per-

haps the most impressive (1(.v,..topents following immediately

upon

this call for action were the four major research

conferences held in

1962 and 1963.

The initial conference at the Carnegie Institute of

Technology and

that which followed at Allerton Park, Illinois,

provided a detailed re-

view of needed research in the teaching of English and

assigned

priorities to the more pressing problems. Complementing

the pre-

ceding two, the seminar held at New York

University and the San

Francisco Conference focused

more sharply on the development of

workable research designs for the study of English

and English edu-

cation, as well as such related areas

as educational testing and psy-

chology. An impressive amount of information

was amasser., valuable

insights were gained as

a result of bringing specialists from different

disciplines together, and many carefully reasoned

rei:ommendations

for action emerged /row these conferences.

In spite of these auspicious beginnings, however,

it is readily ap-

parent in retrospect that no cohesive research

program of national

scope has emerged over the past ten years. Promising

as they appear

to be for the intim.. of English teaching, the achievemet:ts toward

the

goals set by the NUPE a decade

ago

which

are most clearly discerni-

ble today are of much more modest dimensions.

Among the notable long-range gains evident

at this time is the

obvious growth in interest in research.

on the part of all concerned

with English in our schools and also the

concomitant fecundity of

research activity, Perusal of annual conference

programs of the many

professional organizations in English reveals that

there has been an

allotment or progressively more meeting time and the

involvement

of ever larger numbers of researchers, educators

and teachers in joint

discussions; pre-convention and regional workshops

in research have

proliferated; the NC'I'E's newest journal, Research

in the Teaching

of English, which reviews current research and

provides extensive

bibliographic aids, is moving successfully into its fifth

year of publi-

cation; and, ERIC now provides dissenunaton services

hardly en-

visioned ten years ago.

Dr. Roger L. Gayer is Professor of English Education

at New

York University and Chairman of the Committee

on Research of

NISEC. Ile is Co-Editor of Listening and Speaking

in the English

Classroom and of The Teaching of English in New York

State.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

er, A

Growth in the amount of research in the teaching

English done

in the past few years is another indication of changing attitudes.

"Research," asserted George II. Henry in his controversial College

English article, "English Teaching Enconnters Science" (December,

1966), "now seems to be the pole star of improved instruction in

English." Reading and language have been particularly rich in re-

search activity, and substantial gains have been made in redefining

content, curriculum design and teaching methods in those areas; but

most other aspects of English including composition, vocabulary and

oral language are also receiving growing attention. Concomitantly,

an increasing number of people in the profession, from the eminent

to the neophyte, are actively engaged in research.

Illustratively. a

few that come readily to mind arc James Squire and James Wilcox in

adolescent literature and reading, Kellogg Ihmt and Frank J. Zidonis

in the language of elementary and secondary school shulents, John C.

Mellon in language and composition, Janet Emig in written composi-

tion, and Walter Loban in oral English.

The broad and complex oroblem of preparing teachers to teach

elementary and secondary school English has also been the subject

of extensive research interest and function in the last decade. Largely

motivated by the success of and modelled on The National Interest

and the Teaching of English, several comprehensive state-level stu-

dies aimed at gathering essential information about college and uni-

versity programs of study for the training of teachers. the academic

and professional preparation of teachers, and the working conditions

of English teachers have been conducted in the past few years. As a

result, those concerned with the status of English teaching in such

states as Wisconsin, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New York where

such investigations have been carried out now have available to them

an invaluable fund of information to form a factual basis for urricu-

lum and administrative changes and provide a firm foundation for

future research.'

Many experts in the field are of the opinion that research in edu-

cation is characterized by a superfluity of data gathering at the ex-

pense of other more meaningful activity. Many argue this is equally

a weakness in research in the teaching of English. "We should,"

urged David H. Russell in his opening remarks on the purpose of the

San Francisco Conference on Research Design and the Teaching of

English, "move away from data accumulation and the merely descrip-

tive to develop a theoretical framework within which varied and

large-scale research must operate." The dire need for solutions to

so many complex problems in the teaching of English most emphati-

cally supports this view.

Data studies should not be disparaged, however, because of their

comparative simplicity. This type of research has served the profes-

sion well, for it has assured that a growing number of important de-

cisions have been meticulously informed. The constructive reaction

Edmond J. Farm

rmotly toolli.lod Deciding the Future IN('

thorch Ityport No. 12.

Inn ) is no toopolat modivatiott of lhi., tw of ryarrit to the futon. of

intli,l) leaching and

thrlly huggeht iirtrmar 1'lotog13 to nowt oily

111'1114116,

SUMMER, 1972

on the part of all concerned to the Irt'Velation in The

National interest

and the Teaching of English that

lorty to sixty percent of this country's

secondary school teachers of English

were inadequately prepared is

now history. Some responses, were immediate and

direct. the raising

()I certification requirements for teaching

English by several state de-

partments of certification being a

case in point. Remedies for more

complex problems revealed in

the survey. making provisions for

greatly increased in-service education

for experienced teachers, for

example, required further study before

appropriate remedial action

could be taken. In

any case. whether statistical information directly

undergirds necessary decisions

or serves as the basis for future study is

incidental to the principle of educational

change, mainly that suffii-

ient data gathered and interpreted in

an orderly and objective ma-

ner should inform all attempts at improvement

in the teaching of

elementary and secondary school English.

Only too often this sound principle

is violated in affecting change

in English teaching and, in the

name of expediency or necessity, ad-

ministrative authority is substituted for

it.

But, given the nature of

the many formidable problems in

education, nothing short of

a meti-

ulousness in this matter of completeneF,

and accuracy of information

can be tolerated. As Erwin R. Steinberg emphasized

in his remarks

to the Carnegie Institute Conference

on Needed Research in the

Teaching of English, "with

more exact knowledge available, colleges

will be better able to

prepare prospective teachers, and administrators

and interested citizens will with

more confidence be able to dis-

tinguish the better from the

poorer programs." In addition to these

substantial benefits, accumulated data

often constitutes all unerringly

accurate statement of needed research. The results

of the study of the

acadeie and professional

preparation of public secondary school

teachers of English. The Teaching of

English in New York State

(NISEC, Monograph 1:3, 1970), illustrates

this point.

Among other things, the

survey revealed that of all the college

courses taken by the English teachers in their college

studies, they

judged a course in Shakespeare

most valuable in their classroom teach-

ing; knowledge of traditional English

grammar was assessed con-

siderably more useful than linguistics; and

methods of teaching Eng-

lish and psychology received

among the lowest "usefulness" ratings

of all. A myriad of questions

are raised even by these few items of

information. What factors affect

a teacher's judgment of a course?

What criteria may reasonably be applied

in making such an assess-

ment? To what extent do teacher bias,

textbooks, curriculum design,

substance and quality of college

courses taken, or any number of

other factors influence what and how

a teacher teaches? What is

the relationship between psychology and

literature? Depending

on its

nature, how may such a relationship be rendered

functional in the

English classroom? The list of questions,

issues, and problems which

can be drawn from data analysis is seemingly endless.

Utilized in-

telligently such information

can assist in weighing the significance of

research in progress; and, in addition, it

is by its very nature clearly

suggestive of needed research.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

If the strong national research

program arivocated by the NCTE

does indeed materialize,

will undoubtedly incorporate

some of

the features of what is in

some respects perhaps the single most im-

pressive research project in the teaching of English.

111,11ar

enterprise begun in

g-t the

Ale.

HinoiS Statewide Curriculum Study

Center in the Preparation of Secondary School

English Teachers

(ISCPET) involved twenty colleges in

a five year research program

for the improvement of college curricula for the

preparation Of semn-

dary school teachers of English. Investigations

of such problems as the

role of internships in preparing teachers. the

efficacy of various ap-

proaches to teaching written composition and of

differing structures

for teaching literature, and the effect

on teaching performance of

exposure in training to linguistics are but a sew of the

many studies

undertaken as pait of this comprehensive project.

Significant as the

findings which emerge front this complex of

investigations may be.

its true impact on research in English will undoubtedly

be primarily

because of its impressive scope and organization.

Current research in the teaching cif English is

frequently and

strongly criticized for its fragmentation, its lack of

cohesiveness, its

penchant for what Walter T. Petty has characterized

as -atomistic

and tangential" issues, its failure to

carry out enough' long-range in-

vestigations and, finally,

its seeming inability

to concentrate suf-

ficiently on basic as against practical problems. ISCPET

is most em-

phatically not a perfect model that would if emulated resolve

all diffi-

culties and eradicate all weaknesses in the present research

structures:

but, given its own shortcomings, it has demonstrated

the feasibility

of organizing, funding, and completing

vast complex of related

research over an extended period of time.

The need for more extended, comprehensive and theoretical

re-

search in the teaching of English, great

as it is, now is matched by the

equally urgent need for more direct application of reliable

research

findings to inform content and methodology in the

classroom, sub-

stance and design of curricula and textbooks, and administrative de-

cisions. With the ever increasing volume of research activity

on the

one hand and the concomitant intensifying of school and classroom

problems on the other, improved dissemination of research

informa-

tion has become crucial. Research results must be continually analyz-

ed, assessed and synthesized, with the ultimate goal of

assimilation

foremost in mind. Technology is already greatly assisting in this

en-

deavor, but equally important arc more experts trained to place

new

findings in proper perspective and to translate emerging theoretical

and statistical

research knowledge into language and form that

renders it readily comprehensible to those best situated to make

ap-

plication. The fact revealed by the aforementioned

survey of English

teaching in New York State that nearly two-thirds of the English

teachers in the State have not studied research

as part of their Formal

college preparation suggests that they may lack the knowledge and

skill requisite to intelligent consumption of research, arid

supports

the argument for greater stress on dissemination

as part of the total re-

search effort in the teaching and learning of English.

SUMMER, 1972

Considerable as it

is, the contribution of research to the teaching

of English up to the present time must be characterized

as more po-

tential than actual. What the years ahead hold will depend largely

Ott the strength of our commitment to the "strong national program of

research- envisioned a decade ago. No leis an effort than that will

suffice, as our present situation clearly demonstrates.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

ASKING THE FIRST TWO QUESTIONS

Chalks I. Coupe!.

Asking questions and then responding appropriately

to student

answers is probably the teacher's most important task in classroom

literary study.

the literary text

is engaging and the questio:,ing

goes well, then a lively and instilled% e class session

virtually a

certainty. We ask questions in order to

meet three objectives:

( I)

to help the student clarify his own personal

response to the work, (2)

to insure an accurately perceived text, and (:3)

to teach students how

to wad literature.

Any questioning strategy should be rigorously

evaluated in terms of these objectives.

Questioning strategy implies

some notion about a sequence or

hierarchy of questions. The

sequence we customarily use should be

One winch holds tip well for students over several months of literary

study.

It should be one that creates the best possible classroom

cli-

mate for literary study.

It should recognize that responding to

a work

of literature can be a complex aesthetic-psychological

experience for

the reader.

It should recognize that many times the student's

main

initial concern wit the work will be in clarifying

a deeply-felt, per-

haps even painful and confusing, personal

response.

Finally, the

questioning sequence should be one which makes it possible

for the

student to persist at the task of learning to read

fiction insightfully

and responsively.

In this article

want to outline a questioning strategy which

fulfills all of the above objectives. but

want to preface that by

pointing out that the most appropriate

response to a text may be

either silence or a buzz of unfocused conversation. (We

probably

should resist the impulse to "get to work-

on every selection as soon

as we have presented it to the class.)

There are several ways to

en-

courage this sort of informal response in the classroom. For example,

if we know we want to return to

a signil leant story or poem, we could

read it aloud toward the end of the period, permitting the unfocused

buzz or the silence to carry us to the hell. Then

we could return to

the text at the beginning of the next class, reading it aloud

again,

with the intent of using the whole class period for focused class

small-group discussion.

I would propose two general principles for asking questions of

the students about literary tests:

(I) questions should always follow

immediately after a reading or re-reading (preferably

an oral interpre-

tation by the teacher or a student) of the text and (2.)

questions

should always begin with students' responses to the work.

Principle 1 reminds us that we do not have to suffer desultory

class discussion and vague responses to questions resulting

from

Charles Cooper teaches courses in English education

at the

State University of N. 1. in Buffalo.

Ile has published in several

journals and is a member of both the Committee

on Research and

the Commission on Reading of the National Council of Teachers

of English.

SUMMER, 1972

failure

to complete homework reading or from weak memory of

past reading.

This approach would limit classroom literary study

largely to poetry, song lyrics, short stories, and short plays; but I am

convinced that limitation could only improve most instruction I ob-

serve.

I think we can teach the reading of long plays with short

plays, novels with short stories. These longer works can then be read

outside of class as parallel homework to the reading and study of

shorter selections in the classroom.

Principle 2 reminds us that we should always start where stu-

dents are in relation to the text at their first reading or subsequent

re-readings of it. They will most surely all be at different places

on all

those occasions. Admittedly, our aim is always the fullest possible

comprehension of the particular text and some lasting lessons about

how to read that particular kind of text; but the best place to begin

moving toward that is with the student's immediate relation to the

text, his own personal response to

it and his own estimate of its

worth and significance. Of course, his response may be based on a

mis-reading of the text and his estimate of its worth may be at odds

with what we believe and what all the critics and scholars have said;

but lie can be led to see that quickerand perhaps even accept it

if we show that we value his initial response.

What this approach means in practice is that we avoid initial

questions like "What is the theme of this poem?" or smaller-scale,

inductive-type questions like "Who is the speaker?" "What tone of

voice is he using to address his audience?" "What is the image in

Line 3?" These are crucial questions, but they are best moved to

naturally as a way to clarify students' responses.

In place of these

questions I want to propose two very simple initial questions:

Initial Question 1:

What do you think (or feel) about this

selection?

Initial Question 2:

Why do you think (or feel) that?

Initial Question 1 can take several forms:

Mark, what do you think about this poem?

Debbie, what did you feel as you were listening to this song lyric?

Terry, what value does this short story have for you?

Cindy, do you think you might want to read this poem again?

Dave, have your feelings changed about this poem since we last read it?

Laurie, how would you express your response to this short story?

Steve, do you have anything to say about this poem?

Initial Question 2 produces answers which will lead off in

one

of two directions:

(1) to the student's own experience and (2) to

the text itself. Direction 1 permits us to use literature as

a springboard

for assisting the student in clarifying his current values. This direc-

tion has a rich potential in English education, a potential not fully

developed and utilized by many teachers. Assisting with value clari-

fication requires great skill and patience, and it

is too complex an

approach to describe here. Interested teachers should look at

a fasci-

nating book by Louis E. Baths and others, Values and Teaching (Co-

THE ENGLISH RECORD

lumbus, Ohio: Charles E. Nlerrill, 1966). Direction 2 is the one which

permits us to teach students about reading literary texts; however, in

class we should be equally interested in both directions. The student

values the text initially in terms of his own experience, and we can get

him to analyze and explore willingly only that which he values.

So if we ask Initial Quesetion 2 (Why do you feel that way? or

Why do you say that? or How would you explain your response?), the

student may take Direction 1 (the value-clarifying direction) and say,

"Because when I was little I got lost in a big crowd once and I re-

member how scared I was" or "The main character is exactly like

someone I hate." Or lie may take the Direction 2 and say, "Because

I didn't like the last line.

I thought it was a poor way to end the

poem." Now it is this second direction which can always lead back

to the text, if we are alert and clever. And here is the place for the

much-discussed inductive questioning strategy which leads to a

more accurate perception of the text and to an understanding of

various concepts from literary criticism. (see "The Inductive Teach-

ing of English" in Lois S. Josephs and Erwin R. Steinberg, English

Education Today. New York: Noble and Noble, 1970). But notice

that we do not begin with rigorous inductive questioning.

My research and my experience convinces me that a class of

twenty to thirty stulents in an informal teacher-led discussion of their

responses to a literary text will eventually (usually in one class period)

refer to the text in enough different ways to permit us to explore it

rather thoroughly in the way the New Critics have taught us so well,

touching such topics as the identity of the speaker, diction, imagery,

mood, tone, point of view, theme, overall structure or pattern, rhythm

and rhyme, and the relations of form and content. Three of the best

sources of review of these aspects of literature remain John Ciardi,

How Does a Poem Nem: (13oston: Houghton Mifflin, 1959); Cleaneth

Brooks and Robert Penn Warren, Understanding Poetry (New York:

Holt, Rinehart and Winston, third edition, 1960); and Wayne Booth,

The Rhetoric of Fiction (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press Phoenix

Book, 1967).

Leading a whole-class discussion, then, requires that we accept

the student's initial expressed response and then move on from that

by skillful questioning to help him extend his personal response and

clarify it in relation to a more accurately perceived text.

I should add that students can learn to ask of each other all the

questions I have proposed here. My own preference is for a great

deal of student-centered small group work.

SUMMER, 1972

SEQUENCING IN ENGLISH K-12: A MODEL

David H. Wood

Continuous progress, individualizing instruction, and

accounta-

bility arc our current catch words and

we are often given to under-

stand that they obviously must fit within

some encompassing frame-

work. In another mode of speaking I recently heard the

teacher des-

cribed within this framework as

a tour guide who hands out maps

of the terrain on request.

Yesterday I read that the curriculum is

like a bikiniit reveals the interesting and

covers the vital. And so

it goes.

I think all of us might feel like the buffalo in Charles holler's

story. After the woman tourist remarked in wonderment

to her hus-

band about those mangy beasts

over there, the buffalo turned to her

friend and said, "I think 1 just heard

a discouraging word."

Sequence, sequencing, sequenced.

What kind

reasonable

framework can someone concerned about articulation,

continuous

progress, individualizing instruction, and accountability in English

work in? But first we must operate under

some assumptions:

1. There is a logical base on which the curriculum

can be built.

2. Content grows out of goals rather than the other

way around.

3. Seldom can one part

the curriculum be altered without affecting

other parts.

And of these three come:

4. Curriculum change may and

can be brought about through revisions

in content, in organization, in use of technology,

in methodology, and

in materials.

5. Evaluation should be in terms of the degree

to which objective:; have

been met rather than in terms of the

measurement of subject content

knowledge.

6. The teacher and the student are important influences

in the design of

our curriculum.

And finally:

7. There are always external forces

or pressures which affect the specific

way in which the goals and objectives of a school system will be

ar-

rived at in any particular school

or school system at any particular

time.

And now the model:

(which is currently projected for

a K-3,

4-6, 7 and 8, 9-12 system but might work

as well in any number

ar-

rangement).

David R. Wood, Director of English and

Reading Improve-

ment for the Rochester City School District, has served

as NYSEC's

'72 Conference Chairman. He is Co-author

of Teacher's Resource

Book and Progress Tests for Themes

in World Literature.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

Essentially we see the English curriculum as a spiral curriculum,

K-12, in major strands of literature, composition, speaking and listen-

ing, reading, and language.

This conforms with the State syllabi

approach, that

is, a vertical organization, as compared with the

grade

level, or

horizontal approach

long

(and honorable?)

standing.

The major hills on this curriculum plain for students come at

breaks in our system when the student essentially changes to another

school at the end of what we term primary (K-3), intermediate (4-6),

junior high (7 and 8), and at the first year one spends in the high

school. The hills are objective measuresat sonic time during the

year in what we used to call grades 3 and 6a

standardized reading

test. At what we used to call grades 8 and 9a standardized com-

mercially available test in English at eight, the SWAT in English at

9. We view these last two as placement examinations, the first two

as informational examinations.

Successfully handling the first year of high school examination

allows the student a choice of semester organized electives for the

balance of his mandated time requirements.

The electives have

typical titlesBlack Literature, College Composition, Popular Fic-

tion. They are evaluated yearly and revised, demoted, or retained

depending upon student interest and teacher estimation.

In a typical

year one might cut five and add three. The English

Comprehensive

as well as the State Wide Achievement Test in English can

be taken,

therefore, anytime during the high school years.

What does this system allow? Alternatives.

What does this system require? Stated Coals.

We believe that one creates a climate for change by indicating

that change is accepted and encouraged, by developing new ways of

working for the teacher, and by freeing the individual from outmoded

rules and regulations. To do this we believe in creating models that

represent departures from the more conventional and/or the existing

forms of schooling. One example at the high school level would be

a School Without Walls.

We believe one should provide resource persons who can serve

as change-agents in individual schools, such as reading

teachers in

the elementary schools. We also believe in actively seeking outside

funding of new projects and outside consultant staff in an effort to

develop new patterns of teaching, learning and/or organizing, such as

PROJECT READ and the TTT PROGRAN1 at both the elementary

and junior high level.

Thus there are two ways of working at a sequence like this, with-

in and without. Some ways of working within and without have been

listed.

Other ways more specifically within the school setting are

these:

SUMMER. 1972

/'iC 43

1. Shortened school day

2. Special programs

3. Assignments to specific

teachers

4. Alternative routes to

study topics

5. Permitting the student to

com-

plete work in an

area after

a semester

similar

short-

term arrangement.

Late arrival, early dismissal

Independent study: extensive work

in an area of interest

to the pupil

(all-day

program

art,

for

ex-

ample).

Evening school.

To make for student and

teacher

compatibility

Contract,

independent

study,

lec-

ture, etc.

In the junior high school

this could be arranged by

organiv

hug some pupils

one way and

other pupils in a different

way. In

the

senior

high school,

this could

be arranged by teaming

teachers so

each could offer his

own specialty.

The five week mini

course, the half

semester.

All of this should lead

from group inst! action

to individualized

instruction, from teacher

as dispenser of knowledge to teacher

as fa-

cilitator (tour guide?), from

homogeneous grouping

to flexible group-

ing.

With a flexible daily

time period rather than

a standard daily

time period, flexible time blocks

rather than standard time

blocks,

a variety of electives for shorter periods

rather than a limited number

of electives for long periods,

perhaps that fixed body of

knowledge

for all to learn,

can become a content based

on student needs and

interests where the emphasis

is on learning how to learn.

Sequence, sequencing, sequenced.

Take heart fellow buffalo,

the clay of the bikini is

coming.

tilt

THE ENGLISH RECORD

MAKING SENSE OF BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Frank J. Tutera

Behavioral objectives and accountability

may well have poten-

tial future shock value for teachers generally; but it is especially

in-

cumbent on the language arts teachershocked

or notto make sense

of the whole issue. This article which

may have little to commend

it than that it is by a classroom teacher talking to fellow-teachers

is focused on two questions:

"What are the considerations that

re-

quire us to make sense?" And, "What should

we do about the be-

havioral objectiveaccountabilty trend?'

The trend received good coverage in the Fall '71 issue of NCTE's

English Education. In the lead article, Jewett covered its history and

considered some of the problems.' Ferguson and Blake vigorously

debated the question in the

same issue.=

Flanagan, Shanner and

Mager have produced a behavioral objectives manual for the lan-

guage arts.3

The backgrounds and some of the issues have been

amply cov-

ered, but a few words on the subject

may be useful here.

Local

boards, mindful of mounting costs,

are beginning to question whe-

ther schools are in fact achieving the goals they

say they are.

It has

been proposed, therefore, to set performance goals

or behavioral

skills objectives for the various subjects, and

to measure student at-

tainment in these goalspatently, to hold school

systems and their

faculties accountable for success

or failure. It is further proposed that

educational auditors be appointed to assist and confer

in the assess-

ment of goals.

These proposals have caused

some confusion and raised some

hackles. What do we do about them?

One thing we should not do is to succumb

to the temptation to

to stand pat. Re-appraisal and self-analysis, characteristic of

healthy

societies and professions, is certainly to be encouraged

as consistent

with the traditions of a vigorous and

responsive system of education.

The current talk about objectives and accountability

is, I feel sure, just

one more manifestation of a tradition as deep in American

Culture

as Methodist Revivalism, "taking stock", and soul searching.

Nor should we reduce the whole affair

to a bond-issue or budget

fight, with economy-minded tax-payers wielding

the club of "be-

havioral objectives" over the heads of teachers

brandishing the sword

of "quality education." The result would

only be further polarization

of teachers and the public and aggravation

of the ecology with the lit-

ter of handbills.

Dr. Frank J. Tutera, a field advisor

at Manhattanville College,

teaches English at Scarsdale High School. His

experience of twen-

ty-six years has been on the college and high

school levels.

SUMMER, 1972

/3c

We should look realistically at the threatening or negative as-

pects of the trend and "make sense- of its demands. Jewett observes,

-Accountability to students and the public lor results in education

has potential future shock for many teachers because its introduction

will sock it to our traditional was of teaching and evaluating.-.

Jewett's observations should not cause undue alarm. We have always

been accountable to students and their parents; we are accountable

%vhen we have to explain why we mark a paper in a certain way,

when we justify a grade, or have to tell why we are or are not reading

a given book. We need be concerned only if we are guilty of "tradi-

tional ways of teaching and evaluating."

"Traditional ways" in

this sense seems to mean to teach a book or to engage in activities

without apparent concern for the over-all objectives of the program

or the needs of the children, and to test for items or skills which

have little relevance to these needs or. objectives.

If a teacher

is guilty of such practices, she should reform immediatclywithout

waiting for the millenium of behavioral objectivesthough it is hard

to understand what the administrators and supervisors were doing

while the teacher floundered around. If such misguided practice:, are

so widespread or of such long standing as to become "traditional",

then it is time for a behavioral programbut I would like to see the

evidence first.

Implicit in the behavioral objective-accountability trend is

the

threat that unless the teacher voluntarily marshals her work into line

with agreed-upon goals, and polices the results with business-like

efficiency, an educational auditor will bring her to account before het

'supervisors and the local board, and force her either to reform or to

resign. Under the cloud of such a threat, it would behoove the teacher

to know well what she is doing and why. Is this demand so excessive,

after all? Shouldn't we all know what we are doing and why? Our

job is to teach the arts of communication to children, a task which

involves, among other things, coherence, articulation, focus on a

thesis or objectives, the selection of the means and the approach con-

sistent with a controlling purpose, awareness of the audience and

consciousness of the word-by-word and sentence-by-sentence impact

upon it. It would be ironical if, as experts in communication, we

could not mobilize our disciplines in our own area of specialization.

We have no right to demand unity, clarity, and emphasis in a para-

graph or essay if we cannot-achieve them in our own daily, unit, or

semester plans. There is no need for alarm in the demand for clarity

of aim and performance in the behavioral objective trend.

But there is a danger if the objectives are imposed unilaterally,

whether by the kids, the teacher, or the school officials. Much of the

bad teaching is a result of unilateral imposition. We all know of

courses that go on unchanged year after year because a teacher has

become overly-fond of a certain group of books, topics, or activities.

All too familiar are the "mini-courses" and "electives" that pander to

low level of student interest and a desire for an easy grade. We also

know about economy-minded boards of education that have put the

axe to advanced placement, remedial reading, language courses in the

junior high, and other such alleged "frills." We can meet the danger

THE ENGLISH RECORD

/21C.

of such unilateral impositions by policing ourselves better,

as indi-

duals and as faculties, and by continuing

to fight for teacher participa-

tion in administrative policy.

Two matters remain about which

we must make sense. One of

these I shall refer to as "shopping for nostrums." The

other, for lack

of a better term, I shall (mil "primer-izing."

I foresee a spate of books (or non-books)with little

to commend

them but the desire to tap

a new marketon behavioral objectives

for the language arts. Shopping for nostrums, the harried

teacher may

spend hard-earned dollars for non-books which

are little more than

separate lists of short-term (transitional) and long-term (terminal)

ob-

jectives. Since the teacher is left to discover for herself

what short-

term goals culminate into what long-term ones,

or what means or

activities should be used to achieve them,

or how they should be

evaluated, it is hard to sec what earthly

use such non-books have.

But it

is not only the teachers who may be exploited.

Local

school officials may also be vulnerable

the nostrum-shopping

spree, for the "educational auditor" they may retain,

may be little

better than a quack. Considering the

enormousness of the task the

auditors may be called

upon to undertake, the intimate knowledge

they are expected to absorb about

programs and children they have

never seen before, and the short-time basis on which they

are ex-

pected to perform miracles of

assessment and evaluation, we would

do well to scrutinize their bonafides carefully,

and be ready to call

the officials themselves to

a public accounting.

Finally, we must consider the dangers of

"primer-izing." There is

the danger that teachers and school

systems, under the pressures of

"auditing," may so simplify their

programs in order to make them pass

muster that they may squeeze all the life out of them down

to readily

perceivable and testable goals. To the

question, "Won't the ac-

countability system lead to

an over-emphasis on factual learning as

contrasted to under-emphasis

on humanistic and aesthetic goals in

literature?"

Jewett replies:

"I fear that this under-emphasis might

occur unless we prepare more specific behavioral objectives

and

valid measuring instruments in the

areas of humanities."5

I believe

that Jewett may be under-estimating the danger.

The demands of auditing may

cause us to lose sight of an essen-

tial aspect of the nature of the communication

arts. NVhat that aspect

is may be brought into bold relief by Robert Frost's laconic

definition

of art as freedom in harness; the artist, in submitting

to the restraints

and disciplines of the art form, achieves the

joy of mastery that makes

being in harness a kind of freedom. We

are reminded of it in Word-

worth's "Nuns Fret Not in Their Convent's Narrow

Room." We know,

too, that art and the communication of

an idea is sometimes a frus-

trating experience, both for the artist and his audience.

Who hasn't

heard the story of A. E. Housman's agonizing search

for just the right

word to fill in a blank in one of his poems? Who

has not seen the

fractured left arm of Michaelangelo's exquisite

statue of David which

SUMMER, 1972

the master himself smashed in his anger at not achieving

a de.,:r.:d

perfection? The frustrations of struggling with form

arc an essential

part of artistic creation even at the simplest levels.

If we embrace

behavioral objectives and accountability, we shall have to take such

frustrations into account both in what we undertake to teach and in

the responses of our students. Otherwise, we may become unwitting

accomplices to an Orwe Ilan Newspeak by 198-1,

REFERENCES

I Arno Jottit, ..ketl.ittlialoility

I'. It Ilt,itabli mul

Veil 1071.

2 Bill

I411411.4,11

Ubirrt it o., NW". I

1..

1111,1

10.14rt 11*.

Rieke, "Ifehati..ral 01,ivrtitt,r

up.

3 .1.11i4

Flelisaali. 11'IIILuu

JI.

sluuuu r,

and

1:"61.11

Language Arts Behas ;oral

Objectives; A Oulde to Individualising Learning.

!arning 1 Alt", 1071.

4 Jtttutt,

I 1p.

cit.,

1111.,

tit.,

English Education,

.....1

Syracuse

,... -4,4::

4 : ...,

fi University

ED NY

WORKSHOP IN

ENGLISH CURRICULUM

JULY 17th TO JULY 28th

12:00 NOON TO 4:30 DAILY

Director: Dr. W. Don Martin

Guest Consultants

Designed for English teachers, de-

partment chairmen and language

arts

supervisors.

This workshop

will emphasize new trends in cur-

riculum content and organization

as participants work on plans for

their own department or courses.

Three credits may be earned

requirements for Secondary Edu-

cation 741 are fulfilled.

For further information write:

DR. W. DON MARTIN

508 University Place

Syracuse, New York 13210

THE ENGLISH RECORD

/18

THE TEACHER IN A CHANGING SOCIETY:

WILL THE LEOPARD CHANGE ITS SPOTS?

Anthony Roy Mangione

In the past the successful teacher was characterized

as a schol-

arly, able practitioner, respected as a professional, n'ot always

as a

person. Today's teacher, however, should demonstrate humaneness

and competence, and in that order, since students of the seventies

seem to learn only if they can first confide in their teacher as a person

and then as a scholar.

Technology has hastened the reordering of prioritieE. Television,

for example, continues to create a totally

new environment for learn-

inga whole series of environments that, according to McLuhan,

impinge on each other "in all-inclusive nowness." And today's stu-

dent,

conditioned

expect comparable involvement

school

subjects, finds instead that "fragmentary and merely remote visual-

ized goal or destiny in learning"unreality, which he construes

irrelevance. The media-directed, under-thirty learner reveals attitudes

that differ radically from those held by the book-oriented, linear-based

learner. To be responsive, a successful classroom teacher needs to

exploit the differences for their pedagogical implications; he cannot

simply ignore them.

As a first imperative, he must he concerned with affective learn-

ing, choosing materials saturated with meaningful, experiential atti-

tudes, values, concepts, and conflicts rather than with piddling de-

tails and little pertinent subStance. In Revolution in Teaching: New

Theory, Technology, and Curricula (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964),

Alfred DeGrazia and David A. Sohn say that Silas Marner (the story

of a good woman who reforms a miser) and "The Devil and Daniel

Webster" (the tale of a fast-talking lawyer who outwits the devil)

longer work. Today's teacher, they maintain, should not expose pupils

to a single set of values in the classrooms and allow them, simul-

taneously, to be abandoned to another setmany setsin the out-

side world. Unless he is willing and able to unmask the hypocrisy of

the contradiction, students will scorn him and the contradiction he

stands for.

Secondly, the teacher must function as catalyst, inquirer, dis-

coverer, and prober, posing the inquiries that produce understanding

rather than information. He should also make use of role playing,

group discussion, and multi-sided debates, generated by questions

that involve students affectively, minimizing simple recall assignments

that direct students to read, listen (if they do), and answer queries

at the end of the chapter. In developing a capacity for open-ended-

Anthony Boy Mangione, Assistant Professor of English Edu-

cation at Brooklyn College (CUNY), has published articles in the

Journal of English Teaching Techniques, The English Teacher,

English Education, Elementary English, and other publications.

SUMMER, 1972

ness, the teacher has to continue to formulate diffeant questions and

give priority to questions posed by pupils, valuing these

as more im-

portant than the answers given. As with his own inquiries, his

stu-

dents' questions insist be real ones that point to the pulsating

world

in which they live, not to the rose-colored, anemic world that typifies

the classroom.

A final imperative for today's teacher is improving students'

self-images. It is, after all, just as easy to ask, "What did

your learn in

your reading about Shakespeare?" as to ask, "When was Shakespeare

born?" The first question allows all students to participate; the

latter

eliminates those who failed to note the date of Shakespeare's birth

who thought it unimportant. Winston Churchill, while

a student at

Harrow, experienced firsthand the diminishing returns of close-ended

questioning. He once remarked that "The teacher

was always trying

to find out what I didn't know, instead of what I did know.

I knew

a lot of history but never got a chance to say so." The teacher of the

seventies should invariably accentuate the positive for his students.

The teacher of English bears an especially heavy responsibility

for

drawing specific implications from these imperatives, since

students

are obliged to enroll in English classes for most of their academic life.

An initial implication requires that the teacher of English be

pri-

marily a teacher of language, preparing pupils

to discriminate be-

tween rational and irrational discourse, between words

as symbols

of good and evil.

Within an atmosphere that is so involved with

words, teacher and pupils alike become students of languageknowl-

edgeable, for example, about chauvinism, propaganda, subversion,

and shibboleth; and competent to scrutinize the "Newspeak" of the

courts, the schools, governmental agencies, and protest movements.

The cry of irrelevance is rarely uttered under this heightened

sensi-

tivity to words.

A second and final implication mandates competence in ciirricu-

lum. As a planner, innovator, implementor, and questioner of

cur-

riculum, the teacher of English may decide to keep

a weaver named

Niarner, an assassin named Brutus, or a one-legged pirate named

Silver; but not before considering the kinds of questions that

are

posed by DeCrazia and Sohn, in Revolution in Teaching:

How can pride in our American heritage be combined with respect

for the cultures of other people?

What literature should be experienced by everyone, regardless of his

future occupation?

How can we avoid the present overemphasis en literature that depicts

only the middle and upper classes?

What literature

from

non-English-speaking

lands

should

ex-

perienced?

What literature is so timeless and contemporary that all young people

should experience it?

What ingredients in American culture should be considered

common

components of everyone's experience?

THE ENGLISH RECORD

As a corollary. students should assist the teacher of English with his

curriculum tasks. Bob Dylan's folk-rock lyric, "Blowing in the Wind.-

a student choice for inclusion in the curriculum, provides affective

experiences that generate stimulating discussions.

lir means of such

selections, the teacher and his class call examine anew ideas about

patriotism, war, and peace. Competence in curriculum matters makes

for better learning-teaching situations.

In short, change must comemeaningful. affective changes rather

than dehumanizing, disruptive ones that distort the learning process

beyond recognition. As for teachers, NIel.uhan believes that their

role "as unchallenged authorities, dispensers of information. and

arbiters of morals and creativity.'

will gradually disappear.

The

leopard will indeed change its spotsin time.

The

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English Record at your finger tips.

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scuff-resistant finish (with a rich, warm lea-

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THE ENGLISH RECORD

P.O. Box 29

Vincent, Al. 35178

SUMMER, 1972

BOOKS OF YESTERDAY

Esther Bennett

Elementary children are

so used to the colorful appealing world

. today's books, that I decided to expose my sixth grade to books used

many years ago.

I began with a world geography textbook

printed in 1878 and

another printed in 1927. They

were fascinated! The maps. the ster-

ility of facts and the dull illustrations

amazed them. We compared

the texts with our array of Social Studies

textbooks, discussed the diffi-

culty of writing an exciting,

interesting textbook and conjectured

about the future styles of textbooks.

Their interest was

so great that I decided to expand the study

into a unit and began with the old "A

is for apple" book. After seeing

this, everyone wrote his

own "modern" version of alphabet rhymes

and illustrated them.

We then arrived at the famous

"NIcthiffy's Reader" and

com-

pared it with the third grade reading

text used in our school. We

discussed the importance of illustrations today

as compared with those

of long ago. In fact, the class marveled

that anyone even bothered

to learn to read!

I found a book printed in 1887

entitled "The History of the

United StatesTold in One Syllable

Words"! This one realy sparked

enthusiasm! The book

was a treasurer of archaic phrases and style.

copied parts of this book. For example:

I have said that the Danes kept

up a trade with the main-land; but

it was not the land that you will

see near Green-land or Icc-land on the

map. They did not know that such a great land

was so near; for when

they set sail they took but

one course and that was to the land they

had conic from which was Den-mark.

You can judge by the map how far off

that was, and will not think it

strange that it took so long a time to find

out the great land that lay so

near, but in a way they were not wont to

go.

One of the men who \\ut with Eric, the

lied, had a son, who at that

time was in Nor-way. with which

a trade was kept op. When the son came

back to Ice-land and found that those

with whom he made his home

were

not there, he made up his mind to

go to Green-land too, though he did

not know how to get there, and there

was no one to show him the way.

\ \'e discussed the style of writing,

especially the one-syllable

ap-

proach, and then the class

rewrote the selection the

way it might

be written today.

Mrs. Esther Bennett is a sixth grade

classroom teacher in the

Pashley Elementary School, of the Burnt

Hills-Ballston Lake Cen-

tral Schools, in Scotia, New York.

THE ENGLISH RECORD

The "1)" volume of an encyclopedia, published

in 1859, was re-

garded with awe! They learned that encyclopedias

of that day were

definitely written for adults, because of their advanced

vocabulary.

They were equally surprised that people of the

1800's were so knowl-

edgeable. It was fun to choose

some topics and compare the informa-

tion with that found in our modern encyclopedia.

It was also inter-

esting to find that the majority of the topics

weren't even found in

today's encyclopedia, and viceversa.

We perused some "Bobbsev Twins" and

"Torn Swift" books as

well as "Bomba, the Jungle Boy"but

no one cared to read them

from cover to cover.

I culminated the unit with Stevenson's

Treasure Island.

Every-

one was familiar with the story, not because they had read the book,

but because they had either

seen the film, or a play on television, read

a comic-book version, or heard the record.

I chose a section of the story and read

it to the class. Again, we

discussed the style and vocabulary.

I then divided the selection into

various parts and each child wrote

an assigned part as he believed

it would be written today. Then

we read it as a whole selection! We

certainly didn't produce literature, but

it was fun and a good learning

experience.

The children brought many old books

to school. More important,

however, was that the entire unit

was an interesting, enriching study

of the world of books of

many years ago, and of the change taking

place in our language.

SUMMER, 1972

LET THE VOICE BE YOURS, TEACHER

Kenneth Gambone

"Good morning. Children,

Ogden Nash

And I hope you're fine;

I'll speak to you my PORCUPINE.-

"Any hound a porcupine midges

Can't he blamed for harboring grndges.

I know one hound that laughed all winter

At a\porcupine that sat on a splinter."

Ileac] poetry to students. Bead it aloud. The printed page has

divorced us felon the vocal meanings of poetry.

I lold a reading. Sing

again and again and again! Let the young ones heat your voice. Take

them through he seasons of the year. holidays and historic events.

folksongs, folktliks and narratives. Let the sounds ring. Let the voice

be your, Tem. 114.

Don't sermot\ize. Speak simply. Who wouldn't love a second

reading from Nasky

The Guppy

"Whales have calves,

Cats have kittens,

Bears have cubs,

Bats have hittens.

Swans have cygnets,

Seals have puppies,

But guppies just have little guppies."

The sounds of poetry surround you.

It may he nature: "When I

see birches bend to left and right

. . . "I think that

shall never

see

," "Woodman, spare that tree

. .

." The poet sings of sensi-

tivity. too: "grave Alice and laughing Allegro, and Edith with golden

hair."

Ile also is a part of history:

REVERIES HIDE or

BARBARA FIllETCHIE. Teacher. be direct. There is no need to

analyze these lines. They are mute until you speak,

Are we mute as teachers? Can we not recite? Students lose their

voice to our questions, Have we lost our voices. too?

Let us hear

ourselves again. Try a "reading aloud period," Ten minutes on some

Chosen day will do.

What! Still whispering to yourself. Speak. Man! Move your lips

with the sounds of life.

Move your lips with the sense of sound.

Move your lips with poetry for the young. Move young lips with

poetry. Can you?

Kenneth Gambone is Chairman of the English Department at

Oyster Bay High School,

Ile was Exhibits Chairman at NYSEC's

1971 New York City Conference.

THE ENGLISH RECORD