Today after Meeting, Sunday school addressed Bible interpretation. We watched a short ESR video about how the Bible should come with a warning label: Use with caution.
I didn't really listen to the video, I was writing down service project ideas for the youth (including the construction of bar tables for fellowship hour. It's awkward to have a good conversation with someone trying to hold a cup of coffee, and a paper plate full of food, which you can't eat, because your other hand is holding coffee.)
During our small group discussion, Jim brought up a point about Biblical interpretation I appreciated. He said that the way we use language influences the way we think of people. So when we say that God is "He," we start to think of men as being higher and more godly. When we refer to God as "King," we start to see kings as higher and more godly.
During colonization of Africa, Jim pointed out, this conflation between God and King served European monarchs very well, as the missionaries taught the colonized people their religion, and the connection between the King who is God and the King who is in France or Britain, was established.
The monarchs made it their goal to turn the tribal leaders into petty despots, whereas before the imposition of colonial rule the tribal chiefs had functioned more as Quaker clerks, discerning the will of the group based on a deep and spiritual awareness of the needs and desires of those making up the governed body. Insert foreign King and outside monetary incentives, and those capable leaders are rendered petty despots.
Just now I said, "The next time students read". I might have said "The next time I teach Things Fall Apart," but based on the book I'm reading right now, about how to encourage students to be life-long learners, I might never teach that great novel again, or any other great novel for that matter.
I have written already about my current reading of The Book Whisperer, but today I'm more excited about it than I have ever been. The chapter I just read discussed the problems of the whole-class novel. I am well aware of these, but I have never really given credence to my hesitations because reading novels together as a class just seems like the obvious thing to do - everyone does it in high school English classes.
Everyone, that is except Donalyn Miller and the other teachers she's won to her side.
When reading all-class novels, the good readers resent the slow pace. The slow readers resent the difficulty and the need to read aloud in front of their peers. Making sure that everyone is on the same page in terms of comprehension is a time consuming process. Reading during class takes up a lot of time. Assigning reading to do at home is problematic because there will always be students who don't read at home, and thus are behind in class. These will likely be the students who need the most help anyway.
Thus far I have resisted Miller's arguments against reading literature together as a class because I think there is so much good that comes from discussing the issues raised in a text as a class - the kinds of themes and ideas that students are not able to pull out of literature on their own, but are definitely capable of seeing once it's pointed out, and enjoy discussing.
Miller addressed this concern with one small sentence, which had not fully occured to me. Used short stories and poetry, images and film to explore themes and topics together, then ask students how they connect with the independent reading books they are reading. If students can transfer the skills learned in a discussion about a short story to the books they are reading on their own, that's all the proof you need of comprehension.
I am already imagining my tenth graders, and how relieved many of the able readers would be if we could just stop reading things together and get down to reading what they wanted to read. How much would their vocabularies and background knowledge on various things increase?
Also, I am thrilled at the idea of getting to focus on short stories, poetry and nonfiction together, and even film! Ah! I can't wait to have my own classroom.
I didn't really listen to the video, I was writing down service project ideas for the youth (including the construction of bar tables for fellowship hour. It's awkward to have a good conversation with someone trying to hold a cup of coffee, and a paper plate full of food, which you can't eat, because your other hand is holding coffee.)
During our small group discussion, Jim brought up a point about Biblical interpretation I appreciated. He said that the way we use language influences the way we think of people. So when we say that God is "He," we start to think of men as being higher and more godly. When we refer to God as "King," we start to see kings as higher and more godly.
During colonization of Africa, Jim pointed out, this conflation between God and King served European monarchs very well, as the missionaries taught the colonized people their religion, and the connection between the King who is God and the King who is in France or Britain, was established.
The monarchs made it their goal to turn the tribal leaders into petty despots, whereas before the imposition of colonial rule the tribal chiefs had functioned more as Quaker clerks, discerning the will of the group based on a deep and spiritual awareness of the needs and desires of those making up the governed body. Insert foreign King and outside monetary incentives, and those capable leaders are rendered petty despots.
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| The Bible implies that Kings are Godly, in the English translation. |
Just now I said, "The next time students read". I might have said "The next time I teach Things Fall Apart," but based on the book I'm reading right now, about how to encourage students to be life-long learners, I might never teach that great novel again, or any other great novel for that matter.
I have written already about my current reading of The Book Whisperer, but today I'm more excited about it than I have ever been. The chapter I just read discussed the problems of the whole-class novel. I am well aware of these, but I have never really given credence to my hesitations because reading novels together as a class just seems like the obvious thing to do - everyone does it in high school English classes.
Everyone, that is except Donalyn Miller and the other teachers she's won to her side.
When reading all-class novels, the good readers resent the slow pace. The slow readers resent the difficulty and the need to read aloud in front of their peers. Making sure that everyone is on the same page in terms of comprehension is a time consuming process. Reading during class takes up a lot of time. Assigning reading to do at home is problematic because there will always be students who don't read at home, and thus are behind in class. These will likely be the students who need the most help anyway.
Thus far I have resisted Miller's arguments against reading literature together as a class because I think there is so much good that comes from discussing the issues raised in a text as a class - the kinds of themes and ideas that students are not able to pull out of literature on their own, but are definitely capable of seeing once it's pointed out, and enjoy discussing.
Miller addressed this concern with one small sentence, which had not fully occured to me. Used short stories and poetry, images and film to explore themes and topics together, then ask students how they connect with the independent reading books they are reading. If students can transfer the skills learned in a discussion about a short story to the books they are reading on their own, that's all the proof you need of comprehension.
I am already imagining my tenth graders, and how relieved many of the able readers would be if we could just stop reading things together and get down to reading what they wanted to read. How much would their vocabularies and background knowledge on various things increase?
Also, I am thrilled at the idea of getting to focus on short stories, poetry and nonfiction together, and even film! Ah! I can't wait to have my own classroom.
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