I disagree that American literature classics have to be replaced by
insulation manuals and plant inventories in US classrooms by 2014. By reading
fictions, students can find more fun than reading “informational texts” so that
they won’t get bored in class. Most of the fictions are some pictures that the
authors made them up, so students have more opportunity to imagine the images of the moments. This is a good
way to train the students to imagine because if we want to understand
something, we have to have a snapshot in our mind so that we can know what it
is talking about clearly. There are themes for every book. By finding the themes
out we will know more about the purpose of the author. In the passage, it
mentioned about Jamie Highfill, a teacher from high school said, "I'm afraid we are taking out all
imaginative reading and creativity in our English classes.” Being creative is really
important to students. Schools cannot just use non-fictions texts to ensure
that kids can get a job in the future. English is important, it is a
international language, but we don’t learn it just to get a job. We learn it
also to train our imagination and creativity. Many programs in university needs
imagination and creativity to study. For example, art. If you are not creative,
you have no imagination; you cannot finish a piece of art that is good,
interesting but tells people the purpose of it.
This
is not a good idea to ensure students getting a job in the future. Our world is
full of art. We should be more creative and imagine more so we can find out
more things around us.
I like the title of this post. It is an attention grabber, and it is true that text books really give students no room for imagination when they are only learning about factual information. English class isn't a place for text books, students need to be creative.
ReplyDeleteEnglish is a very broad spectrum that incorporates many different facets and ideas. You illustrated this very well in the picture below your title. I hold a similar view about education too. I think education is much more than learning hard facts and knowledge. We at school get caught up in the hoo-hah of good grades and university that we often forget how to become better human beings. English is the one course where creativity and flexibility in opinion have a place. No other course is as unique, and this is why it must be unchanged.
ReplyDelete"A good way to train students to imagine"
ReplyDeleteI honestly couldn't agree more. This is so so so important. Imagination can't die out. Imagination is innovation, and imagination pushes us forward as a society. We can't let that die out. The only way to keep it sharp is to exercise it, and fiction is the perfect tool. Fiction keeps us on our toes imagining scene after scene as we allow the words to paint beautiful pictures in our heads.
I agree and believe students need creativity in their learning/education. It is a necessity, but should not be limited to just that. Some students also need factual education and should therefore have a balance between creativity and factual education. For me, I like textbooks more, but I can honestly say that english novels have helped me in my development by building my creativity and my english proficiency.
ReplyDelete