This week’s recommendation comes from:
Sara DeMartino
IFL ELA Fellow
Sara says, “I appreciate the conversation the panel has in this podcast because they talk about English class as a space where novels provide the foundation for critical discussions. They talk about how novels provide a space for students to see characters and ideas as complex and often times broken. It’s in these imperfect spaces where teachers can invite students to grapple with essential ideas, their own identities, and how an author uses language to create both real and imagined spaces.”
What Should High Schoolers Read?
Featuring Jane Coaston, Kaitlyn Greenidge, and Esau McCaulley
“And so I think a good English class — this may be overly simplistic — it’s to get our students to lift their head above the question of how can I make the most money or acquire the most things, to ask the deeper questions of meaning.” – Esau McCaulley, writer and professor
In this podcast, host Jane Coaston along with Kaitlyn Greenidge, author and contributing opinion writer and author, and Esau McCaulley, contributing opinion writer, author, and professor, discuss a number of topis around high school English classes, including goals, the development and importance of the high school cannon and why it needs to be revised, and how much (or how little) influence books have over students.