UPDATE: A growing literacy crisis is prompting an urgent call from educators for a return to teaching whole texts in schools. Recent discussions reveal that students are increasingly struggling with reading long texts, raising concerns about their preparedness for college-level work.
Just announced by leading English professors, the debate centers around the effectiveness of teaching excerpts versus complete works. They argue that the reliance on excerpts, largely shaped by the Common Core State Standards Initiative, has led to a significant gap in students’ reading skills. This issue has become critical as educators strive to inspire a love for literature among students.
Many high school teachers report feeling discouraged from requiring full novels due to standardized testing pressures, which demand a focus on excerpts for evaluation. The Common Core, established in 2010, emphasizes skills tested through multiple-choice formats, leaving students ill-prepared for the rigorous demands of college literature courses.
In their new book, Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century, co-editors highlight the stark differences between high school and college reading practices. While high school “close reading” often focuses on identifying elements like themes and symbols, the college approach requires students to formulate arguments based on textual evidence. This disconnect is alarming and shows that many students are merely mimicking surface-level analysis without engaging deeply with the material.
Educators, including Stephanie Insley Hershinow, stress the importance of teaching entire works to foster genuine engagement with literature. They argue that excerpts strip texts of their context, hindering students from developing a meaningful relationship with the material. “Caring is the intellectual prerequisite of interpretation and argument,” they assert.
The urgency of this situation is compounded by rising concerns over the impact of artificial intelligence on critical thinking skills. Recent studies indicate that frequent use of AI tools correlates with a decline in cognitive abilities, raising questions about the future of education in a technology-driven world.
As schools grapple with these challenges, there is a renewed push to ban smartphones from classrooms and to focus on traditional reading methods. The call to action is clear: educators must prioritize teaching whole texts—like Hamlet, My Ántonia, and Sense and Sensibility—to help students cultivate their critical thinking and analytical skills.
This is not just an academic concern; it is an emotional plea for the future of literacy. As educators advocate for a shift back to whole book reading, they are not only seeking to improve students’ skills but also to instill a lasting appreciation for literature.
In a time when educational disparities are widening, the push for whole text reading is a crucial step towards ensuring that all students, from those in underfunded public schools to elite institutions, have the opportunity to engage with literature meaningfully.
The message is clear: Give students the chance to read whole books, to understand the complexities of characters and themes, and to connect with the world of literature on a deeper level. This is a pivotal moment for educators and students alike, and the time to act is NOW.
