Slashdot Mirror
Politician Wants Sci-fi To Be Mandatory In School
Avantare writes "The first sci-fi novel I read was A Wrinkle in Time; the next was Dune. Why don't more people read these extraordinarily imaginative books? Delegate Ray Canterbury, who represents Greenbrier County in southern WV, wants to help with that. Canterbury introduced House Bill 2983, which reads, 'To stimulate interest in math and science among students in the public schools of this state, the State Board of Education shall prescribe minimum standards by which samples of grade-appropriate science fiction literature are integrated into the curriculum of existing reading, literature or other required courses for middle school and high school students.' For decades, walking around with a paperback sci-fi novel in your back pocket at school was the quickest way to find yourself permanently excluded from the cool-kid clique. But what if it wasn't just the geeks who read Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke? What if science fiction was mandatory reading for all students?"
Creationism?
When I went to school (I'm 46), "Wrinkle in Time" was on the curriculum.
While I think this is actually a good idea, I don't think that mandating curriclum from the statehouse is a good thing.
It's all moot though... anything that promotes imagination is never going to make it out of a committee anyway.
I'm not in favor of legislative mandates for any kinds of curriculum. That said, I do agree with Canterbury's position that science fiction needs to be included in the types of literature covered in school. That the various education boards have overlooked the mainstream SiFi authors like Clarke and Asimov is a symptom of a deeper failure in their processes.
Personally, I'd throw in a little Lovecraft. Just so more people will get my Cthulhu references.
Have gnu, will travel.
The first sci-fi novel I read was A Wrinkle in Time; the next was Dune. Why don't more people read these extraordinarily imaginative books?
They are waiting for the movie to come out
My actually-decent high school in Delmar, New York, had a fantasy/sci-fi elective course when I went through it back in the '90's. We got exposed to stuff like The Little Prince, Archy and Methithibel and a bunch of other stuff I'd have otherwise missed out on. Then Dad got transferred to Alabama for my senior year. Glad it wasn't sooner, so I only felt like I had one year of wasted time in a useless fucking educational system. Those jackasses didn't know what to make of that elective on my transcript. If it doesn't involve spelling tests, the educational system in the south can't comprehend how it's "English." Kind of like how if it doesn't involve the civil war, they don't quite figure out how it's "history." But I digress...
So yeah, it's not a bad idea. It's probably not a great one either, but having the option was nice. And on the bright side, maybe I'll get Alzheimer's disease in a few years and have that last year of high school blotted out from my memory. That'd be nice. It's a good reason to look forward to getting older. Yeah...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
And though Science Fiction is usually combined with Fantasy, there is a rather BIG difference...
Science Fiction (at least GOOD science fiction) tries to stick with only one violation of physics (frequently the speed of light, other times just that something is easy to do - such as neural implants). Each additional violation weakens the "science" into fantasy. Good Science Fiction focuses on the characters, and the physics violations are only a transport to get to a situation.
Fantasy, on the other hand, allows all kinds of physics violations - at the whim of the author when they can't figure out how to resolve a situation - POOF, a miracle (some god or other magical being/device) fixes/saves the character. Good fantasy doesn't even focus on the magical issues - they focus on the characters. Unfortunately, many fantasy authors cannot keep their "magic" coherent (and I include JK Rowling in this group - fortunately, the focus on characters greatly exceeds the magic.. most of the time).
Hes a West Virginia state legislator
OK. Then the legislature can butt out too. It's fine for them to set high-level standards. Micro-managing what kids read in school is a decision for somebody much closer to the process.
Actually, I'd say this is the correct level of curriculum decision by legislators: Guidelines are being decided, but the actual curriculum (i.e. what books are actually read) are left up to the teachers/schools. Considering how broad "sci-fi" is as a writing field, and how arbitrary the reading choices are in pre-college English classes anyway, this is hardly forcing a massive shift in what is being taught.
I agree. At least it should originate from the state's department of education and not from the state's legislature. Regardless of how good of an idea it may be, it sets a bad precedence.
If it's okay for the legislature to pass a bill mandating that all schools teach science fiction then it becomes okay for legislature to pass a bill mandating that evolution should banned from the classroom.
You should never let a camel put his nose in your tent.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Sorry, this is a ridiculous idea - quality literature should indeed be mandatory for educational curriculum, but specifically highlighting a particular genre is arrogant.
I don't know ... sci-fi is a valid literary genre that is traditionally under-represented in K-12 English courses. It is also a genre that supposedly leads more of its readers into science/math fields (which according to TFA the state is lacking in). This legislation makes a small change in legislative mandate to the school curriculum (that the legislature already makes mandates about) in order to balance things better and advance areas they're currently lacking in.
Civil war? They wouldn't understand that either- down there they call it "The War of Northern Aggression".
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
The reason that it's not ok to ban evolution from the classroom has nothing to do with whether that decision comes for the state, local, or federal level, or from a legislature or a Board of Education. The reason it's not ok is because It's wrong because the alternative is teaching religion. (Or not teaching biology at all, but failing to give kids a basic education is child abuse.)
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
There's usually a sliding ground between them - if you look at books like the Dragonriders of Pern you have a wide spectra.
It's also possible to look at Science Fiction from the perspective of trying an idea - which Heinlein was doing a lot - take an idea and write a story around it. Not all ideas are realistic, but it can still be a seed for a nice story.
There are also the dystopian stories like Nineteen Eighty-Four, THX 1138 and Kallocain.
Add to it the movie and TV series Max Headroom, which really is interesting since it looks much like the future we are heading to. "This is Edison Carter, Live and Direct...".
Science Fiction is a great package for "Thinking outside the box" stories.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
And yet, sadly, there are some people who cannot get into the HHGTTG...they read the first few chapters, completely skipping over the humor, and think it awfully dull. I have known two such individuals, and I don't think even therapy can save them now...
I am John Hurt.
... make it part of the English lit. curriculum. All of the "classics" were popular literature in their time. Shakespeare was extremely popular in the USA in the 19th century. Now, though, few read the classics for pleasure. I think that's partly because in high school most are taught to hate them.
If you want to kill a kid's joy in something, make it a school assignment. If you want to make absolutely sure, make them write a paper on it. For extra credit, give them a reading assignment they absolutely do not have the background to understand (e.g. Slaughterhouse 5 before they've even heard about WWII).
Let's let the schools continue to ruin horrid bits of literature, like Willa Cather and Herman Melville. Leave the SF to people who like reading.
Meh, before iPads it was something else. Looking back over the decades, students who seek out reading have always been few and far between, and it is not unusual for them to be stigmatized or even punished for it. We are not a nation that values education or reading and never have been, our heros and role models are generally people who get rich through hard work and force of personalty, with extra points if they did it with a minimal education. iPads might be one of the current toys, but the problem is much more pervasive and deeply rooted in our culture.
And you forget Huxley's "Brave New World". That's a classic!
First, I think we've had enough of legislators getting into curricula. Students already spend at least a third of their time prepping for standardized tests. Common Core curricular guidelines are demanding that 70% of English class readings be devoted to nonfiction, specifying things like menus and instruction manuals. Teachers already teach a lot of science fiction. And I'm going to say this as a fan of SF who knows about the "wide range" people are already trotting out: many teachers teach SF/Fantasy for two reasons: one, their own educations did not prepare them to understand, say, Shakespeare or stuff like poetry, and, two, they can't or don't want to take the effort to make that stuff interesting to students. I have actual data I've collected on poetry instruction; almost all teachers I consulted said these three things: they don't teach poetry, they don't read poetry, they don't understand poetry. I'm not saying that poetry is what we need but that this indicative of a problem of effort and education, as well as a system that is based on credentialing teachers based on education courses and not causes in the subject they will teach. It's "worse" at the college level; students can often get thru college lit reqs without ever touching anything more than SF or Fantasy, and often it's not even "high brow" SF/Fantasy but stuff on the order of Orson Scott Card or Harry Potter. I think we would be better served to place some actual intellectual demands on all our future citizens and do our best to give everyone the intellectual tools necessary to enjoy some more difficult reading. No one will like everything, but that's no reason to race toward an "ow my balls!" curriculum designed by President Camacho.
The first Sci-Fi novel I read was A Wrinkle In Time in the 6th grade. The very next book I read was Heinlien's "A Stranger In a Strange Land". I spent the next 30 years trying to build my very own cult/commune. My lack of any magical abilities whatsoever has made this endeavor less than successful. Perhaps we shouldn't make it mandatory that our children go down the same road. Just sayin'.
We really need your help
http://www.gofundme.com/help-sherry
I don't know about Dutch, but I think in American literature it's a bit of both. First problem in English is the canon tends to consist of books which are old -- for example, Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" was popular fiction in its day, but its day was 1850. Shakespeare is even worse, being 16th century. A modern reader has trouble with the language and style that a contemporary reader would not have had (and further, Shakespeare wasn't writing to be _read_).
And then there's the bad. There's a good story in Melville's Moby Dick, which is why it has been copied so many times... but the writing is absolutely awful. Willa Cather's "My Antonia" has absolutely no saving grace so far as I can tell. Not sure about Conrad (Polish then English), all I remember is "the horror, the horror".
Congress has no business deciding what students should read in school. Leave that decision to:
Ummm, the guy is in the state legislature encouraging the state board of education, which is supposed to be made up of proffesional educators, to add sci fi books to the reading curriculums of the state to promote interest in math and science. It has nothing to do with congress or government over-reach.
So, the south started the war?
Sorry, my facts are correct ... after all we have history classes in germany as well. But you are in so far right that indeed the south started shooting on a fortress occupied by northern troops. However the fortress was in southern territory. No idea and to lazy now to look up how and why the north could occupy it.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
>Sorry, my facts are correct ... after all we have history classes in germany as well.
>But you are in so far right that indeed the south started shooting on a fortress occupied by northern troops.
>However the fortress was in southern territory. No idea and too lazy now to look up how and why the north could occupy it.
It was a previously-existing Federal fort, which under the Constitution is Federal territory.
And if you didn't know that, the quality of your "history" class is suspect.
Secession was motivated entirely by the fact that Lincoln was a noted abolitionist, from a party where the previous candidate had campaigned with this slogan:
"Free men, free soil, and Fremont!"
Anyone who says it was "states' rights" and not slavery has no clue: they are contradicting themselves, since states rights really meant "the right of states to determine the status of slavery within their own borders, to have that decision enforced against runaway slaves by every other state, and to secede (as long as they do so for the sake of protecting slavery; if it's for the sake of making slavery illegal, that's treason!)"
And yes, every one of those points is illustrated by an aspect of history: the objections to the Missouri Compromise, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the Southern response to New England's threats of secession.
And even if it were about secession, it's also about the reason for secession...which was very much slavery.
But the North, while not wanting slavery, did not fight for its abolition until 1863; that is correct.
This politician's point isn't about making children read his favorite books because they're his favorites. He wants children and teenagers to read Science Fiction because it makes science and math interesting, which in turn, turns more of our youth to those fields of study. I seldom agree with politicians, but this guy is absolutely right-- if we want to improve ourselves as a species, we need to get our youth interested in these subjects. Getting them to read Science Fiction is one good approach.
Learning about brewing beer, by brewing beer.
Apparently I had the wrong idea about what a charter school is. I retract what I said earlier.
Yes let the kids choose for themselves, and don't bitch when they all end up majoring in vampire studies.
I recall reading Animal Farm, 1984, and Brave New World all in the same year as curriculum. I think it was Grade 9.
Did A Wrinkle in Time and Dune on my own dime.
Couldn't agree more with the politician. I think I am mostly just surprised that a good idea came from a politician. He must have good staff or something.
Then again, unless they tackle the whole creationism thing down there, it's a bit of a mess. I mean trying to promote science and math by getting kids excited about science fiction on one hand and yet teaching them anti-science in creationism on the other... doesn't make a lot of sense.