Consultation on a draft intermediate and secondary school English curriculum that prioritises Shakespeare, grammar and 19th century literature closes on Friday.
English teachers told RNZ they were worried the draft set unrealistic workloads for students and failed to mention the Treaty of Waitangi.
No mention of the Treaty? Oh God no!
[…] At Hutt Valley High, English teachers told RNZ they had worked through the draft together with the intention of making a submission.
The school’s Head of English, Derek Wood, said teachers were nervous about the scope of the curriculum and how much they would have to change.
We like some of it. The explicit teaching of grammar we think is really useful, but we are concerned that we don’t have time to upskill our teachers in that space,” he said.
Holy hell. You’re English teachers. You’re supposed to be able to teach grammar. It’s like being a kid’s rugby coach and not being able to teach them how to throw the ball.
[…] Wood said the insistence on Shakespeare and a 19th century work for senior students seemed Eurocentric and the absence of any reference to the Treaty of Waitangi was odd.
It’s not Eurocentric, you insufferable buffoon. Shakespeare is the greatest English writer of all time. As an English teacher surely you would know this. As for your insistence on the Treaty of Waitangi, shall we have English taught in Te Reo? Would you be happy then?
Is this a Monty Python sketch or something?
[…] Teacher Corey Spence said the curriculum felt aspirational, but the jump in expectations was large.
In year 10, our students will be expected to have mastered the Oxford comma and we’re still often looking at commas and sentence structure even deep into our senior levels,” he said.
For those who don’t know, the Oxford comma is the comma used before the final and or or in a list of three or more items. How hard is to teach a 15 year old that? It’s not like they’re having to teach their students how to use semicolons.
As for sentence structure, do you mean to say you’re still having to teach basic grammar even when your students are at senior level?
[…] The teachers did not agree with the draft’s requirement that schools teach Shakespeare and 19th century texts in years 12-13.
They told RNZ they enjoyed teaching Shakespeare and it was important that teenagers were able to encounter his works, but it should not be compulsory.
While we’re at it, why not just make English...not compulsory?
Convince me that this isn’t a Monty Python sketch.
As a side note, here’s why having a sound understanding of grammar is so important. It’s far more difficult to write simply and clearly than to write in a complicated or vague way. Grammar allows you write simply and clearly. It’s as easy as that. To see what I mean compare any article written by say Lushington Brady, Cam Slater or any of the Good Oil authors to any article written by one of the authors over at The Standard.
(Although I should also make mention of our amazing editor.) [And proofreaders, Ed.]
If you have kids, don’t enrol them at Hutt Valley High School.
