What happened to reading? Part 3
The "relatability" fallacy means book lists no longer address kids’ needs; they cater to their wishes.
Originally published in the Moultrie News.
What happened to reading?
We’re examining the decline in reading proficiency and enjoyment among American students. A little-noted contributor is that schools have altered the criteria for texts in whole-class reading instruction.
Traditionally, reading selections were based on factors like quality and significance.
Quality texts are crucial for young readers — superior storytelling provides a satisfying experience that rewards students’ reading efforts.
Literary and historical significance is also important, especially in older grades. Exposure to a canon of time-tested texts builds a foundation that prepares students for more modern works. Flannery O’Connor wrote: “The high-school English teacher will be fulfilling his responsibility if he furnishes the student a guided opportunity, through the best writing of the past, to come, in time, to an understanding of the best writing of the present.”
Works from the canon enrich us with shared experiences. Few things bind us anymore, but reading Shakespeare, The Odyssey and other important works provides a pool of stories and values we can all draw from.
As a more sensual style of teaching became vogue, criteria changed. Curriculum architects now prioritize meeting students’ social and emotional demands over stimulating their intellects and imaginations. It’s about feeding children what we think they want. Book lists no longer address kids’ needs; they cater to their wishes.
“Relatability” is now the number one criterion. Books are chosen because kids find their plots and characters more “accessible.” The theory is that a story about a stereotypical kid standing up to stereotypical City Hall types in protest of skateboarders’ rights will “speak” to students better than one about a hobbit traveling across Middle-Earth to destroy a magic ring.
By missing the entire point of reading, this mindset is liable to overlook great books. Stories aren’t “relatable”; we are. We naturally connect with narratives, but the best ones challenge and transform us. I would be a fool to read only stories about bald, middle-aged (yet nimble-witted) teachers. As 17-year-old Ruby LaRocca wrote: “Books that are ‘representative,’ that are more easily ‘absorbed,’ undermine the main reason to read them: to push readers beyond themselves in uncomfortable and productive ways.”
She’s right. Reading must empower students to see beyond themselves. It becomes self-defeating when it merely reflects their tastes and perspectives. “The whole purpose of education,” Sydney J. Harris said, “is to turn mirrors into windows.”
Unfortunately, contemporary selection criteria often fail to put texts into students’ hands that consistently expand their minds. If we want kids to read with skill and enthusiasm, we have to provide them with works that give them the best chance to develop those qualities — not just stories about stuff they like.
Consider The Erne from the Coast by T. O. Beachcroft, a short story about a teenager named Harry. One day, as he’s tending sheep on his family’s farm, a massive eagle swoops down and snatches one away. Harry endures intense, sometimes violent conflict with his father, the eagle, and himself.
Nothing in modern criteria invites this story’s inclusion in English textbooks. Written in 1938, the author is a bland Londoner. The story occurs in a remote Scottish Highlands village and involves sheep herding, so it offers nothing in the way of “relatability.”
Despite that apparent deficiency, the story captivates all kinds of students with its persistent drama and quality storytelling. Teens connect with Harry's broken pride, social isolation, and complex relationship with his demanding father. It’s a memorable story that challenges kids and inspires them to read more — or at least approach future assignments with anticipation instead of dread.
The architects of today’s fast food reading curricula will argue that such stories don’t belong in the classroom. Devoid of contemporary relatability, modern students will simply not find them to their tastes.
I’ll let Flannery O’Connor address that concern: “Well, that is regrettable. Most regrettable. His taste should not be consulted; it is being formed.”
Jody Stallings has been an award-winning teacher in Charleston since 1992 and is director of the Charleston Teacher Alliance. To submit a question, order his books, or follow him on social media, please visit JodyStallings.com.