ERIC Number: ED218654
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982
Reference Count: N/A
The English Curriculum under Fire: What Are the Real Basics?
Hillocks, George, Jr., Ed.
Addressing the wave of public criticism of the English curriculum, the six articles in this book cite "basics" that are far different from those of the current "back to basics" movement. The first article surveys the nature of the curriculum attacks and suggests why English teachers may be more vulnerable to public criticism than members of other professions, and the second article addresses the essential question of why English teachers teach, defining rhetoric as the center of the language arts and of individual freedom. The third article examines the cry for basics in the teaching of writing and offers four neglected "touchstones" that could improve writing instruction, while the fourth article considers reasons why writing is so difficult for some and offers recommendations for instruction that are useful to both teachers and curriculum designers. The fifth article reviews two of the attempts to return to educational basics since the 1950s, "reexcavating" foundations that reveal the education of the literary imagination as an essential basic to morality and understanding, growth and awareness. The final essay illustrates the unconscious processes, often mistaken for misreadings, that allow children to make reading a deeply personal experience. (HTH)
Descriptors: Educational Trends, Elementary Secondary Education, English Curriculum, English Instruction, Literature, Minimum Competencies, Public Opinion, Reading Processes, Rhetoric, Writing (Composition), Writing Instruction
National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, IL (Stock No. 13982, $5.75 non-member, $5.00 member).
Publication Type: Collected Works - Proceedings
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL.