Question: What, if any, parameters do you put in place to help monitor the discussion of controversial subjects in your book circles? Interpretation of artworks such as this one [Julian Schnabel's "Christ's Last Day" at the right] would certainly be a hot topic in a public school setting--how do you handle the idea of censorship?
What a fantastic question, Natalie! (Plus, I like the inclusion of the artwork.) Actually, the personalized nature of book clubs helps deal with the issue of censorship, at least in part. As a result, I have yet to establish any strict parameters.
At the beginning of the process Cindy and I conduct “book talks” where we describe the plot, the setting, and a bit about the protagonist of each novel. We also pass out a packet with a synopsis of each novel for students to review. Finally, we answer any questions students have about the novels. This provides ample opportunity for me to “warn” students about books that deal with topics they may find too uncomfortable to discuss. For instance, I know that as soon as I mention that the novel Feed uses profanity many deeply religious students stop considering the book altogether. Similarly, once I mention that Postcards from No Man’s Land deals with bi-sexuality some students rule it out entirely. This means that when students list their top three choices I am (almost) guaranteed that they are agreeing to discuss the controversial subject in a mature (as mature as sophomores can) way.
Also, having parents sign a permission slip means that they are aware that their son or daughter may be tackling a difficult topic. The aspect of choice (I am not forcing anyone to read anything) seems to have alleviated any parental concerns as well.
This even has helped with dealing with my administrators. One assistant principal sat in my classroom as I gave the book talks this fall and she later commented on how glad she was that I gave students “the heads up” about profanity and other uncomfortable topics.
I realize that I have painted a fairly rosy picture here. Censorship is an issue I am concerned about with book clubs, but possibly not in the way this question (or my interpretation of the question) suggests. Students censor themselves. Indeed, this is the very reason that we are asking them to discuss difficult topics in their book clubs. Cindy began with the hunch that book clubs could be a way to help teach students to participate in civil discourse—a practice that seems sorely missing from our culture.
Much to my dismay, when we first attempted this process in the fall of 2006 most book clubs would avoid the difficult subject entirely. The proverbial elephant in the room was an issue in several groups; they would talk about everything, but the difficult subject. In other groups, they simply giggled uncomfortably about it, but refused to have any sort of meaningful discussion. Some of this behavior was surely the result of the secretive way Cindy and I went about presenting the project.
We had better results this spring when we were open with our purpose and told students that we wanted them to discuss the difficult subject. This seemed to be liberating for many groups, yet some groups still struggled. Interestingly, several groups said that they knew what the controversial subject was “supposed to be,” but just didn’t see the big deal with it. One group seemed to miss the point of the book entirely. Still other groups struggled to maintain a mature discussion of the controversial subject or the book itself for that matter.
In the end, censorship is a concern for me; just in a different form that we typically look at it. My puzzle is how do I help students to not censor their discussions and deal with those "elephants" presented on the pages of their novels in a productive manner.
What a fantastic question, Natalie! (Plus, I like the inclusion of the artwork.) Actually, the personalized nature of book clubs helps deal with the issue of censorship, at least in part. As a result, I have yet to establish any strict parameters.
At the beginning of the process Cindy and I conduct “book talks” where we describe the plot, the setting, and a bit about the protagonist of each novel. We also pass out a packet with a synopsis of each novel for students to review. Finally, we answer any questions students have about the novels. This provides ample opportunity for me to “warn” students about books that deal with topics they may find too uncomfortable to discuss. For instance, I know that as soon as I mention that the novel Feed uses profanity many deeply religious students stop considering the book altogether. Similarly, once I mention that Postcards from No Man’s Land deals with bi-sexuality some students rule it out entirely. This means that when students list their top three choices I am (almost) guaranteed that they are agreeing to discuss the controversial subject in a mature (as mature as sophomores can) way.
Also, having parents sign a permission slip means that they are aware that their son or daughter may be tackling a difficult topic. The aspect of choice (I am not forcing anyone to read anything) seems to have alleviated any parental concerns as well.
This even has helped with dealing with my administrators. One assistant principal sat in my classroom as I gave the book talks this fall and she later commented on how glad she was that I gave students “the heads up” about profanity and other uncomfortable topics.
I realize that I have painted a fairly rosy picture here. Censorship is an issue I am concerned about with book clubs, but possibly not in the way this question (or my interpretation of the question) suggests. Students censor themselves. Indeed, this is the very reason that we are asking them to discuss difficult topics in their book clubs. Cindy began with the hunch that book clubs could be a way to help teach students to participate in civil discourse—a practice that seems sorely missing from our culture.
Much to my dismay, when we first attempted this process in the fall of 2006 most book clubs would avoid the difficult subject entirely. The proverbial elephant in the room was an issue in several groups; they would talk about everything, but the difficult subject. In other groups, they simply giggled uncomfortably about it, but refused to have any sort of meaningful discussion. Some of this behavior was surely the result of the secretive way Cindy and I went about presenting the project.
We had better results this spring when we were open with our purpose and told students that we wanted them to discuss the difficult subject. This seemed to be liberating for many groups, yet some groups still struggled. Interestingly, several groups said that they knew what the controversial subject was “supposed to be,” but just didn’t see the big deal with it. One group seemed to miss the point of the book entirely. Still other groups struggled to maintain a mature discussion of the controversial subject or the book itself for that matter.
In the end, censorship is a concern for me; just in a different form that we typically look at it. My puzzle is how do I help students to not censor their discussions and deal with those "elephants" presented on the pages of their novels in a productive manner.
1 comment:
Rebecca, again I admire the succinct way in which you address a topic! Kudos on that. I think you've included very pertinent information that will be of great interest to many teachers looking at your research. You seem to have done a great job conquering the ever-sticky issue of censorship with a strategy that will be on interest to many.
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