Reinventing English - Change We Must Embrace

I found the section of Reinventing English we read to be very eye-opening. I was reading the passage while in the presence of my roommate and numerous times I stopped to get his attention and read part of it to him. At first I was a bit shocked at some of the conversations and examples that the author was using, but then I stopped and thought on it for a moment and realized that this sort of stuff doesn't just happen, it is totally common. I can think of some of my high school classmates who held similar opinions to all those expressed in the various scenes. From that point on, all of what Gaughan said seemed to make even more sense. As some others have mentioned, the book is very readable, as is often the case when an academic writer uses real-life stories instead of facts (teachers seem to be the best at this- Kelly Gallagher comes to mind in particular.)

Speaking more to Gaughan's point, I do agree that a huge reformation is needed across the English education world. We aren't just teaching "reading and 'righting," as part of the three R's; we're teaching about cultures, relationships, life, death, tragedy, triumph and much, much more. Moreso than perhaps any other subject, English is one that can encompass everything. We can't block out the issues of our world or leave that to the other subjects, nor can we hope to tackle everything there is to tackle. What we can do, however, is instill in the kids a willingness to learn not just in a scholarly sense, but about others and the value they bring to our world.

I think that Gaughan raises a legitimate concern in stating that we need to change the way we teach, and I think that the younger generations are prepared to carry that mantle. Everything we have been taught moves us away from the traditional approach to teaching. We know that what has been happening in education has not been working, and it is our duty as teachers to fix this issue. I don't doubt that my peers and I are ready to try and reinvent English in the manner which Gaughan states. Most of us want to be teachers not just because we have an interest in the subject (a factor which I believe plays very little role in our ability to be great/successful teachers), but rather because we want to have a positive impact on our students. I feel the best way to do this is to help them to be worldly students, accepting of others in a way that John Gaughan would be proud of.