On "Changing Our Minds"

I found this article by Myers to be quite interesting. It was fascinating to be able to see how education has transformed throughout the years. More importantly, as I was reading this article, I found some parallels between the past and now. One instance that I noticed was in recitation literacy. I remember being in elementary school and having the "'Drillmaster,' who led students in unison through their lessons (64)." When I first learned the alphabet I followed the teachers lead. We, as a class, would recite the alphabet on a daily basis until we had memorized it. What was also found with recitation literacy is that students were able to memorize the material, but they were not able to comprehend what it meant. When I was learning the alphabet, I memorized it, but it had no meaning to me. I did not know that these letters created words. I think that it is interesting to see that this form of education is still seen in classrooms today.

Finally, another parallel I noticed was later on when the article talked about decoding and analytic literacy. More specifically, this section dealt with "tracking." Students were given the tools they needed to become successful at analyzing in order to reach their specific goal. So for instance, a college prep track would be expected to become "advanced analytical readers (88)." This seems very true of English classes today. High schools seem to utilize this tracking so that students can achieve a particular goal for their futures. When I was in high school we had tracked English classes. We had general, which contained the more vocational students, and we had college prep, which had college-bound students enrolled. It is interesting to see how these movements in education are still being utilized to this day.

This article also provided insight into what composition studies of the past were like. I found it odd that students were required to copy essays. The educators of the past saw copying as a way for students to learn the conventions of writing. Unfortunately, students were not able to express themselves. Today, the writing classroom seems to be focused on what students think. The writing assignments are more creative in nature. It is important to make students think outside the box and consider issues and pieces of literature from a more abstract viewpoint.

On a completely unrelated note, I finally read The Lord of the Flies this summer. I loved it! I recently began reading a very similar book titled Battle Royale. The book is amazing! It is a modernized version of Lord of the Flies set in Japan. It has a very similar premise where students are trapped on an isolated island, and need to find a way to survive. If you liked Lord of the Flies, check this book out!