Critical Theory in the Secondary Classroom
“Rarely do high school teachers make their theoretical approaches explicit by naming them to their students.” – Deborah Appleman, Critical Encounters in High School English
As English teachers, we DO ask the questions of reader response theory: “What does the text mean to YOU?” “What do YOU think the writer is trying to say?” and we ask the questions that (hopefully) make our students think critically from a feminist standpoint: “How do the townspeople view Hester Prynne as opposed to Dimmesdale?” “Why are their standards different for women than men?” As educators, we want our kids to examine and utilize those multiple lenses. But we rarely, if ever, TELL them what we are doing, what they are doing. We don’t give our classrooms the vocabulary to go along with the practice. We don’t EXPLICITLY employ the language of Literary Theory. That is where we do disservice to their future learning. Inhabiting various critical perspectives can be and will be required of our students in other disciplines, and in many occupations, and we want our students to be able to articulate their comfort and familiarity with those skills. I accept Appleman’s challenge to incorporate “named” approaches for examining texts in my future classroom.
Kelly
Candice
Angela