Thursday 29 May 2014

I Know Why...Gove isn't going to like this!

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.
Now isn’t that something for motivation? You’d think that the Secretary of Education would care about fuelling passion in the classroom, but not our dear Mr. Gove. I’d go a step forward to say that without a little help, Gove would have no idea who said the above quote. That’s because he probably didn’t have enthusiastic teachers to thrust a copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings into his hands for inspiration.
Gove would like to axe American Literature from the GCSE syllabus, but here’s just three reasons for the inclusion of Maya Angelou’s fantastic autobiography.

  • Reason number one: Maya Angelou

A black female writer with a message. I’m not entirely sure how Gove likes his curriculum authors, but I’m fairly certain she’d be one of a kind on the syllabus, distracting attention from all the white, middle class males.
Yes, the first reason is just because Angelou herself was pretty amazing. I can honestly say that yesterday, when I logged onto Twitter to learn about her passing, I genuinely felt sad. Why’s that? Because the world has lost one of its most outstanding pioneers for civil rights.
This woman showed us that it is possible to give a middle finger to the terrors of life and keep going. What’s more is that she taught us the importance of keeping that middle finger up and going to the next level – it’s not enough to be living a better life than you were born into, you should make a real difference!
But of course, we all know that pre-19th century love poetry is going to give teenagers the same kind of push, right? Right…

  • Reason number two: Challenging themes

Angelou’s writing isn’t that hardest to understand, which is a really good thing because if we can’t get past the complexity of the sentence structure, how do we have a chance of exploring further the themes that have been included in the text? So whilst I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings doesn’t quite reach the surface complexity of Gove’s preferred texts, it is exactly the right level for developing readers.
Let’s just go through some of the themes:
Racism – is this an issue of today? You bet your backside it is. Just take a look at the European Parliament Election results for any evidence.
Sexism – we still need feminism. Angelou teaches girls how to become strong women, despite the injustices thrown at them.
Identity – when is this not going to be a contemporary issue? We’ve all got one, and 14-16 year olds are just starting to develop their own. Why not encourage them with Angelou’s words of wisdom?
Change – seriously, what isn’t changing when you’re an adolescent? Angelou shares her experience of change, both mentally and physically, throughout I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Sexuality – now now now. We’ve moved on from when sexuality was a sin, and now we need to encourage open expression. We’re at a point where children are taught the basics of sex education in school, but none of the emotions that come with it. Get it together, Gove!
Religion – another biggie, isn’t it? Or maybe we shouldn’t… obviously too controversial, it’s not like we want our young people to have an opinion, is it?
Appearance – yeah, I’ve been there. In a world where so much emphasis is put on appearance, why not show our children that it’s possible to succeed without being gifted with the face of an angel?

And to be honest, these are just my favourites and probably don’t even cover half the themes that could be discussed in the text. Young people need to be challenged by themes that they can relate to and apply to our society today.

  • Reason number three: A compelling story – and it’s true.

How many autobiographies are there on the national curriculum? I don’t think there are many, but I’m pushing for creative nonfiction to be included alongside other literary forms. We need a wider range of literary forms on the curriculum rather than limiting children to novels and poetry. How about throwing in some flash fiction, short stories, autobiographies and experimental forms?
I’m sure we can foster a love of reading in children; we just need to find what it is that they’d like to read. Limiting the curriculum isn’t going to help us encourage children to read more, and I imagine for a lot of them, it’s going to turn reading into a chore.


Maybe I’m being a bit bold here, but doesn’t Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings seem like the ideal GCSE text?

Tuesday 27 May 2014

Gove: Put Down the Chainsaw and Listen.

All this talk about Michael Gove banning “Foreign Literature” from the GCSE syllabus has had me absolutely steaming, but after an hour of the Insanity Workout, I don’t have the energy to be angry and irrational. In fact, my initial views on the subject have changed.

Wait – what?

No, that doesn’t mean that I now think that Gove is right to remove texts from the GCSE syllabus. Allow me to explain.
My initial response was, “HEY, I love To Kill a Mockingbird! The syllabus should not have been changed!”
My current response is, “To Kill a Mockingbird was why I went on to take English Literature at A-Level, and subsequently, as a degree. However, the syllabus needs to change.

Gove cited that 90% of GCSE students study the extremely popular text, Of Mice and Men. Unfortunately, I must have fallen into the lonely 10% who did not study this text, but I remember being jealous of my sister because she read it and loved it. However, at the age of 15, I was not jealous enough to seek out the book and read it for myself. Rest assured though, with all this noise caused by Gove, the text is most certainly going on my reading list.

Now, I’ll admit that 90% of students studying the text doesn’t suggest that the syllabus is varied. Yet, could it possibly be that this text is actually the right level to challenge and stimulate British 14-16 year olds? Or is a text that Gove “really didn’t like” unlikely to have such an effect on our young people? 

Gove argues that the literature now offered will be more challenging for pupils, but I think he is mistaken in his definition of the word “challenge.” To Gove, the challenge seems to exist only on a comprehensive level: How difficult will it be for a child to read this text? How complex is the language? Yes, Gove is probably correct in assuming that pre-19th century literature will be a challenge. Why? Because before the 19th century, writers were paid by word, so throwing in complex sentences and excessive description earned more money, but does not maintain the interest of modern readers.

I’m sorry Mr. Gove, but the word “challenge” in terms of literature is incredibly multifaceted. Classics such as Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird are not all that challenging in terms of surface reading, that much is true. What’s challenging about these texts is the representation of cultural and social structures. Such texts are not meant to be complicated to read and understand; they were written to expose injustices and make a difference.

Literature movements have exposed trends and changes in society. This is not about reading; this is about politics. This is about human rights and equality. By limiting our students to texts that do not offer this face of the word “challenge”, we are hindering the social development of our children. If not through the arts, how are our children expected to analyse and understand different cultures and societies? We need to talk about negative issues like racism and sexism. We need to expose our young people to the horrors of the world, and of our past, in a safe environment.

As a female reader and writer, my biggest question is: Which female writer will take the place of Harper Lee? With a syllabus skewed towards pre-19th century literature, I’m fairly certain that the representation of female writers will be heavily lacking.

Gove needs to realise that literature is not the mere subject of reading what is on the page in front of you. Literature goes much deeper and further than that. It is about developing analytical and reasoning skills, about applying criticism, and most of all, about acknowledging cultural and historical similarities and differences.  Children can only develop these skills if they are stimulated and passionate, thus we need to cultivate a love of reading in our children so that they are confident in independently educating and challenging themselves.

Pre-19th century literature is not going to capture that passion for majority of our teenagers.

The thing that shocks me the most about Gove’s decision isn’t the fact that it appears to be obviously elitist and biased, but actually, it’s that in removing “foreign” literature from the syllabus, Gove is removing a very important part of world history and culture from our education system.

As a black female with SLD, I demand that world history is acknowledged. I demand that books that examine racism and slavery are included in educating our young people. I want that awkward silence in the classroom when students and teachers reach the word “nigger” in To Kill a Mockingbird. I demand that pupils examine the theme of sexism, and I want our children to understand why feminism was created and continues to exist. I demand that we recognise Lennie’s learning difficulty in Of Mice and Men, and the problems that causes of him.

Most of all, I demand that we teach texts from our former colonies. How dare Gove call these texts “foreign” literature. How dare he suggest that British students should only read British texts. When a country shatters another for its own personal gain, they are forever linked – I don’t care how long it’s been. The history of America, of our African and Indian colonies, is also the history of Britain, and our “conquests” are not to be ignored. Such cultures deserve to be acknowledged, just as the mistake of our past do.

So yes, I condemn Gove’s decision to axe “foreign” literature from the syllabus. At the same time, I call on him to change the syllabus further. Since Britain is not alone in the world, I urge the study of English Literature to be changed to World Literature, so that we examine and understand different cultures – particularly those of our past colonies. I would go one step forward to suggest that the British curriculum include texts translated from other languages – because we don’t only learn scientific theories proposed by British scientists, do we?

So go on Gove, I’m sorry to disturb you while you hack away at our GCSE syllabus, but I’d like to request that you put down the chainsaw and think about how to truly challenge and educate our children, rather than making life that little bit more difficult/miserable for them. 

Monday 26 May 2014

About Me

The real name's Charlotte Josephs, but I've never been quiet enough to be a Charlotte. Instead, most people call me Chaz. I'm an aspiring writer on the path to becoming a publishing professional.

I was born in Bradford, United Kingdom, in 1992. My father is a Jamaican immigrant and my mother was born and raised in a tiny town in the Yorkshire countryside – it’s quite a mix. I don’t remember a time in my life when I’ve not been telling stories. As a child, I used to make up bedtime stories for my sisters, and as I got older I started to write them down.

I've just come home from my year abroad in Lyon, France. In September, I will return to university to finish my degree in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Hull.

My first piece of writing to be published was a place holder in Ink Tears’ flash fiction competition.

Intern at Dzanc Books.
Editor at Control Literary Magazine.
Intern at a literary agency.