[etni] Not for the gifted

From: "sbshai" <sbshai@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 23:50:31 +0200
In response to a comment Barry made about the success of the HOTS program in 
higher level classes, I'd like to point out that there are a significant number 
of people teaching these classes who cannot be enthusiastic about the program 
in its present form.
First of all, HOTS is not innovative for us as we've always worked with the 
core thinking skills.  (Is there a way to effectively teach literature without 
motivating thinking?)
The only thing that's new is the demand to name the skill -- a futile exercise 
that is unlikely to achieve its purpose in either strong or weaker classes; in 
fact, it will probably further turn reluctant students off to literature (which 
is being abused, at least in strong classes, by the artificial "infusion" of 
HOTS).

Indeed, those of us who have experience teaching generations of students can 
say with a degree of confidence that stronger students will resent having the 
pace of an interesting literature discussion slowed down when they are forced 
to classify their comments within rigid parameters, while weaker pupils who are 
altogether struggling in L2  will have more reason to intensely dislike 
learning English. 

We can agree with Barry's assessment of the MOE's motives in introducing this 
program (i.e., to get all schools involved in teaching literature), but those 
of us who have been doing so all along should be willing to express our valid 
concerns about the weak points in the program.

Since the program designers want the stated goals of HOTS to succeed, there 
should be a recognition that L2 is not the ideal place to begin implementing 
the program; rather, only after it has been fully developed in other 
disciplines can it possibly work in a foreign language class -- and even then, 
literature is the last subject that should be targeted.  (This is equally true 
for strong and weak classes.)

Finally, those of us who love teaching literature cannot embrace HOTS because 
it is patently clear that the literature takes a back seat to the awkward 
name-your-thinking-process requirement.  This is supposedly due to  the belief 
that what's important is how to apply what's learned to other situations, which 
is a commendable goal and one that most teachers indeed use when teaching 
literature.  However, the way we are told to achieve this aim is simply tedious.

In view of all that's been said (for and against) on the ETNI list, I'd like to 
make a final call to concerned teachers to attend the HOTS roundtable 
discussion at the closing of the ETAI conference this Tuesday.

Shavuah tov,
Batya

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[etni] Not for the gifted

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