Thank you Barry! In general, I try to let the articles speak for themselves. Nevertheless, I do think that sometimes, it might be a good idea to share some of my own thoughts — especially if it’s about a topic (e.g., education, reading) that I might know a little bit about.
I found this article frustrating too, even though I did complain throughout my kids’ high school years that they didn’t seem to be assigned as many books as I recall being assigned in high school.
One thing that doesn’t seem to have occurred to Rose Horowitz is that we didn’t all do all the reading back then, either - we just didn’t admit it, whereas now it sounds like students are more vocal about it.
Final thing: have you seen this post, from a high school teacher whose viewpoint was significantly misrepresented by Horowitz?
Thank you for sharing, Caroline! I entirely agree with you that it's not a new thing that most students (including me!) don't always do the reading. There has always been "the game," where students pretend to read and teachers pretend students have read. Now it might be that there's more honesty coming from young people!
Also, thank you for sharing the piece by the high school teacher quoted in the article. I might include it next in next week's issue.
After mulling it over a bit, the thing that bothered me about this article is that it provides so little insight into the issues it raises. Not only is the argumentation poor and the evidence scant, it doesn't say anything new or interesting about the phenomenon. And I'm one of those professors whose experience almost completely aligns with what the author is describing (but I teach philosophy, which even fewer students want to read!). It just confirms what I already think -- the kids don't want to read or can't, and it's because of cell phones/the internet/social media, teaching to the test, changes in high school ed, the pandemic, and so on. But, it doesn't make a case for the value of reading (which I think is probably more about developing the capacity for attention and facility with language and meaning) or tell us anything interesting about any of those already familiar beliefs...
Thank you, Erinn, for sharing your thoughts. I agree with you: There’s nothing new here. The author could have dived more deeply into the claim that high school teachers are assigning fewer books because of Common Core’s emphasis on nonfiction. There’s certainly anecdotal data to support that claim (not sure about other data). But instead of focusing on something new and really explaining it, the author takes a "greatest hits" approach.
I really like your point about the value of reading — about really exploring it anew. What is it about book reading that has value for all of us, value that is distinct from other means of sensemaking? And then: How do we promote it (instead of complaining that it isn’t happening)?
Yeah…if nothing else this piece struck me as lazy. Raising alarms and pinging from one unsubstantiated claim to the next. The bolded omg kids today won’t read a sonnet banner was just silly. I’m an English teacher here in the Bay. Some kids read every word I assign others don’t. But sometimes that’s on me. What do they want to read? Probably not the entire Iliad.
Hi Lisa. No disrespect intended toward the writer, but for me, it felt like a college assignment. She thought that by interviewing 33 college professors (as well as other researchers), she would be able to say something. I like how you describe the piece as “pinging from one unsubstantiated claim to the next.” That’s exactly it.
I agree with Erin! There is something about knowing that Mark hates something that makes me curious!
About the article itself...my biggest reason for skepticism is that of the ten texts she mentions (including Percy Jackson, which she disparages) all are written by white authors, and all of the texts she holds up as important and valuable were written more than one hundred years ago. I wonder if students are reading more than she thinks, just not the books she is asking about. And, I find her less convincing because of the examples she chooses to site.
Hi Hannah! You raise a good point about what’s worthy of reading. There are still folks out there (the author, being one) who think that The Iliad and other classics should still be the standard. But I think they mostly come from the ultra-elite-prep-school realm. Most everyone else thinks there are plenty of worthy books that can teach us about the human condition.
Hi P. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Actually I like The Atlantic for the most part (at least the print version; the online, not so much). It was just this article that made me mad.
Glad you brought this up! I felt the article, even the summary when I saw it on Instagram, screamed "kids these days! get off my lawn!" It is being shared as if it were a study. 33 hand-picked opinions does not a study make. I even had a relative who is a high school English teacher share it in agreement, which surprised me. MY anecdotal evidence as a non-teacher non-parent is that all my nieces and nephews constantly are reading books. So, maybe I should write an article about that! Haha. Perhaps the next think piece can be about the infinitesimally short attention spans and lack of literacy that the typical adult has...
I’d read your study about your nieces and nephews’ reading habits, Kati! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. And yes, I agree with you: If we’re going to complain about how young people aren’t reading, let’s also ask how much we adults are reading.
I cannot draw a conclusion, from reading this article, about the reading ability (or, more precisely, habits) of students at elite colleges. I can infer that graduating from Yale does not insure a high level of writing ability.
I'm afraid I don't have enough time to comment on the myriad reasons I absolutely disagree with the author's ultimate claim (perhaps if we could substitute Winnie the Pooh for the Illiad, I might agree😉).
I'm all in for Winnie the Pooh, Jane! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The more I think about this article, the more I'm frustrated that The Atlantic — which I usually respect — published it in the first place.
Why is it that the first whole article I read in awhile is simply because I HAD to find out why you hated it?
I also hated it. Like, you, I also think maybe it was because I was feeling defensive. When I was a History teacher, NOT EVEN AN ENGLISH TEACHER, I taught 2 whole books each year. Now that I'm teaching ELA also, I'm teaching 4. Most of my students will not to go private "selective" schools and they all know how to read.
So often we benefit from your skills as a reader, researcher, and discerner in selecting interesting articles.
This feels like a rare treat to get your written thoughts on why you don’t like an article.
More of this please!
Thank you Barry! In general, I try to let the articles speak for themselves. Nevertheless, I do think that sometimes, it might be a good idea to share some of my own thoughts — especially if it’s about a topic (e.g., education, reading) that I might know a little bit about.
I found this article frustrating too, even though I did complain throughout my kids’ high school years that they didn’t seem to be assigned as many books as I recall being assigned in high school.
One thing that doesn’t seem to have occurred to Rose Horowitz is that we didn’t all do all the reading back then, either - we just didn’t admit it, whereas now it sounds like students are more vocal about it.
Final thing: have you seen this post, from a high school teacher whose viewpoint was significantly misrepresented by Horowitz?
https://open.substack.com/pub/cmsthomas/p/the-atlantic-did-me-dirty?r=2juqs
Thank you for sharing, Caroline! I entirely agree with you that it's not a new thing that most students (including me!) don't always do the reading. There has always been "the game," where students pretend to read and teachers pretend students have read. Now it might be that there's more honesty coming from young people!
Also, thank you for sharing the piece by the high school teacher quoted in the article. I might include it next in next week's issue.
After mulling it over a bit, the thing that bothered me about this article is that it provides so little insight into the issues it raises. Not only is the argumentation poor and the evidence scant, it doesn't say anything new or interesting about the phenomenon. And I'm one of those professors whose experience almost completely aligns with what the author is describing (but I teach philosophy, which even fewer students want to read!). It just confirms what I already think -- the kids don't want to read or can't, and it's because of cell phones/the internet/social media, teaching to the test, changes in high school ed, the pandemic, and so on. But, it doesn't make a case for the value of reading (which I think is probably more about developing the capacity for attention and facility with language and meaning) or tell us anything interesting about any of those already familiar beliefs...
Thank you, Erinn, for sharing your thoughts. I agree with you: There’s nothing new here. The author could have dived more deeply into the claim that high school teachers are assigning fewer books because of Common Core’s emphasis on nonfiction. There’s certainly anecdotal data to support that claim (not sure about other data). But instead of focusing on something new and really explaining it, the author takes a "greatest hits" approach.
I really like your point about the value of reading — about really exploring it anew. What is it about book reading that has value for all of us, value that is distinct from other means of sensemaking? And then: How do we promote it (instead of complaining that it isn’t happening)?
Yeah…if nothing else this piece struck me as lazy. Raising alarms and pinging from one unsubstantiated claim to the next. The bolded omg kids today won’t read a sonnet banner was just silly. I’m an English teacher here in the Bay. Some kids read every word I assign others don’t. But sometimes that’s on me. What do they want to read? Probably not the entire Iliad.
Hi Lisa. No disrespect intended toward the writer, but for me, it felt like a college assignment. She thought that by interviewing 33 college professors (as well as other researchers), she would be able to say something. I like how you describe the piece as “pinging from one unsubstantiated claim to the next.” That’s exactly it.
I agree with Erin! There is something about knowing that Mark hates something that makes me curious!
About the article itself...my biggest reason for skepticism is that of the ten texts she mentions (including Percy Jackson, which she disparages) all are written by white authors, and all of the texts she holds up as important and valuable were written more than one hundred years ago. I wonder if students are reading more than she thinks, just not the books she is asking about. And, I find her less convincing because of the examples she chooses to site.
Hi Hannah! You raise a good point about what’s worthy of reading. There are still folks out there (the author, being one) who think that The Iliad and other classics should still be the standard. But I think they mostly come from the ultra-elite-prep-school realm. Most everyone else thinks there are plenty of worthy books that can teach us about the human condition.
It's become such a horrible rag, I honestly don't know why you even bothered.
Hi P. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Actually I like The Atlantic for the most part (at least the print version; the online, not so much). It was just this article that made me mad.
Glad you brought this up! I felt the article, even the summary when I saw it on Instagram, screamed "kids these days! get off my lawn!" It is being shared as if it were a study. 33 hand-picked opinions does not a study make. I even had a relative who is a high school English teacher share it in agreement, which surprised me. MY anecdotal evidence as a non-teacher non-parent is that all my nieces and nephews constantly are reading books. So, maybe I should write an article about that! Haha. Perhaps the next think piece can be about the infinitesimally short attention spans and lack of literacy that the typical adult has...
I’d read your study about your nieces and nephews’ reading habits, Kati! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. And yes, I agree with you: If we’re going to complain about how young people aren’t reading, let’s also ask how much we adults are reading.
I cannot draw a conclusion, from reading this article, about the reading ability (or, more precisely, habits) of students at elite colleges. I can infer that graduating from Yale does not insure a high level of writing ability.
I'm afraid I don't have enough time to comment on the myriad reasons I absolutely disagree with the author's ultimate claim (perhaps if we could substitute Winnie the Pooh for the Illiad, I might agree😉).
I'm all in for Winnie the Pooh, Jane! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The more I think about this article, the more I'm frustrated that The Atlantic — which I usually respect — published it in the first place.
Here’s a masterful roast of Horowitch’s Atlantic essay from Rochester University’s Three Percent, Mark. It’s a hoot.
https://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/2024/10/07/rose-horowitch-and-the-obsession-with-belief-over-empiricism/#:~:text=The%20Atlantic%20has%20been%20referred,Affairs%20went%20easy%20on%20them.
Going to take a look at this piece, Knitwish — thank you!
Why is it that the first whole article I read in awhile is simply because I HAD to find out why you hated it?
I also hated it. Like, you, I also think maybe it was because I was feeling defensive. When I was a History teacher, NOT EVEN AN ENGLISH TEACHER, I taught 2 whole books each year. Now that I'm teaching ELA also, I'm teaching 4. Most of my students will not to go private "selective" schools and they all know how to read.
It is important to teach young people how to read! Thank you, Erin, for doing so — as you have been doing for years. Much appreciation.
I listened to this while driving and couldn’t tell why it bothered me. Thanks for putting my distracted driving thought in order!
Thank you for reading and sharing, Tess. And stay safe out there driving!