Basic Principles in English Curriculum-Making

Author(s): Robert C. Pooley

Source: The English Journal, Vol. 30, No. 9 (Nov., 1941), pp. 709-717
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
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 ENGLISH CURRICULUM-MAKING 709

novels for only a decade. I find in him a devout recognitionof the

highest responsibilitiesof the novelist in our time and an extraor-
dinary determination to fit himself to discharge those responsi-
bilities to the utmost. I believe that he will conquerhis technical
difficulties;that, in the end, perhapsattemptingless he will come to
achieve more; and that another decade will leave no doubt in any-
body's mind that he is a novelist of high distinction.
Meanwhileit is clear,I suppose,that-if a choicemust be made-
I have no hesitationin valuingsignificanceof substanceand integrity
of purposeabove mere technicalproficiency.

BASIC PRINCIPLES IN ENGLISH

CURRICULUM-MAKING
ROBERTC. POOLEY'

The making of a curriculumis the art of translating goals into

effective procedures. Proceduresderive their authority and validity
from the goals which they are designed to achieve. It is obvious,
therefore,that the first task in consideringthe curriculumin English
is to determinethe goals of English instruction.
A peculiargravity attaches to the determinationof goals in Eng-
lish. Unlike the teachers of most of the other areas of instruction,
the teacher of English is not only setting up goals for teaching Eng-
lish but also laying the foundation for a large part of the child's
education. Nearly all learningrests upon oralor written communica-
tion. Therefore,the arts and skills of listeningand reading,speaking
and writing, are more than goals of instructionin English; they are
indispensableto the transmissionof the cultureof our society to our
children. Erroror insufficiencyat any point in the art of communica-
tion not only affects the child's success in "English"but even more
definitely handicapsor threatens his successfuladjustment to soci-
ety. What is commonly called "English"in the schools not only is
the most important single division of instructionbut is, indeed, the
very instrument by which our society maintains and advances its
culture. The growingawarenessof this fundamentalplace of English
I Dr. Pooley is professor of English at the University of Wisconsin and president of

the National Council of Teachers of English.

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71o
THE ENGLISH JOURNAL

in educationis evidencedin the dissatisfactionexpressedon all sides

concerningthe results of our instructionand in united effortsto ar-
rive at conclusionswhich may be translated into a more successful
curriculum.
COMMUNICATION

Bearing in mind, then, the primacy of communicationas an in-

strumentof teachingand learning,we do well to considerin a simple
way what communicationmeans. Communicationoccurs when a
meaningfulsignal passes from a sender, who originatesit, to a re-
ceiver, who understandsit. In ordinarycommunicationthe sender
transmits his message by signs, by speech, or by writing. To ac-
complishhis end of communication,the sendermust have, of neces-
sity, somethingto communicateand a mediumof transmission. For
all but the simplest and most immediate of communications,man
has created languagefor his medium. The sender becomes increas-
ingly effective as he develops, through experience, new material
to communicateand advances in his skill in the use of the medium
language. For practical purposes it may be inserted here that in-
struction in English in the schools of our country has laid great
stress on improvementin the use of the medium, the English lan-
guage, to the neglect of concomitant developmentof what to com-
municate. Until the need to communicateis developed,refinements
in the use of the medium are sterile. This factor of the material of
communicationmust be uppermost in our minds as we build new
curriculumsin English.
No matter how skilled the sender,communicationdoes not occur
until there is also a receiverfor whom the communicationhas mean-
ing. Primarily, therefore, the receiver must be responsive to the
means of communication;he must be able to interpret the sign or
understandthe speechor the writing. The foundationfor this under-
standingis laid in the home. The fact that there are wide variations
of experiencewith language in the homes of America constitutes
one of our gravest problems. To express the problem simply, chil-
dren enter school presumablyspeakingEnglish, but actually with a
range of ability to understandcommunicationas wide as that from
infancy to full maturity. Regardlessof the particularlevel of under-
standing of the child, however, the school must carry on, providing

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 ENGLISH CURRICULUM-MAKING 711

experienceswhich enlarge his understandingto the fullest extent

possiblewithin the limits set by his native endowment. Here again,
however, our schools have been at fault in stressing the medium,
language, at the expense of two other equally important factors:
interpretationand judgment. For our purposeshere interpretation
may be definedas the power to relate what is communicatedto past
experienceand to present or future needs. It is one thing to hear
what a personsays or to readwordsin print; it is quite anotherthing
to assimilatewhat is heardand read. Yet communicationis not fully
complete until the message of the sender has been interpretedby
the receiverin the light of his experiencewith associated and rele-
vant concepts and in relation to his needs.
Judgment, the second of the factors essential to understanding,
may be definedas the ability to evaluate what is communicatedin
relation to the validity of the source, the intent of the sender, and
the ultimate usefulness of what is communicated. At this time of
conflict of nations, when the very assumptions upon which our
democracyis based are challengedand threatened,I do not need to
labor the point that Americansmust be trained to an understanding
of what is communicated-an understandingwhichincludesinterpre-
tation and judgment as they are here defined. Yet, to take a simple
contrastingexample,teachersof Englishhave almost always stressed
the medium rather than interpretationin the criticism of student
composition. In the typical English class hours are spent on drill
and instructionin the formsof languageto minutes spent in teaching
how to interpretand evaluate what is communicated.And in what
is called "remedialreading,"speed and facility are more often the
aims than a criticalcomprehensionof what is read. Ourattention to
new curriculumsin English must not neglect these essential factors
of interpretationand judgment.
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
From this brief and elementary analysis of communication,it is
appropriatenow to turn to an applicationof the foregoingprinciples
to our task of teachingthe arts of listeningand speaking,writingand
reading. As a beginning, consider the medium of communication
which we employ, the English language. Our language is not a

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712 THE ENGLISH JOURNAL

static medium. Wordschange,grammaticalforms change,there are

styles in syntax which vary from decade to decade, and the mean-
ings attached to particularwords shift almost from day to day, so
that one generationis often at a loss to communicatefully to the
next. The teaching of the English languagemust never lose sight of
the fluid nature of language. There are no laws of language other
than that "the only changeableelement is change";rules of gram-
mar and usage were never more than imperfectand sometimes in-
valid generalizationsof the practice at a particularmoment in time;
dictionariesdo not fix the meanings of words but only report his-
torical or currentmeanings. Since the publication of the New Inter-
national Dictionary, Third Edition, in 1938, hundreds of words have
acquirednew meanings,lost formermeanings, or have passed from
currencyinto obsolescence. The implicationsfor the curriculumof
this view of languagemay be stated simply, but they are not nearly
so easily assimilated and applied. These are perhaps axiomatic:
languagechanges,thereforegrammarchanges. The rulesfor current
Englishare to be derivedonly from the study of currentEnglish,and
when derivedthey must be regardedwith suspicionas only partially
true. "Correct English" as a language different from "incorrect
English"is a myth. There never was and is not now any one kind of
English which can be called "correct." Change in language is not
to be deploredas corruptionof the language but rather to be ac-
cepted, at worst, with the resignationaccordedour advancingyears.
At best, changein languageis seen to be the processwhich simplifies
and rendersmore efficientour means of communication.There are,
of course, levels of language use; and modern language instruction
trainspupils to be sensitive to shadesof appropriatenessin language.
Just as the person with the best social manners is the one who is
sensitive to the customsof his associatesand respondsto them, so in
languagethe most "correct"personis the one trainedto be sensitive
to the uses of English here, today, in all situations. The personwho
cleaves to an old word or form because it used to be correct,or be-
cause he feels it is more elegant, is not improving communication
but is definitelyhinderingit. To summarize,then, communication,
not English, is the goal of our instruction. Sentimentalor dogmatic
resistanceto changein language,or even the failure to remainsensi-

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 ENGLISH CURRICULUM-MAKING 713

tive to currentusage, is to defeat, rather than forward,the goal of

completecommunication.
SPEECH
A largepart of moderncommunicationoccursbetweenspeakerand
listener. Only a small part of this communicationmay be described
as complete. Even among the members of one family or between
intimate friends there are constantly annoying or ludicrous mis-
understandings.These misunderstandings derive from imperfec-
tions in the senderor fromimperfectionsin the receiver. The speaker
may be perfectly clearin what he wants to communicatebut so mis-
use language as to convey his message falsely or only in part. The
listener may "hear" correctly in the simple sense but fail to relate,
identify, or assimilate the message, partly or totally. A complete
analysis of the causes of imperfect speech communicationis not
necessaryhere, but the implicationsfor the curriculumin speechand
oral English are manifest. As in other phases of language instruc-
tion, the teaching of speech has tended to emphasizethe techniques
of oral communicationat the expenseof the substance. Voice place-
ment, pitch, and volume; movements of the body; posture;pronun-
ciation and enunciation fill our curriculumsand textbooks. These
are necessary elements and must not be neglected. But speech
courses of the future must give increasingemphasis to the reasons
why speakersfail to communicatefully and why listeners do not un-
derstand completely. Furthermore,speakersmust be trained to be
more critical of the validity of what they communicate,and listeners
must be trainedto interpretmorefully what they hear and to evalu-
ate critically the authority of the speaker, his reason for speaking,
and the worth of what he has said.
COMPOSITION
In speaking of compositionas communication,it is important to
use the word "communication"in its broadest sense. In certain
courses of study today a distinction is made between "communica-
tion," by which is really meant description and exposition, and
"creative writing," by which is meant something else, not very
clearly defined. I use the word "communication"to cover all ex-
pression,whetherstrictly utilitarianor highly artistic. A textbook in

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714 THE ENGLISH JOURNAL

arithmetic is one kind of written communication;the "Ode on In-

timations of Immortality" is another kind of communication.If
these two examplesmay be allowedto representthe oppositeends of
a continuous scale, student composition lies somewherebetween.
All communicationis in some part utilitarian and in some part
artistic. I stress that point to warn against the artificialdistinction
sometimesgiven to what is improperlycalled "creativewriting."
The goal of composition, then, is communication.The English
languageis the mediumwe use, and no one can deny the importance
of developingthis mediumto the highest point of efficiencypossible.
But note that the developmentof the mediumis merelya contribut-
ing factor toward better, more complete, communication.As in all
parts of instruction in English, our tendency to overemphasizethe
medium must give way to continuous concernfor the product, the
communication.With a proper balance of attention to training in
language skill and in developing and enriching the experience of
children(for communicationspringsfrom a rich life) we can achieve
the goals of composition. These are generally conceded to be: (i)
the ability to express one's self with clarity and precision; (2) the
ability to think and write in a logical orderly manner; and (3) the
ability to create imaginativelyfrom the resourcesof experience.
Instruction in composition must not overlook its obligation to
develop to the highest degree the individual personality of each
child. Expressionderivesfrompersonalresponsesto experience. We
must provide constant opportunities for children to be free, un-
hamperedindividuals,keenly observant of the world in which they
live, franklycuriousabout all types of experience,and uninhibitedby
school routine from expressing their reactions to experiencein the
form and mannerwhich they find most effective. An essential part
of the development of the individual is the formation and use of
personallyderived standardsof performance.Childrenmust be led
to find satisfaction in a job well done accordingto their own stand-
ards;the teacher'spart is not so much to set the standardsas to help
the child discoverthem. There are few satisfactionsin life more re-
warding than that of having said or written somethingwell. Satis-
faction with one's own achievementin words is the best motivation
for composition.

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 ENGLISH CURRICULUM-MAKING 715
READING
The importanceof reading as a means of transmittingour social
heritage cannot be overstated. Teachers and administrators of
Americanschools are very conscious at the moment of the impor-
tance of readingand of our deficienciesin teachinghow to read. The
subject is too large to develop here except in the light of basic aims
for the curriculum.The reader is a receiver of communication;he
must grow in his commandof the medium, the Englishlanguage;he
must grow in insight, or interpretation;and he must grow in the
powerto evaluate or pass judgmentupon what he reads. To provide
these types of growth, it is apparentthat instructionin readingmust
be continuous through the elementary and high school. The idea
that reading instruction ends with the elementary school must be
summarily dismissed. Teachers of English in high schools have a
definite responsibilityto teach reading,but their task ought not to
be the teaching of the elementary techniques. For the purpose of
our discussionhere I shall overlook the group of pupils who move
into the high school lacking the elementaryskills, in orderto stress
the responsibility of the high school. Our high-school curriculum
must provide, first, for progressiveinstruction in vocabulary-not
only a graded course in new words but an expanding sensitivity to
the shades of meaning and specific uses of familiarwords. Because
a pupil can speak and spell a certain word is no index of his com-
mand of the worduntil he can demonstrateprecisionand discrimina-
tion in its use. Second, the high school must give continuous in-
struction in the analysis of meaning. Communicationfrom writer
to readeris seldom complete, but for many of our high-schoolpupils
it approachesthe zero point. Passing the eyes over lines of printed
words is not reading. Reading is, to paraphraseMiss Rosenblatt, a
kind of chemicalreaction between the readerand the printed page,
a reactionwhich leaves the readersomethingdifferentfromwhat he
was when he began to read. And the condition of this reaction is a
grasp of what the writer meant. More than ever before we must
teach pupils to search for meaning-to persevere until meaning is
gained.
But even more than teaching word meaning, sentence meaning,
and paragraphmeaning, we must develop the power to evaluate

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716 THE ENGLISH JOURNAL

what is read. There was a time when the typical Americanprided

himself on being skeptical about what he heard or read. He was
"from Missouri";you had to "show him." What has hashappened to
that Yankee skepticism is interesting to speculate upon. But we
know from various kinds of evidence that many Americans today
accept unquestioninglywhateverthey happento read or hear. Such
passive, uncritical acquiescence is dangerous to a democracy. Of
far greater importancethan merely teaching English is our obliga-
tion to awakencriticalattitudes and the habit of reservingjudgment
on new ideas until they can be evaluated in the light of past ex-
perience.
LITERATURE
That form of communicationwhich we call "literature"rangesin
scope from the utilitarian transmissionof ideas to the arousingof
emotionaland aestheticresponses. Usually both elementsarepresent
in varying degrees. The factor which we must keep constantly in
mind is that literatureis the expressionof experiencewith life in all
its aspects. The author writes to communicatehis experience,both
intellectual and emotional. The readerreads to share, so far as he is
able, the experienceof the writer. But many obstacles stand in the
way of complete communicationbetween writer and reader. The
reader'svocabularymay be too limited; if so, communicationis re-
stricted or absent. The readermay lack sufficientmental maturity
to grasp the author's meaning, or he may be so influencedby fixed
ideas and prejudicesas to be unable to follow the author. Or the
author may deal with experiencesso remote from the life of the
reader that the reader can find no common ground of association.
When one or more of these obstacles intervene between writer and
reader,communicationbecomes only partial or entirely absent.
A high-school curriculumin literature which is based entirely
upon adult standardsand ideals presentsto the young readerall the
obstacles mentioned above. Where communication fails, under-
standing, appreciation,and enjoyment are also absent. The goals
which we set up for a programof experienceswith literaturemust be
designedto meet the problemfrom both ends; to select such litera-
ture for study as shall be reasonablyfree from the chief obstacles to
communicationand to develop young readersin vocabulary,ideas,

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 ENGLISH CURRICULUM-MAKING
717
and experiencewith life so that they become more and more pro-
ficient in respondingto writers. The acceptanceof this principlein
practice will run counter to long-acceptedtraditions and practices.
Yet if we are honestly desirousof bringinggenuine experiencewith
literature to young people, we must be willing, first, to scrap from
the curriculumin literature those selections which for the majority
of students in a given class cannot truly communicate;second, to
admit to the curriculumnew selectionsof literaturewhich meet the
conditions of communication;and, third, shift the emphasis of our
teaching from the impartingof traditionalviews and standards,re-
gardlessof the abilities of the pupils, to a kind of teaching of litera-
ture which first insuresthoroughcommunicationby teachinghow to
understand, interpret, and judge what is read; and, second, lays
the foundation for increasing awareness of literature as the best
means to the fullest understandingof life and the world in which we
live. This kind of teaching will lead inevitably to what we mean by
appreciation;and, with understandingand appreciation,enjoyment
is assured.
Because of the terminologyused in this discussion,there may be
a feeling that the aesthetic and emotional aspects of literaturehave
been neglected or wilfully discarded. That is far from my intention.
But I insist that responseto emotion and responseto beauty cannot
occur without a basis of understanding;that without communica-
tion they cannot occur. When communicationis complete, they do
occur, without benefit of special instruction. For years we have
been telling childrenthat a certainpoem is beautiful, a certain essay
is inspiring, a certain story is deeply moving. But our insistence
does not create the experienceof beauty, inspiration,or feeling for
them. Onlywhen the poem, essay, or story conveysa meaningto the
child-a meaning which re-createswithin the child the experience
which the author intended-do the aesthetic responsesfollow. Then
the child sees beauty, feels inspired,or is deeply moved, not because
we told him to be, but becausethe experiencewhich we providedfor
him made the responsealmost inevitable. The art of making a cur-
riculumin the study of literatureis the art of findingmaterialswhich
truly communicateto the child. With that assured, the other aims
of literaturefall in line naturally.

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