[English] RE: new English course

[Stephen Loosley]

Hi all,

Thanks for the heads-up Prue, and the excellent follow-up Terry.

Appears to me that Mark Lomax sees the world virtually entirely
through the rather old-and-tired 'left and right wing' perspectives

Of course, to him, those edgy discussions on the current war are
therefore reduced, quite simply, to "pacifist or patriot" viewpoints.

Ahh, were life that simple!  Although he fairly convincingly demos
that senior English booklists tend to respond the other way to who
ever is in power, one might ask, so what? Is it not good that pupils
are expected to be 'critical thinkers' re the politics of the day? And
might not Eng Facs therefore be praised for curriculum relevance?
 
As for left / right-wing ideologies (beware the dreaded communist)
one might assert, get over it and move on, like the rest of the world.

Here are quotes from his article Terry kindly forwarded which seem
encapsulate his main concerns ... 

(quote)  "Coincidently, the texts added to the curriculum are never
remotely supportive of Coalition Government policy ...

What is suggested by this trend is that, currently, there appears to
be nothing, or no-one, in the education bureaucracy to establish or
ensure a degree of pluralism ..

There is a need for far greater pluralism. Perhaps the current list of
30 texts could be reduced to 20, with ten selected by the Left and ten
selected by the non-Left, with the stipulation that school English depts
must choose from both sides of the list .." (end quote)

So, a list of left-wing and right-wing texts, and we select ten from each.

Haha, and who would be brave enough to formulate such a list?  One
imagines how pleased respective writers would be to be categorized
thusly. And why stop there? Maybe we should have more categories?
For example, Christian / non-Christian lists and blue/brown eyed lists?

Seems to me the old left/right wing perspective is really only relevant
these days for historical studies. Get over it, the right won. Move onto
more modern day concerns, if one really wants the respect of students.

Cheers,
Stephen

At 12:09 PM 18/01/2007, Terry writes:

> I've attached a copy of the  full version of the Mark Lopez article Prue
> referred to. A cut and paste version of it appeared in The Oz. On the one
> hand a cause of much merriment - Bruce Dawe was amused -  on the other a
> worry since Lopez was one of the academics invited to the History summit by
> Julie Bishop.
>
> Terry Hayes  
>
>
> On 18/1/07 11:06 AM, "gillpm at mlc.vic.edu.au" <gillpm at mlc.vic.edu.au> wrote:
>
>> Oh dear, I should have written hear hear! I just reread my own message. Did
>> you read the article in the Australian by Mark Lopez on Tues about left wing
>> bias in Victorian english curriculum. It's an interesting one to do with
>> students. My goodness, it's raining. Prue


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