CatholicismClassical EducationDwight LongeneckerFeaturedGreat BooksLiteratureSenior Contributors

Be Still and Read ~ The Imaginative Conservative

The future will belong to the literate, not the un-literate, and the decline of reading will invariably be corrected by those at the forefront of the educational revolution sweeping America—and that is the rise of classical education.

Some years ago I was discussing with a Benedictine abbot the trends he was experiencing among postulants and novices at the abbey. “Two of the most startling things” he observed “is their inability to sit still, and the their inability to curl up with a good book.”

The decline of reading has also been noticed among college educators. This article in The Atlantic reports that college professors are alarmed by the unwillingness and inability of their students to read a book.

Nicholas Dames teaches Literature and Humanities at Columbia University. Lit Hum often requires students to read a book, sometimes a very long and dense one, in just a week or two, but when a student complained about the reading requirement he learned the truth:

The student told Dames that, at her public high school, she had never been required to read an entire book. She had been assigned excerpts, poetry, and news articles, but not a single book cover to cover.

It would seem that a new generation of students is in danger of not being illiterate, but un-literate. In other words, they can read, but they don’t read. Being un-literate means they are unable to develop a decent vocabulary, develop crucial creative and critical thinking skills, broaden the mind, and experience wider cultural and historical knowledge. In other words, they will be uneducated.

One of the primary reasons for the decline in book reading among college students is the explosion of digital media. Social media platforms, streaming services, and video content compete for students’ attention. Social media platforms offer instant gratification. Short, easily consumable content is more entertaining than a lengthy novel or textbook.

Students do consume “literature” but in formats that require less effort than traditional reading. Audiobooks allow the listener to tune in while driving, exercising or doing chores making it easy way out for those struggling to curl up with a good book.

They also have more reading than ever before. In the midst of a busy academic schedule, demanding extra curricular activities and a frenetic and possibly stressed social life, students are expected to keep up not only with classic literature, but also textbooks, research papers, lecture notes and online textual resources. It is easy to brand the resulting “reading fatigue” as another snowflake phenomenon, but it is arguable that there really is an increased quantity of reading demanded—much of it badly written, wordy, dry and obtuse. No wonder students lack the energy and enthusiasm to read for pleasure.

All of these factors have contributed to shortened attention spans. Swamped by information overload and overstimulated by instant video and audio content, we don’t know where to look next. Busy brains and over- stimulated students find it difficult to slow down, sit still, and curl up with a good book that requires time and deep concentration.

The shift in emphasis in education from liberal arts to S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) has also contributed to the decline of reading. A utilitarian approach wonders what use Crime and Punishment or Pride and Prejudice are when computers are calling, bridges need to be built, and drains need to be designed.

Finally, video games, movies, and streaming TV offer stories to be consumed in a more immersive and exciting format. Why read Dracula or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde when you can fight vampires or kill Nazi zombies with your playstation games?

The future will belong to the literate, not the un-literate, and the decline of reading will invariably be corrected by those at the forefront of the educational revolution sweeping America—and that is the rise of classical education. Jeremy Wayne Tate, founder of the Classic Learning Test (an alternative to the secular SAT) keeps track of the growing number or classical schools. In the last ten years there has been a 50% growth of classical charter schools and 30% growth of private classical academies.

Focussing on a “great books” curriculum, students at classical schools cannot emerge un-literate. Most of the schools have restrictions on video and audio distractions and cultivate good reading comprehension as well as teaching rhetoric for articulate verbal and written communications. The contrast is summed up in an aphorism popular amongst classical educators: “Secular education teaches students what to think and how to do. Classical education teaches students how to think and what to do.”

It is no coincidence that the Benedictine abbot observed among his novices both the inability to curl up with a good book and the inability to sit still, which made contemplation difficult. In a Catholic classical school, students learn not only read and love great books, but they also learn the discipline of worship, meditation, and contemplation. In my own parish we have added grades 9-12 and shifted to a classical curriculum, and it is encouraging to find the Upper School students not only enjoying the challenge of reading the great books, but also requesting more time for Eucharistic Adoration.

In this hectic, harried, and harrowing modern world, T.S. Eliot’s words echo as a prayer, “Teach us to care and not to care, teach us to sit still.”

The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.

The featured image is “Reading by the Sea” (1910), by Vittorio Matteo Corcos, and and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Source link

What's your reaction?

Related Posts

Load More Posts Loading...No More Posts.