Unbelievable but typical

Someone showed me a reading list for their daughter's sophomore year from a home school association. The person said the teacher was a "classical education" teacher and wanted her students to be able to pick up any piece of literature and be able to read it  in her students' futures.  The teacher said it was the best approach for college preparation.

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I had to show my disbelief that such a teacher still existed, but after recovering from that, I had to comment on about the 18 novels on the list.  Oh, yes - 18... in a year.  Complete with a major written composition (literary criticism) after each novel.  Well, here's the deal.  A classical education prepares a student for a classical world, which the year 2014 doesn't belong to nor did any year after the invention of the computer and its connection to the internet.

College preparedness these days doesn't necessarily include knowing how to critique a fictional story, ancient or contemporary or anywhere in between.  The University of Phoenix' online college, which probably represents most of the online world of private universities, explicitly states that their curriculum is built around asking businesses what they want out of a graduate.  Being able to pick up any piece of literature and read it was not a priority on that list.  In fact, writing a literary criticism expertly wasn't either.  Presenting graphs and charts and meaningful talking points in a meeting, however, was.

I exaggerated a little to say that I was in disbelief that such a teacher still existed.  I hear about them too often.  I rather think that teacher is a typical English teacher.  I also think the University of Phoenix is on the right track for preparing students for the future.  The reality is about to be that reading and writing are going to bite the dust. If a graduate picks any field in science, the field will be about the iconic use of the alphabet, not reading.  If technology is chosen, it will be all about working on monitors or in 3D as the medical field exemplifies with MRI and laparoscopic (robotic) surgeries. Choosing engineering will be all about numbers, charts and graphs, of course.  And, math? Well, there are letters, but not for reading - for showing variation.  And the letters are not always from the English alphabet.

Wow. 18 novels... 18 compositions. Not even the discipline of doing that will prepare you for anything I know of in the year 2016 (the year of graduation for the student I saw the list for).