Milford chronicle., 1957-06-14
EnOLish Curriculum
Change Is Planned
For Schools
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sContinued from first pagel
ricuium guide will deal with the
reasoning behind the various meth
ods of teaching English; a discus
sion. with illustrations, OF the
various methods; the handling of
reading, speech, book reports and
college preparation; and the con-
ditions, such as pupil load, library
facilities and extracurricular re-
spOnsibilities, under which English
should be taught.
The project began when the
D.S.T.A. English section decided to
make a study of the curriculum.
after receiving from teachers many
suggestions for Improvement. The
first curriculum revision attempted
since 1947, the project was soon
enlarged to include the participa-
ton of the State Department of
Public Instruction and DR.. Howard
Row, assistant superintendent in
charge of. secondary schools. Short
ly afterward the University of Del
aware, represented by DR.. George
H. Henry and faculty members
from the school of education, the
English department and the de-
partment of dramatic arts and
speech, joined the project.
AS the first step in long and
thoughtful process, the university
initiated a Curriculum Workshop
during the 1856 summer school
session. Directed by Professor Har-
old c. Martin Of Harvard Univer-
sity, the workshop, which included
teachers from several Delaware
schools, made preliminary study
toward the larger task of revising
the English curriculum. The work
shop report was issued in August,
1856, and committees were subse-
quently formed to consider various
proposals contained in it.
These study groups include the
committee on articulation, which
will consider the relationship be-.
tween English instruction in high
school and college; the committee
on book reports: the committee on
literature and reading; the COM
mittee on oral communications the
committee on critical thinking;
the committee on book list sourc-
es; and the committee on junior
high school English.
During the past winter these
committees have met to exchange
and discuss ideas on the prelim-
mary study, and progress reports
were presented to the entire group
at a spring meeting in Dover. The
committee work is expected to be
completed this summer, and fall
meeting has been scheduled to COM
pile the final report which will be
published in January.
Since the revised curriculum will
not be compulsory, members of
the project hope to enlist the CO.
operation of related school groups
in urging its voluntary statewide
adoption. The Delaware School
Study Council, devoted TO the inn
provement of instruction in all
high school subjects, has already
indicated its interest. In addition,
it is hoped that parents, teachers
and school administrators will
lend their approval and assistance.
Some of the recommendation ex-
pected to be included in the final
report call for improved methods
of teaching grammar to encourage
good usage, better sentence struc-
ture and style; for improved teach
ing of literature to sharpen criti-
cal thinking and to transmit the
ethical and spiritual values of
American culture; for standard
book list serving grades 7-12, with
an appeal that these books be in
cluded in every Delaware school
library; and for better integratiOn
of the English curriculums of the
last two high school years and the
first year of college.
The new curriculum will not
provide the last word on Johnny's
ability to read and write, but it
will represent two years work by
groups deeply interested in John
ny and his problems. 1t is the hope
of everyone connected with the
project that Delaware parents and
teachers will find useful applica-
tions of the report in every school
in the state.
The regular members of the cur
riculum workshop were Professor