Updating the Syllabus

On The Millions blog [found via] a high school English teacher called Gene writes in to ask for suggestions to update his syllabus (which already includes great reads like Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and essays from the likes of David Foster Wallace.

The blog's contributors and other blog readers weigh in with their suggestions, making this a very useful guide to what's best in American C21st fiction. Enjoy!

(And doesn't one actually envy Gene's students with this literary diet? They didn't make school syllabuses like this when I was at school.)

Pak Samad and the Copyright

National Laureate A. Samad Said talks to Bissme S. in the Sun about the serious neglect of Malay literature in this country, and how he doesn't see the situation improving.

The dumbing down of the Malay literature syllabus in schools is a particular cause for concern :

Just think of these students two decades from now. They are not exposed to good literature.

If you start saying the work of Sasterawan Negara are difficult at school level, then don’t expect them to touch these books when they leave school. You are sending out a clear message - do not read the work of Sasterawan Negara. Everything should start in school. We are not creating a situation where people will read good literature.

In America the students are studying To Kill A Mocking Bird, and in England they go for Lord Of The Flies. All are difficult books. If you want simple books, then just read ABC all the time.

Pak Samad also talks about his attempt to get the copyright of his books back from Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, so that now they are out of print and unavailable, he can publish them himself. Apparently they have given him the rights to seven books, but not to twelve others :

... the most important ones ... the ones I want.

including to Pak Samad's best known work, Salina.

DBP always says the work of Sasterawan Negara is difficult to sell. When you ask for your copyright, they don’t want to give it to you. ... I think it is the right time to give me the rights to all my books. What is the point of keeping the copyright for my books if people are not interested in reading them?

Now this is where you, my blog readers, come in.

There is a petition organised by Pak Samad's son Helmy (which I learned about from Ted's blog) urging the DBP to give the author the copyright, and you can your names to the online version.

Pak Samad now has a beautiful website where you can read about his latest publications and enjoy samples of his work. And he's also on Facebook (although no-one has thrown a sheep at him yet, it seems.)

Dumbing Down the Syllabus?

Machinist tipped me off about this in the comments to another post:

Pak Samad's reaction to the KOMSAS (Malay Lit Component) issue, yesterday, at the Kata Suara event at RA Gallery.

Don't know much about it to comment beyond translating the sources, but apparently his works are to be excluded in the revised reading list for the Malay Lit Component (KOMSAS), in favour of more popular literature i.e. trash-fict (see here and here).

The governing committee, PPK defends this decision by saying that the Laureate's works are too difficult to understand and teach in school.

Pak Samad moves to disassociate himself with KOMSAS as Sasterawan Negara, saying "the national literature is actually not respected."

Here's Pak Samad telling us in his own words. (From on Firdaus' blog.)



I stand outside the argument not being a competent reader of Malay, but it seems to me that there is a shameful dumbing down of literature involved in this move. When are Malay readers going to be exposed to the best their language has to offer?

Postscript (28/1/08) :

Blogger Nik Nazmi also speaks out against the dumbing down of the syllabus:

Saya agak terkejut dengan langkah Pusat Perkembangan Kurikulum Kementerian Pelajaran untuk menyingkirkan karya-karya Sasterawan Negara dan pemenang SEA Write Award dalam pengajaran di sekolah rendah dan menengah dengan alasan pelajar tidak memahami karya-karya tersebut.

Ini merupakan langkah paling nyata bagaimana kerajaan memperbodohkan anak-anak kita di dalam usaha menghasilkan sebanyak mungkin A!

Sistem pendidikan sesebuah negara seharusnya menekankan usaha mengangkat martabat pemikiran anak bangsa. Memang karya-karya mereka tak semudah dihadam karya Ahadiat Akashah, namun ia menggalakkan kita berfikir dan menggemblengkan daya kreativiti kita untuk memahami karya tersebut. Itu sesuatu yang amat berguna bagi para pelajar. Selain itu, ia juga menggalakkan kita menghargai khazanah bangsa kita.

Facelift for Literature Syllabus

We talked the other day about the teaching of literature as part of the English language syllabus, but revisions have also been made to the SPM* syllabus for literature, Hariati Azizan points out in an article from the Star's education supplement.

English Literature SPM is an elective subject for Forms 4 and 5, taken by only a very small number of students (about 1,000 nationwide, I understand). For many students an already crammed time-timetable or a lack of teachers for the subject in schools means that they have to study the subject out of school with a tuition teacher.

Head of the English Language and Literature Unit and assistant director at the Education Ministry’s Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) Dr Mohamed Abu Bakar reckons that another factor in the small number of students taking up the elective is that:

Most students today are more visually inclined and don't like to read; those who are still reading and writing are doing it on the Internet.

(I wonder. It actually seems to me that young people here are reading more than in the past, especially as there is access to a lot more bookshops.)

Anyway, these are the texts chosen, and as the article points out:

The new syllabus for the elective subject for Form Four and Form Five, like the old one, is aimed at developing an ability to read, understand and appreciate literary works. However, while the old syllabus emphasises the universality of issues and concerns, the new one revels in the diversity of the texts selected.

I find this rhetoric interesting - can you teach literature at all without "universality of concerns" coming into the discussion?

But it seems to me that the new syllabus has some very interesting texts that the students (and their teachers) should enjoy.

It goes on to say that:

Films, multimedia learning software and audio books, although not new, will now be an integral part of the new programme.

I'm a little sceptical about using "multimedia learning software" to teach literature, but that's because I haven't seen any locally produced educational software that's impressed me and a whole lot that doesn't. (And it's terribly expensive to produce!) A good teacher is the ultimate interactive resource.

But I am enthusiastic about the use of audio-books and film versions in the classroom. Purists might baulk at the idea (and I'd always want students to tackle the book first) but I think the film of the book can enhance enjoyment and understanding and lead to further discussion ways of interpreting the text. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Holes by Louis Sachar have both been filmed.

There's a delicious irony about teaching Farenheit 451 in these book-banning days that I don't think was lost on those who set the syllabus!

*SPM is Sijul Pelajaran Malaysia, the exam students sit for at the end of Form Five, a sort of 'O' Level equivalent.