The Future of Education

Contemporary students are called ‘Generation Z’. Generation which is highly influenced by modern technologies. However, modern existential philosophers, such as Karl Jaspers, wrote that technological progress brings advantages but also creates technocratic ideology, which becomes a challenge to Humanities and human relations. Literature as school discipline also experiences this challenge: traditional reading and text understanding skills changes, neo-liberal economy creates attitude that literature is non-practical and unnecessary subject. Presentation ‘Multi-Subject Teaching – Future Of Literature In School’ deals with this problem and aims to show innovative teaching and learning methodologies of literature. The purpose is to show that ‘Generation Z’ can be engaged in learning various literature aspects by transforming teaching process into multi-subject teaching. Two multi-subject lessons based on literary works will be introduced in the presentation. In first lesson while integrating music, art, literature and history students were engaged in various activities: analysed novels of Erich Maria Remarque, propaganda techniques of war posters and war marches, studied history of the First World War. During such lesson students get academic knowledge about war, propaganda art, totalitaristic music styles, literature techniques of revealing how romanticizing of war turns into traumatic experiences. While analysing propaganda techniques students also improve their skills of critical thinking. Book 23 (Funeral Games for Patroclus) of epic poem Iliad by Homer was chosen as background for the second lesson.  Students were engage in similar sport activities as written in Homers poem: javelin throw, 400 m running and discus throwing. Before  these activities students had to study articles about Ancient Greek culture, history of the Olympics, respiratory system of human. The aim of the lesson was to help students understand that separate subject cover separate rubrics of human experience but altogether help to understand human as integrated being of flesh, spirit and history. Students were also involved in critical reflection about masculinity, femininity, Olympic spirit of sports in modern world. These two examples are provided in order to show that curriculum integration help generation of multi-functional devices understand literature as a discipline which is not separable from others disciplines. This teaching methodology also reveals literature as discipline which plays important role in teaching critical thinking.

Keywords: literature, multi-subject teaching, critical reflection.

References:

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