Diane Ravitch v. Tim Shanahan: Informational or Literary Text

Yesterday, I debated the literature-informational text mix recommended by Common Core with Diane Ravitch on Minnesota Public Radio. Not a bad discussion all in all. A few observations:

(1) Press and media are starting to get wise to the fact that the common core does NOT require that we diminish literature in the curriculum, but they still want a contention hook as the price of admission for their attention to common core.

(2) Many of the observers up in arms over this issue claim that literary interpretation transfers to all other life pursuits. Thus, if you can read Ulysses, you will have no problem with DNA, microchip design, or relativity; or if you want to invent you must be imaginative, and you can't be imaginative unless you read fiction or poetry (I know the latter would surprise many scientists and engineers who do an awful lot of the world's inventing, but are usually a little low on things literary). Literature reading is, indeed, valuable, but so is science and history reading.

Here is the recording of our Public Radio discussion: