So, Michael Gove hates ‘Of Mice and Men’? Well, I’m pretty
antagonistic about him, but apparently that doesn’t stop being in charge of the
education of our young people.
To remove Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ and John
Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ from the GCSE syllabus is typical of a man who
seems to know nothing about education, or the need to instil the values, morals
and ethics demonstrated by the two in our young.
In today’s
increasingly shallow and amoral society, introducing 15 & 16 year olds to
Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, George and Lenny seems to me to be one of the few
ways in which we can teach them about doing the right thing, about maintaining
a strong moral code, about being a decent human being.
I studied ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ when I was just a little
15 year old Steve, but I read it, and I read it well ahead of the rest of the
cast. I was drawn in by the injustice of
a man being put on trial for something he didn’t do, but would accept the
consequences imposed on him by a prejudiced world. I wanted to be Atticus Finch for a while, I
even contemplated law as a career, but more crucially, I wanted to know him, or
someone like him. He was someone who was
brave enough to stand up for a wronged man, someone with a strong enough sense
of morality to say ‘No. This is
unjust.’
As someone who has been involved in the teaching profession,
however briefly, and who has a degree in English (just like Michael Gove), I
want the next generation to understand that people used to stand for something,
not just want to be famous. I want kids
to know that humanity and compassion are better things than a fake tan and
having people know your name.
Someone on twitter said to me today that Gove hates these
texts because ‘humanity cannot be sold off for profit’ and I think they are
right.
When I have children, regardless of if the books are on the
GCSE syllabus, and they should be, my children will be reading ‘To Kill A
Mockingbird’ and they will be reading ‘Of Mice And Men’. And not only will they be reading them; they
will be talking about them, and exploring the characters and the decisions and
choices that they have made. I want my
children to know, that in the world there exists good and evil, and that there
exists a right and wrong. My children
will know that everything is not a shade of murky grey; that they should stand
up for the little guy, and fight for what is right.
So, after all that, Michael Gove, don’t deprive our children
of learning something which will make the world a less crappy place to be, just
because you didn’t like them, doesn’t mean generations of kids shouldn’t have
role models as strong as Atticus and Scout (a great female character with guts
and brains). Put these texts back on the
reading lists. And if you could go away after that, that would be great...
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