Using Literature to Explore Social Issues

Abstract

Middle-level students are at a time in their development when they explore the ways they think about themselves and the world around them. Left unguided, young adolescents turn to each other for information and to anyone who will pay attention to them. As they turn to their peers for understanding and discussion, young adolescents can become increasingly resistant to the information and intellectual apprenticeship offered by knowledgeable and caring adults. To attract the attention of young people, enlightened educators need to realign their curriculum to include opportunities for students to examine the problems of society and explore and devise possible solutions. Hammond and Garcia (1985) recommend that teachers need greater insight into the problems of society and exposure to strategies designed to lessen the problems. We devised a strategy for a study of social problems in social studies classes that involves selecting brief excerpts, ranging from a few sentences to a full page, from various literary genres that focus on a key social issue or problem. The strategy presents middle-level students with a problem to identify, explore, and attempt to solve. Each excerpt or snapshot describes a social wrong. The students identify the problem, consider its implications in a wide range of situations, and then offer solutions. Then students are encouraged to read the entire text to see how the problem was solved. Teachers can use the excerpts as an introduction to a longer unit of study, for advisor-advisee activities, and for found moments in the curriculum.