When it comes to Literature and Composition classes, many books are covered. Sometimes it seems like the books that are chosen are arbit(lib)rary. But this is not the (book)case.
When it comes to the English Department of Libertyville High School, the teachers have few rules or guidelines when it comes to creating their course curriculum, aside from Common Core standards. Aside from Common Core and summer reading assignments, each teacher is able to teach whichever texts he or she believes will provide the strongest education experience in their own course.
Mr. Matt Tooley, an English teacher, explained the process, saying, “Usually one teacher says, ‘I read this book, it’s perfect for the curriculum,’ and just kind of shares that with other teachers. And then they’re like, ‘Oh, I am looking for something to replace this, maybe I’ll check that out.’ And if they like it, they accept it. But it’s not the sort of thing where our boss comes to us and, you know, says, ‘Ok, this book is now a part of the curriculum.’”
Mrs. Karen LeMaistre, an English teacher at Libertyville High School, said, “Typically we don’t have an evaluation process every year, it’s kind of a fluid thing. I think we evaluate as we go along. [The English teachers] meet weekly. And so if things are working well I think we check in and talk about how they are working well, and if something doesn’t seem to work or fit in the curriculum, I think we kind of talk about that in an on-going conversation and then decide like ‘Hmm, maybe we should switch this up for next year, or maybe something else might fit better.’”
Mr. Tooley added, “So it just kind of depends on what you think is best for teaching the skills you need to cover. The one thing I’ll say though is most teachers try to teach works that they actually enjoy reading and teaching themselves.”
As Mr. Brian Twadell, another English teacher, explained, “While most courses include a mix of genres of writing, in many courses, such as the junior-level courses, we want to provide a blend of classic works of literature along with more modern works, as the older works often contain important themes that have endured through time, while the modern works focus on issues we confront as a society today. It’s important to know from where we’ve come and to where we are headed as a society, and books can provide wonderful insights into those ideas.”
When changing the curriculum of a lit class, Mr. Twadell explained that teachers will form a summer curriculum committee and submit a plan for changing the course to the administration for approval, making those changes over the summer. A report is then written up to submit to the administration in the fall, and the changes are enacted as soon as that fall.
