Reforming the English Curriculum - Speech

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Reforming the English Curriculum - Speech

Good morning members of the Board of Secondary School Studies, I am

here today to speak to you about what I believe is a very important

issue - reforming our English curriculum. The goal of the curriculum

as it stands today is to produce high quality critical evaluators,

with the ability to empathise. I agree whole-heartedly with this

objective, but I believe some adjustments made to our curriculum are

necessary. While it seems a huge change may take a considerable amount

of time, there is one thing that can be changed immediately: the

selection of resource materials. So what is the missing ingredient

that is perhaps the most vital? The Simpsons.

Whether you love them or loathe them, America's most disfunctional

family seems to invade everyone's living room with their realistic

views on today's society. Now you may think the Simpson's is nothing

but a children's carton, but if you delve beyond the obvious

animation, there lies a swirl of politics, religion, multiculturalism,

cross-references and perhaps the most important, inter-texuality. I

believe that to become the critical evaluators our English curriculum

is aiming for, we need to enhance our learning experiences by using

the Simpsons as a particularly effective way of illustrating

sociological themes and encouraging critical thinking among ourselves.

Students will also find studying the Simpsons enjoyable, as they can

have a laugh but also relate to every witty episode.

Many people would argue that the Simpsons is not appropriate viewing

for Year 11's, and there is no beneficial reason why it should become

part of the syllabus. I would like to ask those people to sit down and

really WATCH an episode, and I could almost guarantee they would be

forced to think twice. The cleverness of this cartoon is unbelievable,

and there is a lesson to be learnt in every episode. I'm sure parents

would not object to the children watching the news, when there is

quite possibly more violence and disrespect present in ½ hour of the

news than there is in an episode of the Simpsons.

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