A recent Lit Life column about “A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books” (2008) by Alex Beam didn’t sit right with Bill Siegel, vice president of school programs for the non-profit, Chicago-based Great Books program (greatbooks.org). As Siegel pointed out in an e-mail — a portion of which, with Siegel’s permission, is reprinted below — Beam left out crucial aspects of the current manifestation of the Great Books idea:
“I read Beam’s book searching in vain for a good word about the wonderful work the Foundation continues to do in schools across the country. Instead, without even once mentioning the Foundation’s Junior Great Books (JGB) program by name, Beam claims, ‘those programs have largely vanished.’ This is a stunning oversight. … Granted, Beam’s focus is on the adult book groups spawned by [legendary University of Chicago President Robert] Hutchins and [U. of C. Professor Mortimer] Adler, but Beam does a real disservice to a new generation of young people expressing their ideas about great literature in classrooms across the country, as well as to the thousands of teachers providing a unique opportunity for their students to become self-reliant thinkers and lifelong learners.
“JGB programs are flourishing in schools nationwide. We have a stellar professional development component, recognized by the National Education Association and the National Staff Development Council (among others) for increasing student achievement. … And as the idea of ‘a canon’ of literature has moved far beyond the definition originally established by the Foundation’s founders, so has JGB program use grown from a largely gifted student audience led by parent volunteers, to one involving tens of thousands of teachers, leading JGB programs as a regular part of the school day, for students of all abilities.
More Top Picks Pool Noodles
“We have some form of JGB activity happening in all 50 states and are engaging more than a million young minds annually. … While it is true, as Beam notes, that the educational climate of late has made our efforts more difficult, Beam’s dismissal of JGB’s near 50-year presence in the Great Books afterlife is poor testament to the hundreds of spirited JGB discussions happening in U.S. classrooms right now.
“In an era when critical thinking is coming off the endangered species list and public works includes renewed investment in the life of the mind, I hope you will take the opportunity to tell a more complete tale of the curious and thriving life of Great Books. The young people carrying this torch of lifelong learning deserve to have their voices heard more formidably than the distant ring found in Beam’s book.”