Standing of Novel in Elementary School Curriculum

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to point to the possibility of reforming the curricula for primary and secondary schools. It seems, not by chance, that writers of syllabuses, and the writers of literature in particular, are faced with certain dilemmas and uncertainties, as teaching literature has proved to be a litmus paper that absorbs and reflects all cultural, historical and social shifts, all ideological and cultural breakdowns and phases. Thus, in line with ideological and historical changes, with the disappearance of the old and emergence of new sociopolitical circumstances, some writers were dropped out of syllabuses in order to be reintroduced, enlightened with new perspectives on interpretation and historical evaluation; some new ones acquired the status of school writers, while others, whose works were painstakingly interpreted by former generations, being stripped of their ideological usability and reduced to mere second-rate literature, were left out of school readers and reading lists.

Another question that imposes itself on teams of professionals in charge of literature syllabuses is certainly the question of age appropriateness, that is, the adaptedness of of certain literary works to the developmental level of students, which makes it feasible or difficult for them to understand a particular literary text. This criterion is undoubtedly an indispensable element in the teaching of literature in primary schools, especially bearing in mind the main outcomes definded in the school curricula. Students’ reading competences are dynamised by a whole range of psychological and educational moments which should be integrated and functionally complemented in the teaching process. In the context of a young person’s growing up, shaping and maturing, this is one of the major goals and the widest reach of literature teaching at school age.

For these reasons, we address the role and importance of novel in the process of education in higher primary school grades with particular reference to several aspects - the question of age appropriateness, purposefulness of and justication for introducing certain types of novels into the curriculum, the presence and functionalisation of domestic and elective (supplementary) readers, the question of innovating and interpreting modern literary production not included in the curriculum. In addition, we analysed the scope of a chronological approach to the novel in the syllabuses for secondary schools, potential sporadic changes implemented in the syllabuses for literature teaching, as well as the open possibilities within the ongoing reform that open up to teams of experts in charge of its implementation.