This engaging conversation features Rose Horowitch, an Atlantic staff writer, and Nat Malkus, a scholar focused on education policy. They delve into the alarming decline of reading in America, noting a drop in leisure reading by half this century and concerning literacy scores for younger students. The guests examine how societal shifts towards multimedia are impacting critical thinking and argue for the importance of deep reading in fostering analytical skills. They also discuss proactive measures educators are taking to reignite a passion for reading among students.
Leisure reading in America has dramatically declined by about 50% this century, impacting students' engagement with literature.
The shift in educational policies towards shorter texts and standardized testing has diminished students' ability and desire to read full-length books.
The rise of digital media and platforms like TikTok is altering students' attention spans and preferences for quick entertainment over immersive reading.
Deep dives
The Rise of New Technologies and Their Impact on Memory
The podcast discusses a short story by Ted Chiang that juxtaposes two narratives: one set in the near future featuring a technology called ReMem, which grants individuals perfect recall of memories, and another from the past focused on the onset of written language in a preliterate society. The modern narrative illustrates how ReMem alters personal interactions and the challenge of forgetting past conflicts, while the historical story reveals Jijingi's transition from oral tradition to literacy, altering his thought process and relationships. Through these narratives, the podcast highlights the significance of technology in shaping human cognition and memory. This contrasting depiction raises important questions about how new technologies fundamentally restructure our relationships with personal memories and knowledge.
Growing Literacy Crisis in America
The conversation shifts to alarming statistics regarding the decline of reading and literacy in America, noting that leisure reading has reportedly decreased by half this century. Fourth and eighth-grade literacy scores are also declining, revealing that students struggle to read entire books due to changing educational practices. College students, in particular, express difficulties reading lengthy texts, an issue attributed to a curriculum that prioritizes excerpts and digital content over full-length literature. This trend suggests that the foundational skills of deep reading are waning, potentially affecting students' ability to engage thoroughly with challenging material.
Education Policies and Their Effects on Curriculum
The discussion delves into how educational policies such as No Child Left Behind and Common Core have shifted teaching practices towards shorter informational texts, steering students away from complete novels. Many educators report that the emphasis on standardized testing has led to teaching methods focused on preparing students for tests rather than fostering a love for reading. One literature professor illustrates this change by recounting how even elite students at prestigious universities, who once thrived on classics, are now overwhelmed by lengthy readings. This gradual de-centering of books from curricula indicates a systemic issue rooted in accountability measures rather than nurturing critical thinking through literature.
Screens and Their Competitive Edge Over Reading
The podcast explores the role of screens and social media in reshaping leisure activities, suggesting that modern students are increasingly drawn to brief, engaging content instead of immersive reading. Statistics indicate that the time spent reading for pleasure has significantly declined, with many preferring platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Educators contend that the instant gratification provided by digital media has altered students' attention spans and emotional responses to traditional reading. This preference for quick entertainment may have profound implications for cognitive development, particularly among young learners.
The Broader Implications of the Decline in Reading
Lastly, the podcast emphasizes the cultural implications of declining reading habits, raising concern over a shift towards a more oral culture that may hinder critical thinking and abstract reasoning skills. Experts discuss how a society that prioritizes audiovisual engagement over deep reading risks losing the complexity of thought that literature enables. The podcast also mentions ongoing efforts by some educators to inspire a renewed interest in reading among students, suggesting that advocacy for literature could counteract these trends. This shift challenges societal values, calling for a collective recommitment to the traditional literacy that enriches intellectual and emotional capabilities.
Something alarming is happening with reading in America. Leisure reading by some accounts has declined by about 50 percent this century. Literacy scores are declining for fourth and eighth graders at alarming rates. And even college students today are complaining to teachers that they can’t read entire books. The book itself, that ancient piece of technology for storing ideas passed down across decades, is fading in curricula across the country, replaced by film and TV and YouTube.
Why, with everything happening in the world, would I want to talk about reading? The business podcaster Joe Weisenthal has recently turned me on to the ideas of Walter Ong and his book 'Orality and Literacy.' According to Ong, literacy is not just a skill. It is a specific means of structuring society's way of thinking. In oral cultures, Ong says, knowledge is preserved through repetition, mnemonics, and stories. Writing and reading, by contrast, fix words in place. One person can write, and another person, decades later, can read precisely what was written. This word fixing also allows literate culture to develop more abstract and analytical thinking. Writers and readers are, after all, outsourcing a piece of their memory to a page. Today, we seem to be completely reengineering the logic engine of society. The decline of reading in America is not the whole of this phenomenon. But I think that it’s an important part of it.
Today we have two conversations—one with a journalist and one with an academic. First, Atlantic staff writer Rose Horowitch shares her reporting on the decline of reading at elite college campuses. And second, Nat Malkus of the American Enterprise Institute tells us about the alarming decline in literacy across our entire student population and even among adults.
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