Secondary School, Literature Curriculum

Novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky understood gifted adolescents as he wrote of the tremendous power given to those who are gifted. He did warn that the more power given, the greater the responsibility to use it wisely. Truly gifted adolescents at the secondary level seek, choose, and decide what to do and how to do it. If they are given appropriate choices in a constructivist classroom atmosphere, they can achieve great things, possibly reaching their potential. In English classes, these great accomplishments can occur in their writing, in their choice of reading material, and in their oral expressions—discussions, speeches, debates, and role-plays in class. Indeed, the power of the teacher in a secondary literature classroom, whether it is Advanced Placement or not, is a considerable power. The ...