{"id":220,"date":"2023-04-21T14:14:55","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T14:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ncte\/?page_id=220"},"modified":"2023-04-27T14:45:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T14:45:57","slug":"english-curriculum-during-wwii","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ncte\/exhibits\/english-curriculum-during-wwii\/","title":{"rendered":"English Curriculum During WWII"},"content":{"rendered":"

“We need to make…changes, and individually we will perform special wartime duties; but the initial message from outstanding college teachers is that we must do the job for which we are trained: help others to realize the power that emanates from great literature to live humanely in the midst of conflict.”
\nFrom\u00a0College Journal<\/em>, “English in Wartime” (1942)<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

World War II had an immediate, tangible effect on the U.S. educational system. With both teachers and students being among millions of Americans drafted, there was a diminished college population. But the war was also a driving force for many intangible changes. In particular, educators needed to change their curriculum to better reflect the needs and challenges in this new environment.<\/p>\n

For NCTE, this meant thinking about the discipline of English and its role in supporting the war effort. According to J.N. Hook in\u00a0A Long Way Together: A Personal View of NCTE’s First Sixty-Seven Years<\/em>, “the Council reacted immediately to the state of war by creating a Planning Commission” (1979, p. 133). It tackled the basic, yet weighty questions posed by the war: “Can the teaching of English in American…schools remain unchanged by our entrance into World War II? And should it? If not, how should it be changed?” (p. 133).<\/p>\n

The planning Commission determined that while the basics of English should remain the same, certain aspects of the subject had more significance during wartime. After all, English was a valuable discipline to the war effort’s communication needs. Marion Sheridan, NCTE Executive Board member, pointed out that English played a vital role in democracy:<\/p>\n

“A democracy depends upon the use of words, upon the ability to understand and to discuss questions of freedom, liberty, labor; upon the ability to trace the course of thought and to detect specious argument…. Literature is a storehouse of the experiences of mankind…. Its peace and serenity may give balance and a sense of normalcy, and fortitude, when total war dominates the situation.” (qtd. in Hook, p. 135)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To help English teachers fulfill the discipline’s role during this dire time, NCTE published a series of pamphlets to guide them in thinking about how the war affected their curriculum. In addition, the journals College English and the English Journal regularly featured articles and letters about the special challenges teachers faced. To learn more about NCTE’s role in World War II, take a look at the featured topics below:<\/p>\n