big ideas - prime time€¦ · narrative is an analogy used to teach a set of ideas. similarly, we...

30 Louisiana EndowmEnt for thE humanitiEs • Fall 2011

PRIME TIME makes sharing the humanities family time

BIG IDEASin Small Books

Fall 2011 • Louisiana CuLturaL Vistas 31

he PRIME TIME Family ReadingProgram is an extraordinary literaryinstructional creation. It transforms

low-literacy, disadvantaged families into eagerphilosophers who deliberate values, ideas, andcultural contexts and who developacute critical thinking skills.Perhaps even more surprisingly,this transformation happensthrough the power of children’sliterature. The PRIME TIME team hasselected children’s books which arefull of humanities content, rich inideas, questions, and ambiguitiesabout who we are and what wewant to be. The task for those ofus involved in PRIME TIME is to help these familiesrecognize and find the humanities.

Louisiana Cultural Vistas has already publishedsome excellent advice on this in Bob Becker’s essay“Agamemnon Among the Bunnies” (Winter 2001),and Michael Sartisky’s “It’s All Greek to Me” (Spring

2007) both of which are available atwww.leh.org. These accessible but eruditepieces will tell you all about finding the

humanities in children’s literature, andto add my voice to them seems toimply that those sneakyhumanities are hiding out in ToraBora and that you need GoogleMaps or at least a good GPS to trapthem in their caves. Of course,knowing what the humanities areis helpful. I say this only becausewhen, a few years ago, the LEH gaveme a Special Humanities Award, Icalled my mother, as one does—even in one’s forties—to tell her

the good news. “I didn’t know youwere a humanitarian,” she said, as if sheimagined me normally tripping up old ladies.And so, to prevent my mother from thinkingthat I has suddenly become the MotherTheresa of Shreveport, I had to explain what

Illustration by Leo andDiane Dillon from Why

Mosquitoes Buzz in People’sEars by Verna Aardema

by Helen Clare Taylor

TIME work. We want to debate issues and learn bydiscussion rather than being told. Talking aboutstories is one of the best ways to learn about what webelieve about ourselves.Our cultural heritage has been handed down

through stories. Socrates, whom I think must havebeen extraordinarily annoying to be with, used hisfamous “Allegory of the Cave” as Plato describes it, toexplain views on reality and perception. In truth, mystudents always have difficulty imaging why thosepeople should have been tied up in a cave with otherpeople parading objects behind their backs—but the

narrative is an analogy used toteach a set of ideas. Similarly, wecan think of Christ’s little storiesof the prodigal son or thevineyard, used as parables forteaching. Aesop’s fables dramatize amoral lesson. Stories are our way ofsharing wisdom. They give life anddramatic action to ideas withoutbeing openly didactic. Even subjectmatter as baffling asmathematics can be taughtusing stories. You remember thekind of problem: if a car leaves

Chicago at 10 am traveling at aspeed of 60 miles an hour andanother car leaves Des Moines,

travelling at 70 miles an hour,where will they meet—or something like that.Math narratives are somehow not as real to

the humanities were and how they were involvedwith children’s literature. After this I can say thatI am very qualified to share that information withyou. We don’t usually associate “kiddie lit,” as itwas dismissively referred to at my graduateschool, with the great ideas, with Socraticdialogue and strenuous philosophical debate. Butactually, finding the humanities in children’sliterature is pretty easy; they’re there,everywhere, all around you, and, as in the bestfairytales, to find them you only have to ask theright questions.

I spend my daily life with thehumanities. I talk in dusty andover- heated classrooms tobored young people about whatChaucer, Dante, and Jane Austenwere really trying to say about thecorruption of the Church, the natureof evil, and what kind of bonnet towear. But no matter how dry mylectures on 14th-centuryhagiographical modes seem to be, thestudents always wake up when there is aclass discussion about ideas. Everyone isinterested in ideas. They want to offer theiropinions about whether Hamlet was reallymad, and what is wrong with Mr. Darcy.They enjoy debating the meaning ofstories and figuring out what theirauthors wanted us to know. It is thisaspect of human nature that makes PRIME


Illustration by MichaelHays from Pete Seeger’sStorysong Abiyoyo

me as other kinds! Stories articulate identity, identify enemies,

warn of dangers, and applaud the deeds of heroes.Children’s stories dramatize the same conflicts,losses, moral ambiguities, and tough decisions justas much as do the great narratives of literatureand religion. Sometimes the setting and charactersare more appropriate to a family audience: betterto examine Mary Whitcomb’s Odd Velvet in herschoolyard than Hamlet in black velvet mopingaround Elsinore. But the themes are the same.Both explore alienation and identity.

Another PRIME TIMEfavorite on this topic is PeteSeeger’s Abiyoyo. Once during aPRIME TIME discussion, we wereexamining the characters in that bookand the fact that they areostracized from a villagecommunity. A child said thatthe father in the story wasdifferent and that he was “odd.”“What do you mean ‘odd?’” asked a

parent. “What’s odd?” “Am I odd?” “Yes,” said thechild emphatically, implying that her mother wasoften embarrassing, and they began to talk aboutconformity, fitting in, and social responsibility—alltopics which are relevant to school-age children andthe parents who help them negotiate theirstruggles with peer pressure. But the ideas in thatdiscussion were also relevant to a philosophicaldebate in a college classroom. Many characters inthe classics are odd. Heroes and villains have to bedifferent from us or why would we care to readtheir stories? Oedipus was pretty odd. Christ was

odd. So was Jane Eyre. We can talk aboutthe same humanities issues and what

they might mean in our daily livesin both children’s stories and in thetexts on my literature syllabus.Carolyn Buehner’s wonderful

story Fanny’s Dream is one of myfavorite texts to present to PRIMETIME families. The book raisesquestions about gender roles,ambitions, dreams, responsibilityto our families, and the perpetuityof the Cinderella myth. In PRIME

TIME, we can talk about thatbook forever, especiallywhen, in my role as scholar, Ialways adopt a contraryposition to whatever directionthe discussion is taking, justso that I can foment and


Illustration by Lane Smith from The TrueStory of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

alking aboutstories is one ofthe best ways to

learn about what webelieve about ourselves.

model respectful disagreement and real debate.PRIME TIME texts like this one are rich andcomplex; they have been chosen so that theystimulate spiriteddiscussion. Notethat it is not justengenderingdiscussion that isthe goal of PRIMETIME. Once we findthe humanities,once we show thefamilies that ideasare everywhere,then we providethem with a modelof how to keeptalking to eachother and to keepasking questionsabout books,movies, TV shows,advertising, andwhether we likebrussels sprouts. Itis through storiesand discussion thatwe learn what wethink about the world, as we present and defend

our views to others. Sadly, the annoyingSocrates got the method right. Talkingabout ideas helps us learn who we are.Sometimes this works by

turning ideas on their heads.You can do this withchildren’s literature, which,like folktales and myth,creates a magical realismwhere crazy things happenand animals talk. Another ofmy favorite texts for PRIMETIME discussion is The TrueStory of the ThreeLittle Pigs by JonScieszka, whichrevises theconventional storyabout the big badwolf blowing downthe house of theunfortunate pigsby narrating thosesame events from

the wolf’s point of view. Our PRIME TIME families,of course, already know the folk tale of the threelittle pigs and they can easily identify the archetypal

villain in thecharacter of thewolf. But in thisstory the wolf istrying to exoneratehimself. How canhe do that when weknow that wolvesand foxes in otherfolk tales and inother cultures arealways bad? Whatdoes this tell us,then, about thenature ofstereotyping,judging otherpeople withoutknowing them, andwhat it means tobe “bad” (whetheryou are a wolf ornot). Thisconversation oftenleads to our

examining characterizations of wolves and othermonsters in modern versions of this story, as well asto “wolf-like" characters in TV and movies. In TheTrue Story of the Three Little Pigs, the wolf justifies


Professionalstorytellers modelread-aloud

techniques thatparents can use athome with theirchildren.

tories are our way ofsharing wisdom. They givelife and dramatic action to

ideas without being openly didactic.

his actions by making a claim that pigsare normal wolf food (he comparesthem to our eating acheeseburger), and that ineating them he is only beingtrue to his wolf nature. But isit OK to stick to your natureif you are a big, bad wolf? Atthe end of the story, we seefrom the illustrations thatthe newspaper and thereporters are all pigs, anxiousto condemn the protagonist and

throw him into jail. So ourdiscussion of this story

raises issues such asjustice and fairness, aswell as subjectivity—who istelling the story? Who gets tosay who is “bad,” or whetheran action is “wrong”? Whatdo we do when we havecompeting notions of justice?

How does this lead tothe concept of civildisobedience? Whatwould Gandhi havesaid about it? I haveeven heard familiesmake allusions toracial identity andprofiling as a subtext

of the story, as the “pigs,” alreadyprejudiced, have demonized the “wolf”as “other.” This is pretty heavy stuff.And all we do is ask open-ended,non-value-laden questions,respecting all opinions, andespecially respecting dissent. It isfrom difference of opinionthat knowledge grows. I have made several

references to the fact thatI find the samehumanities issues in my

college classroom as I do inthe PRIME TIME texts that I

explore with families. I don’t have tobe convinced of the depth and importance

of what we are doing, in terms of the effect onthe literacy skills and bonding that has beenclearly documented for PRIME TIME families.But PRIME TIME has not only changed itstarget families. It has changed me. I am abetter parent because of PRIME TIME. And Iam a better college teacher because of PRIMETIME. I encourage more discussion andSocratic dialogue in my classroom and I ammore transparent in telling students what theyare learning and why it is important. And, as wellas seeing ideas from the great classics in children’sliterature, I am now actually seeing children’sliterature in the great classics. PRIME TIME hasdone a number on my head. Last year, in my


PRIME TIME Family Reading Time,®a unique six to eight-week humanities-based program of reading,discussion, and storytelling at public libraries and other venues, emphasizes the importance offamilies reading together to discuss significant cultural and ethical themes. Created in 1991 by theLouisiana Endowment for the Humanities, this statewide family literacy program with national

affiliates creates a precondition for all future learning by empowering parents/guardians to help theirchildren enjoy reading and improve their reading abilities.

At the end of 2010, PRIME TIME had completed 1,083 programs throughout the nation,reaching 38,905 participants. Since its inception in 1991, 536 programs have been

conducted in Louisiana; reaching over 21,800 participants. Nationally, 547 programs havebeen completed in other U.S. states and territories, reaching 16,200 participants.

PRIME TIME has been commended for its quality andlauded as a national standard for excellence inhumanities programming for children and youth at risk.National awards include The Public Library Association’s2003 Advancement of Literacy Award, The Coming UpTaller Award and The Helen and Martin Schwartz Prize.www.primetimefamily.org

Illustration by Leo and Diane Dillon from Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema


Definitive proof of PRIME TIME’seffectiveness and long-term impact onstudent academic achievement is outlined inthe study Stemming the Tide ofIntergenerational Illiteracy: A Ten-Year ImpactStudy of PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME. Theten-year impact study was completed in 2010and conducted in collaboration with the WestBaton Rouge Parish Schools and Library.Researchers found that PRIME TIME-participantstudents not only outperformed the controlgroup in the expected areas of Englishlanguage arts and reading, but also acrossother subject areas including mathematics,physical science, life science, algebra, numberand number relations, geometry, etc. Thefindings were based on grade 3 through highschool performance on iLEAP, and LEAP tests and theGraduate Exit Exam. In other words, PRIME TIME notonly impacts reading, it impacts ALL dimensions oflearning, or as the LEH has maintained: “creates theprecondition for all future learning.”

By the end of 2010, PRIME TIME achieved thecompletion of more than 1,000 programs throughoutthe nation. Since inception in 1991, 536 programs

• STEMMING THE TIDE •

have been conducted in Louisiana, reaching more than20,000 participants. Nationally, 547 programs have beencompleted in other U.S. states and territories, reachingnearly 20,000 participants. In total, after 20 years ofsustained, outcomes-driven and family-focusedprogramming, 1,083 programs have been conductedwith individual participant graduation totalingapproximately 40,000.

iLEAP Performance Ratios:# of Variables PRIME TIME Participants

Scored Higher vs. Control Group

LEAP Performance Ratios:# of Variables PRIME TIME Participants

Scored Higher vs. Control Group


graduate-level medievalstudies seminar, we werereading a very serious andinfluential late classicaltext, the Consolation ofPhilosophy by Boethius,which dates from the fourthcentury and which was ahuge influence on Dante,Chaucer, and Shakespeare.Boethius has been thrownin jail and awaits execution,unjustly, as he feels. Heimagines that a beautifullady, Dame Philosophy,comes to his prison cell andengages him in a Socraticdialogue about the trivialityof life, the meaninglessnessof material possessions, andthe nature of power. As Iwas discussing this textwith my graduate students,I suddenly had an epiphany.“It’s a prison narrative,” I said. “It's Sendak’sWhere the Wild Things Are. The protagonistimagines himself away fromhis solitary confinementand creates a fantasy worldwhere his own sense ofjustice prevails. Just likeMax in the story.” Thegraduate students,naturally, wrote all thisdown. We actually don’t need

much help in findingthe humanities. Wejust have to see themfor what they are:wonderful, rich, ideas,

glittering all around us in almost every facetof our lives and in the lives of thefamilies who attend a PRIME TIMEseries. Helping those parents andchildren find the humanities forthemselves is a very great gift thatwill enrich their lives, as it enrichesthe lives of those of us lucky enoughto work with the LEH and be part of its

extraordinary and transformative PRIMETIME program.

____________________________________Helen Clare Taylor, Ph.D., is the O.D. Harrison Jr.

Professor of the Master Of Liberal Arts program atLSU-Shreveport and a professor of English.

Illustration by Mark Buehner from Fanny’s Dream by Caralyn Buehner

Illustration by Marice Sendak from Wherethe Wild Things Are

e don’t usually associate “kiddie lit,”as it was dismissively referred to at

my graduate school, with the great ideas, withSocratic dialogue and strenuous philosophicaldebate. But actually, finding the humanitiesin children’s literature is pretty easy.

big ideas - prime time€¦ · narrative is an analogy used to teach a set of ideas. similarly, we...

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