Reviving Your AP Lit & Lang Courses
Bringing Relevance to AP, by AP Teacher Dr. Steve Kucinski
As with all educational systems, AP courses should evolve as the characteristics of student populations change — their interests, their demographics, their career prospects, and the environments in which they are expected to thrive. AP Lit and Lang are no exception — as AP teachers, we must ensure that our courses are appealing to students, and that once students sign up, every learning experience in class is relevant to them. It is imperative for teachers and schools to examine why students may opt not to take AP Lit and Lang. And it’s crucial to act on this.
Staring in the mirror, at times, is not fun. Within the wide lane of an AP-approved syllabus, has the content in your classes undergone significant changes over time? Have you included more diverse authors and pieces? What about assessment practices, student choice, and encouragement of innovation and creativity in the classroom? If these questions raise your hackles, keep in mind that all teachers of all levels have been struggling with how to improve instruction, engagement, and move students from “compliant to engaged to empowered” as Juliani and Spencer state in Empower. It’s a constant challenge, but in the end, it’s best for students. AP English teachers cannot consider themselves immune to this. The issue is not a cliché one about old school vs. new school or hopping on some educational fad. AP Lit and Lang are wonderful, valuable courses. If students who might normally take them are choosing not to, we need to ask why.
Or perhaps, why not? Are there some teachers who feel they cannot evolve and adjust or that they cannot, for example, incorporate student collaboration or technology or innovation in the course? If so, I would ask them simply, why not? Is the course so scripted in order to prepare students for the test in May? That attitude, while I understand it, is dangerous. That implies (and conveys to students and parents) that the test is the only value in taking the course. Some students don’t even take the test (or can’t afford it or already have credit for other AP courses). Are students really walking around saying, “I can’t wait to take AP Lit so I can get a 5 on the exam”? The trouble is that students may not be saying anything — the course merely lives on a list of options that count as English credits towards graduation. It’s been there likely since the 1950’s or when the district adopted AP courses. There may have been a time when the top students aspired to climb that mountain, that it was a badge of honor, but there are now more attractive mountains.
Are those other mountains simply easier to climb? Maybe so, but I am in no way implying that the solution is to make the class easier — to offer up the Siren Song of high grades in order to increase enrollment. Unless, of course, you are the type of teacher who thinks an AP class should grind students into a bloody pulp because you think that’s the role of a good teacher and class — those folks actually do need to lighten up.
Let’s stick to the actual questions at hand: is your class engaging and interesting? Do students feel it has a purpose? Do students feel efficacy — that they can learn and be successful? And the real kicker — is it fun? I just lost some of you — “it’s not my job to entertain the kids.” When have you ever been to a meeting or conference or training or workshop and not wanted to enjoy it and have fun? This is a universal human trait. Maslow absolutely should have included it on his hierarchy (Glasser does, in fact). Fun and learning are not diametrically opposed. If you disagree, try it. Prove me wrong. Incorporate some choice or some Project-Based Learning (aligned to your standards and the outcomes of the AP test). Help students learn to think; help them apply that to any test you feel they will ever take. Have fun doing it! Bonus: you will enjoy it, too.
Being candid, you also need to market your class. Promote it — reel them in. They know the class exists, so what else do you have to offer? Consider the quote that gets passed around on social media: “If your class were optional, would anyone attend?” Your class IS optional, and echoing my opening concerns, how are your numbers?
Your AP English class and what you bring to it are valuable. Students need the skills they refine during your classes now more than ever — and it’s going to require extensive flexibility and increased attention to relevance in order to be sure they have the opportunity (and the interest) to practice those skills with you.
Dr. Steve Kucinski is a Nationally Board Certified teacher who has taught middle and high school English for 26 years. This is his 18th year teaching at Dublin Coffman High School. Steve has served as department chair and district lead teacher in past years. He has a Master’s in Educational Administration and a Ph.D. in Adolescent Development from The Ohio State University, and is an adjunct lecturer there. Steve has a young adult novel published, Between Friends, and he delivered a TEDx Talk in Worthington in 2016 entitled, “Resolve to enjoy the goodness and beauty in each other and in life.” Currently, he is passionate about innovation and creativity in teaching and learning as well as integrating technology into the classroom. His wife, Gretchen, has taught music for 26 years, and he has three amazing sons — Austin, a senior at the University of Cincinnati studying Electrical Engineering; Grant, an incoming freshman at the University of Cincinnati studying Sports Management; and Chase, a 7th grader.
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