Loose Canon on the Deck: Curriculum Wars of the Nineties

Author(s): Paul Douglass

Source: Pacific Coast Philology, Vol. 26, No. 1/2 (Jul., 1991), pp. 26-34
Published by: Penn State University Press on behalf of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language
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Loose Canon on theDeck: CurriculumWarsoftheNineties
Paul Douglass
SanJoseStateUniversity

In 1839,HoraceMann opened the firstNormalSchoolin Mas-

sachusetts.Wenowspeakof"TeacherTraining Programs," not"Nor-
malSchools."Buttheconceptofthe"NormalSchool"hasnotbeenlost
in thehistory ofeducation.TheNormalSchoolwas an attempt to set
standards--to control thewilderness. Itisthuspartofthelongtradition
ofattempts toformanAmerican "canon"-a tradition whicheveryone
recognizes began as a resistanceto an Anglo-European tradition. The
NormalSchoolthustakesits place as partof thegreatdreamof
universalAmericanpubliceducation.It remindsus thatbehindthe
dreamlay a desirefor"normalcy," a needto center themultifarious
American world.Establishing an American "canon"-thatrollcall of
inspiredandinspiring saintstomakeupthememory coreofa culture--
wouldbe an obvioussinequanonofsucha consolidating effort.Those
who had been recently"canonized,"like Emersonand Fenimore
Cooper,stoodat theheadofa listtowhichlaterwriters and thinkers
wouldbe added,likeringson thegreattrunk oftheAmerican cultural
tree.Theypreserved andextended thewished-for tradition,thecenter
Americasoughtbecauseitfeltitslack.
What,after all,was the"core"ofthisnewculture? A nostalgiafora
rejectedor lostEuropeanculture? A pioneerspiritwithlittleuse for
"book-learning"? Fromthebeginning, Americahas feltitselftobe,in
Emerson'swords,"formless, no
[having] terrible & no beautiful con-
densation" (Emerson inHisJournals 370).Inshort, Americawas "undis-
ciplined."It was bothproudofand disturbed by thisfact,justas it
wishedtobe bothconnected toand separatefromthetraditions ofits
manyconstituencies. The one consistent characteristicof theschool
traditioninAmericahasindeedbeena battlefor"discipline," from the
ruralteacher's needtoshowhismettle--even ifitmeantbeatingup the
class bully-to theestablishment (withMann)of theschool-dayor-
ganizedbysubjects (ordisciplines).TheNormalSchoolwasanattempt
tomartial education onthegrandscale.Inthisattempt, America looked
anxiously to the educational systems of other countries-from the
Prussianmonitorial schoolsto Italy'sMontessori Methodto (much
later)Japanese education. Atthesametime,Americans feltan instinc-
tiveresentment towardorganizedpubliceducation.Emersonalso ex-
pressedthisaspectoftheAmerican character whenhe reflected, "Our
modesofEducationaim to expedite, to save labor;to do formasses

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LooseCanonontheDeck:Curriculum
WarsoftheNineties 27

whatcannotbe doneformasses,whatmustbedonereverently, oneby

one"(ThePortableEmerson59).Infact,from thebeginning,theAmerican
traditionwas ambiguouslya heritage oforderanddisruption.
Thiswas nota consciousrealization in theAmerican public,how-
ever.Eventoday,thatpubliccontinues to"talkschool"ina pugnacious
languageevokingthepatriotic fervors ofourself-dramatizing wars,
fromthechargeup JuanHilltoColombianDrugInterdiction. Schools
have had to taketheirplace as weaponryin "Wars"on Poverty, Il-
and
literacy, Drugs.They have also been,sincewellbefore Sputnik,a
keycomponent ofAmerica's arsenalinitsbattlefordominance among
thenations.Alas,so muchwarring loosenstheartilleryon thedecksof
theS.S. Academia.
Therehasbeenaninevitable andincreasing desireon thepartofthe
professorate togetholdofthe"loosecanon."Butthisis a canonthat
willnoteasilybe secured-unlesswe conceiveitas somehowinherent-
ly "loosened,"flexible,and opento culturalex/change. In fact,there
has neverbeena singlecanon,and so, as WendellHarrishas rightly
said,"toattackTheCanonis tomisconceive theproblem" (Harris118).
Similarly,RossChambers haswarnedthat"Weareblind... whenwe
seektoopposethecanonbychanging thetitlesoftextsandthenames
ofauthors"(Chambers 20).Theproblem willnotthusbe solvedbecause
suchdebatesand struggles constitutepreciselythe"canonicity" with
whichwe struggle. Wemust,rather, seektocreatea theory andpractice
fora newkindofcanonicity--one thatassumes a "multi-vocal" canon.
Thisprojectdisturbs many because itwouldappeartoencouragethe
merging ofAmerican cultureintoglobalculture.Sucha transformation,
I wouldargue,isreallythelogicaloutcome ofthesometimes incoherent
politicalphenomenon we havecalled"America." Themany"counter-
canons"competing forthehighgroundof discussionin American
literarystudies-third world,Asian,Hispanic,Jewish, feminist, gay,
and so forth-reflectan original/continuing
predicament ofAmerican
culture,onethatnowappearspotentially itsgreatestadvantage within
a changing worldorder.
Yetwe mustrecognize thatAmericaremainsthemostparochialof
worldpowers.The twomajoreducationalbattlesthatwillcontinue
vigorously intothe'90s--oneoverpedagogy, theotherovercontent-
arerelatedand inevitably formonelargewarin thepopularmind,a
wartobeattheJapanese, Germans, and anyoneelsewhowouldchal-
lenge Americanmarketdominance.Nothinghas frustrated the
American taxpayermoreinthepastdecadesthantheslipinAmerican
worldeconomicpower;and all schools,frompreschools to graduate

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28 Paul Douglass

schools,are objectsof thatfrustration. Americanshave expected

schoolstoholdthisculture But
together. plainly, American culture has
becomemoreandmoreradically multiple,lessand lessclearly centered
in a singletradition, despitemassiveexpenditures to "anchor"this
societyin itsschools.The newspaperbringsalmostdailyletters and
editorialson how our schoolshave failedand whatto do aboutit.
Generally, theseletters expressfrustration thatwe havefallenbehind
theJapanese andotherindustrial nationsinourtestscores.Thereisalso
a widely-held viewthatAmericaneducationwentwrongaboutthe
timethatJohnDeweyappearedon thescene,and thatwe havenever
recovered fromtheill-effects ofhisemphasison student-oriented cur-
riculaandtheteaching oflearning-how-to-learn.
Archaicitmaysoundto thoseofus who havesincethe'60s been
confronting "theoppressor'slanguage,"as AdrienneRichhas called
it-but thecryof"backtothebasics"stillstirsAmerican hearts.Itis a
crythatwill be heardmoreand moreat universities, along with
criticismthatresearch-obsessed collegeinstructorsservetheirstudents
poorly.Bookbanninghas beenon theincrease,and theinfluence of
special-interest groups on curriculawill increase. Heeding not the
lessonsofthepast,statelegislatures willrespondto pressuretohold
all schools,including somehowaccountable.
universities, Weliveinan
unabatedbattleforcontrol over"outcomes," a battlethathasresulted
in heavilydeterminedcurriculaat the elementary and secondary
schoolsacrossthecountry, though there are now some hopefulsigns
ofreform. Nonetheless, callsforcontrolattheuniversity levelarelikely
toincrease, andprofessors canexpecttoseechallenges totheirreading
lists,especiallywhenthoselistsstrayoutsidewhatever one groupor
another deemstobe thetrue,theone,theonly"canon."
Whatever we do withthecanon,we shouldtrytoavoid turning it
aroundon ourselves.BythisI meanthatwe mustunderstand thatin
thewiderculture ourdoubtsandrevisions aregenerally takentomean
that,likeHumptyDumptyin Alicein Wonderland, professors decide
whimsically whatthecanonmeansat thatparticular moment--and
changetheirmindsthenext.Ifcollegeprofessors no longerbelievein
a rollcallofgreatworks,whyshouldanyoneelse?Therearesomewho
wouldwelcomethisfinalsplintering crashofthetree.Butthechanges
we haveseenarenotincoherent andshouldnotbe presented thatway.
We stillhavesomething to
veryimportant say-to each other and to
oursociety. Itis something aboutthedifficult taskofbeing"open."The
mostimportant roleeducationalinstitutions can play is in helping
Americans recognize thatthebattlehas alwaysbeenoverouridentity

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LooseCanonontheDeck:Curriculum
WarsoftheNineties 29

as a cultureand our acceptanceof differences

withinit. We should
rememberwhatwe startedfighting for.
I recallas a beginningcollegeteacherat a majoruniversityexpress-
ing to a colleaguemydesireto add textsby blackand women authors
to myAmericanNovel course. I was uncertainabout whichbooks to
pick,and I knewI needed todo muchreadingtoremedymyignorance.
My colleaguesaid, "Butwhyare you worriedabout that?Justteachthe
classics. We shouldn'tbe squeezing in inferiorbooks just because we
want to includeminorities."How does one overcomethisCatch-22of
the canon-that if those "otherbooks," like Toni Morrison'sSong of
Solomon,forexample,were partof therollcall, thatbook would have
been writtenby anotherperson?How is itthatchangecan occur?How
can the door ever be opened to othertraditionswhen openness is
equated withloweringstandards?We cannotbeginto solve thisprob-
lemwithoutseeingthatitis a centralpartofourwiderculturaldilemma
of accepting"otherness,"somethingthatis not rarefied,esoteric,or
ivorytower,but rathera problemofdaily life.
In short,thereis a connectionbetweenthe battleof the canon in
universitiesand thestruggleofAmericato live up to itsown credo,as
MartinLutherKingchallengedus to do. Plainly,itis botha theoretical
and a practicalchallenge,foritrequiresthecreationofa philosophyof
multiplicity and difference, and the promotionof public policies to
fosterit. Now, we have such a traditionalready in the work of the
pragmatists, likeJamesand Dewey, and in thephilosophyof Bergson
and otherbelieversin theopen society.To reinterpretthattraditionand
trace it to the work of our contemporaries,like Kristeva, Lacan,
Foucault,and Deleuze--that is thejob college and universityfaculty
weremeanttoplay.Ifwe can bringourselvestrulytoembracethisgoal,
notjust pay it lip service,a numberof clouds will driftoffaway over
our horizonand disappear. For no otherinstitution is thismore true
than education.That will still leave plentyof bad weather,though,
especiallyforelementaryand secondaryeducation,where the battle
brews.And herefacultymustbringtheoryto practice.
We mustshow thatthe respectforindividualneeds and creativity
is notjustsomethingwe wishfor-but somethingofimmediatepracti-
cal value: a way out of thedead-end of achievementtestingand rote-
taskinstruction. We mustremindthepublicthatwe wantstudentswho
converseand discuss freely,openly,flexibly,ingeniously.We want
themto have a livelyinterestin language-how it works,what can be
done withit,whereitspitfallslie. We wantpeople who are able to use
languageand quantitativereasoningtodefineand combatthecomplex

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30 PaulDouglass

political,educational,social, and emotionalproblemswe all confront

today.We wantthemto growup havingsome abilitytoappreciatethe
difficultyand thebeautyofwhata novelist,poet,playwright--or even
a critic--doeswithlanguage. These are our wishes,our dreams.
But for reasons which have primarilyto do with business and
administration, we have been doing theopposite in elementaryand
secondary education. We have oftendeprived studentsof choice in
their studies; taken away time to discuss or debate; asserted the
authorityofschoolboardsand textbooks;and we have turnedmuchof
learninginto"tasks."
Some of us in the college communityhave complained thathigh
schoolsand elementary schoolsare failingtoimpartthe"basics."While
we mayfeelstronglythatthisis so, we should reflectthatthiscriticism
exacerbatestheschools' tendencyto controlcurriculabyreducingthem
to rotelists containedin textbooks.We cannotreallyopen the canon
unless we confronttheunholyalliance betweenschools and textbook
publishers.
Thereis a scene in JosephHeller's Catch-22in whichMilo Minder-
binder explains thathe can't fightthe war because he has signed a
contractto delivergoods to theenemy."Maybe theydid startthewar,
and maybe theyare killingmillionsof people," he admits,"but they
pay theirbills... " (Heller251). ForMilo,the"syndicate"comesbefore
the war. We would do well to realize thatall our effortsto combat
illiteracy,to educate, to enlightenand liberateare takingplace in a
contextin which a powerfulsyndicatehas control.It is the textbook
syndicate--theone, forexample thatrules the stateof Texas with an
ironhand,and has enabled lobbyistslikeMel and NormaGablerto get
a virtual strangleholdon what goes into the books teachershand
children. This syndicate is behind the watered-down, colorfree,
odorfree,content-free teachingmaterialsthatare routinelyhanded to
starting teachers across the nation. Instructionthat is trulywhole-
language and based
literature mustproceedfromoutsidethesyndicate.
This means thatmoreteachersmustcreatecurriculaof theirown. That
means,clearly,a loss ofpower fortextbookauthorsand publishers,as
theirworkwill no longerbe mandatedon largescales forlargesales. It
means looseningand individualizing.
More people than ever beforecan "decode." Fewer are "literate."
This would be theequivalentofsayingthat80% ofstudentscan recog-
nize a bike, name its parts,and answer a multiplechoice teston the
functions of thebicycle.Butonly25% ofthosecan rideone to thestore.
And only 30% of those make it home alive. Understandably,panic

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LooseCanonontheDeck:Curriculum
WarsoftheNineties 31

continues.The more worriedwe become, the more we fall back on

dictatingcurricula,tryingto make the curriculum"idiot-proof."But
themorerotetasksstudentsdo, theworsethesituationgets.And what
kindofa teacherwantsto workin an idiot-proofsystem?
Whenit comesto curriculaat all levels,we reallyhave justtwobasic
ways to go. One directionis control,standardization,hierarchy.It is
E.D. Hirsch's list of must-readand need-to-know.Out of this cur-
riculumcomes theRigid Canon. This is notto rejectlistsof important
books,dates,oranyotherinformation. Gatheringand transcribing such
listswill continuetobe a largepartofthejob scholarsdo. "The Canon"
is preciselysuch a list,and we need it,ifonlyto focusour struggles.
But any such lists are snapshotsof the culture,takenfroma par-
ticularsocial and politicalpointofview,whichbecomerapidlydated.
And theconceptof one listforAmerica?Well, thatmightbe conceiv-
able, thoughnot necessarilydesirable,in a small,relativelyinsulated
country.But it is the wrong goal fora huge, multi-cultural society
growingever more diverse.Hirsch has spoken eloquentlyabout our
need to "center"ourselves. He does not have in mind, however,a
culturethatis centeredon acceptanceof difference, a culturethatis a
multiplicity thatmakesa unity.Butthereare othersamongus who can
speak to this. They are those who want a curriculumthat reflects
diversity, notone moreattemptto turnback theclock--and as I have
argued,thatwouldjustbe a case ofbacktothefuture, anyway!Itwould
be anotherattemptat normalizinga traditionthatbegan withmultiple
centersin the firstplace. It would be anotherattemptto prop up the
mythicaltrunkof the aging tree.To these others,of whom I speak,
America has always been a different sortof garden-unkempt,but
beautiful.WhatEmersonsaid regretfully, we say withjoy: "America..
. theungirt,thediffuse,theprofuse,theprocumbent, one wide ground
juniper,out ofwhichno cedar,no oak willrearup a mastto theclouds!
it all runsto leaves, to suckers,to tendrils,to miscellany"(Emersonin
His Journals 370). We need a new way of conceivingand representing
our multiplicity. We need a new sense of our canon,our curriculum,
and our teaching.We don't need strident"counter-canons," nor the
reactionaryismof those who, like Hirsch and Bloom, seem to be
elaborating"Notes Toward a SupremeFiction."
Actually,thatcomparisonis unfairto Wallace Stevens.You may
recall that "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction"is divided into three
sections,all ofwhichapply to our topic:"ItMustBe Abstract,""ItMust
Change,"and "It Must Give Pleasure." In thislast section,a character
named the Canon Aspirin comes to bed and meditateson his own

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32 PaulDouglass

"nothingness,"feelinghis very identityslide away. He strugglesto

re-conceivea world,to hold on to themain point,thoughhe feelsthat
it is a point
Beyondwhichthought couldnotprogressas thought.
He hadtochoose.Butitwasnota choice
Betweenexcluding Itwasnota choice
things.
Between,butof.He chosetoincludethethings
Thatineachotherareincluded,thewhole,
Thecomplicate,
theamassing harmony.
(Stevens403)
Stevens said somethingwonderfulthere.He advocated openness
and thewillingnessto re-conceivetheworldas a multi-
and flexibility
plicitythat makes a unity,a strenuouscomplexity,and a world of
evolution-what he likedto call "a project."Thatis somethinglike the
canon I envision.A project.A projectundertakenalong certainlines,
however.
This is theother,betterdirectionforus : openness,flexibility, and
freedom.In thisdirectionliesa "loose canon,"one thatchangesnotonly
withtime,butwiththebackgroundsand traditionsofthelearners.This
canon supportsa curriculumthatteachesone groupofimportantfacts
or authors,withoutnegatingothers.Such a curriculumhas open doors.
That makes it vulnerableto attacksby groups motivatedby fearand
narrow-mindedness.Butwhenitis vigorouslydefendedbythosewho
knowbetter,itis strong.
One such defenderoftheopen curriculumwas JohnDewey. Today,
Louise Rosenblatthas heroicallybroughtback a Deweyan approach to
the language arts,with its progressiveand process-orientedmodel
based on Dewey's idea of "freedomtowardthere-determination and
re-namingoftheobjectscomprisedin thesystem"(Dewey and Bentley
122). Gerald Graffhas writtenthatthe fieldof literarystudiesfaces a
crisisbecause ithas failed"torelateitselfto a generalbodyofideas that
mightgive it a relationto the social world" (Graff561). If so, then
Rosenblatthas restoredDewey to thediscussionat theperfectmoment.
She has arguedeloquentlythatto returnto a Deweyan approachis by
no meanstoaccepta sortof"anarchicegalitarianism"(Rosenblatt140).
Enid Douglass, an oral historian(and my mother),knows of my
interestin Bergsonand Dewey,and passed along thisstory:Dewey had
a graduatestudentwho wrotea dissertationon Bergson.The student
recountssittingin Dewey's officeand discussingher dissertation,a
good partof whichcriticizedDewey's theoryof reality.Dewey never
betrayedany irritation. But when thefinalcopy was about to be filed,

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LooseCanonontheDeck:Curriculum
WarsoftheNineties 33

he suddenlysaid, "IfI wereyou,I'd leave out Chapter3." Thatchapter

was on theprincipleoflifeand God. The studentsaid, "ButMr.Dewey,
I'm veryinterestedin thatchapter."
"Are you?" said Dewey. "Thenleave it in."
Dewey was not "big" on God as a subject,and likelydid notmake
his suggestionlightly.But thepointis clear.This student'sworkwas
herown. Her visionoftheworldwas whatcounted.Whateverelse we
maysayofhim,Dewey's responsewas therightone. Teachersare there
to foster others' growth, not to blast them with their canons,
Secular/Humanistor other.
We do not need a returnto an old canon thatwas always already
absentanyway.Nor do we need toa substituteanother"truer"one. We
have always had one palace revolutionafteranother,and thathas been
our "canonicity."It is up to us to disclose and to elucidatethe "loose
canon." That is, in myview, as muchas to say thatwe musttakeour
place in a changing,deeply troubledworld culture.It will necessarily
be a cultureof multiplicity,one in whichopenness is notonly "nice"
but necessary.We who do literarytheoryhad bettertryto expressto
thesocietyaroundus thesortofordera multiplicity makes,foritssake
and our own. As Stevenssaid:
A. A violent
order
is disorder;
and
B. A greatdisorderis an order.TheseTwo thingsareone.
(Pagesofillustrations.)
(Stevens215)
Whatis thetruecanon?Thereis,delightfully, no limittotheanswers
thatmightbe given.Itwill consistofthoseworksthatspeak tous about
our identityand our differences. That,if we can be open to it, will
becomeour "amassingharmony."

Works Cited

Bloom,AllenTheClosingoftheAmerican
Mind.New York:Simonand Schuster,
1987.

Ross."IronyandtheCanon."Profession
Chambers, 1989:18-24.

Dewey,J.,and A.F. Bentley.Knowingand theKnown.Boston:Beacon,1949.

Emerson,Ralph Waldo. Emersonin His Journals.

Ed. JoelPorter.Cambridge:
HarvardUP-Belknap,1982.

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34 PaulDouglass

. ThePortableEmerson.
Ed. MarkVan Doren.New York:Viking,1968.

Graff,Gerald."TextualLeftism."PartisanReview44 (1982):558-75.

Harris,Wendell."Canonicity."PMLA 106(1991): 110-21.

Heller,Joseph.Catch-22.New York:Simon and Schuster,1961.

Hirsch,E.D. CulturalLiteracy:WhatEveryAmerican
NeedstoKnow.New York:
Houghton,1987.

Louise. TheReader,theText,thePoem.Carbondale:SouthernIllinois
Rosenblatt,
UP, 1978.

Stevens,Wallace. Collected
Poems.New York:Knopf,1985.

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