Teaching and learning literature: Choosing 'wine' instead of choosing 'bottle'

Talking to a literature teacher while waiting for her students to take the literature exam for the 10th grade entrance exam in Hanoi, I started with an impressive number: in one school year, students have access to 86 texts and works.

Candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City before the literature exam on the morning of June 6, 2025 - Photo: THANH HIEP

Previously, the teacher said that 9th grade students only studied about 20 works in the program and the number of works filtered to be within the scope of the exam was only 12.

A big change comes from a smaller change: the test does not use material from the textbook.

The teacher said: Looking back over the year, there are things that surprise us. First of all, the number of texts and works that students have to access and read is 3-4 times more than before.

They are also more diverse, including new texts and works that do not have sample analysis and commentary available in reference books.

If in the past many people complained about the decline of reading culture, children not touching a book for a whole year, now it may be different, it will be different.

A tough, stressful exam like the 10th grade entrance exam will be a great motivation for children to read a lot and write a lot.

"Swimming in the sea of ​​texts and works, where is the shore?" - a joke for teachers but in fact, many people are concerned about how teachers can change teaching methods so that students can meet the requirements of a new essay topic.

According to the teacher, they are like having to start clearing the dense bushes to find a new path, suitable for the innovation of the exam.

When asking students to read a text or work, it must be accompanied by assigning tasks in many forms: presentation, exchange, discussion or simply answering questions and applying them to do the exercises.

There will no longer be teachers lecturing and students taking notes to memorize. Instead, teachers must help students grasp the characteristics of the genre, choosing materials based on different topics such as patriotism, family, friendship, youth, the age of technology, happiness... to familiarize themselves with.

It is a journey for students to develop necessary skills in reading comprehension, writing literary and social essays. These skills help students meet the requirements of the exam, even if the material is new.

In other words, we will choose "wine" (genre characteristics, approach, reading, comprehension, and writing practice steps) instead of "wine bottle" (language material) to give students a luggage to enter the exam room.

There were many smiles from Hanoi candidates as they walked out of the exam gate. Overcoming confusion and anxiety, they themselves felt the relief of being "liberated" from pre-determined patterns that they had to memorize and had more emotions.

"Are the students' results today something that allows you to "see the destination" on the path you have just cleared?" - another question for the teacher.

And the answer is worth thinking about: "It cannot be the destination yet. Because cultivating people is not that easy. Today's achievement is just reaching a "station" on the journey to go.

To get there, school leaders must help their teachers change their mindsets. Then it's the teachers' turn to help their students. Change is a process that takes longer than a school year or an exam."

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VINH HA

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/day-va-hoc-mon-van-chon-ruou-thay-vi-chon-binh-20250608091741823.htm