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11 - Teaching Malory: A Subject-Centered Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2023

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Summary

Introduction

Prior to her second class in a semester-long course on Malory's Morte Darthur (assigned reading was Vinaver's one-volume Malory, Works, pp. 3–37), Molly sent in this email journal entry:

The first tale Malory tells the reader contains the account of Arthur's parents and how he came to being in this world. This story does not seem to be one of a great and noble figure; eventually Arthur's mother is forced to hope for a man to defend her part in the relationship and Arthur's legitimacy as the son of Uther: ‘there wold some good man take my quarell’ (30).

The relationship between Uther and Igrayne also starts the precedent that women are objects to be used by men for personal gain, and that romantic relationships are based on lust and satisfaction rather than love. Soon after becoming King, Arthur begins to take any woman he sees that he fancies, including his half-sister Morgause (although the relationship was unknown to him then).

Having written this response, Molly came to class thinking of it, and commented further when her response was circulated in class. Others in the eleven-student upper-division class responded in an opening discussion focused on their prior insights into the text – all emailed to the instructor well before class, and three, including Molly’s, reproduced and distributed for class discussion. The class next moved through the instructor's mini-lecture, returned to discussion, turned to another discussion topic, then to another mini-lecture, and so on throughout the class. Educators term this approach variously ‘discussion-based’ or ‘student-centered’, but by rights it is a ‘learning-centered’ approach (or, to Parker Palmer, a ‘subject-centered’ approach, as will appear below).

Unlike the learning-centered class outlined above, most college and university professors present their authors’ works in lectures: 45-minute or 75-minute lectures, concluded with a last five minutes of queries, asking ‘Do you have any questions?’, which seldom receive response. That traditional lecture approach does not reach its goal. If being lectured to once enthralled students, it is no longer the case in this age of text-messaging, email, cell-phones, and web-based course-management tools. Young Americans average eighty text messages a day; many send texts during class.

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Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2010

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