Clemson University TigerPrints All Dissertations Dissertations 12-2011 Avoiding Engagement with 'Invisibles:' Religious Issues and the Field of English Education Robert Bruce Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations Part of the Secondary Education and Teaching Commons Recommended Citation Bruce, Robert, "Avoiding Engagement with 'Invisibles:' Religious Issues and the Field of English Education" (2011). All Dissertations. 854. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/854 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AVOIDING ENGAGEMENT WITH “INVISIBLES:” RELIGIOUS ISSUES AND THE FIELD OF ENGLISH EDUCATION A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Curriculum and Instruction by Robert Todd Bruce December 2011 Accepted by: Dr. Beatrice Bailey, Committee Chair Dr. Suzanne Rosenblith Dr. Robert Green Dr. Paul Anderson ABSTRACT This study used content analysis of selected documents representing the three dimensions of the field of English Education (curriculum, teacher preparation and development, and research) to ascertain how the field was responding to the larger societal problem that religious intolerance and ignorance pose, especially given the growing religious diversity of American society. Data from the documents were classified into four categories derived from various proposals for the incorporation of religious issues into the public school curriculum: religious literacy, religious concerns related to personal development, religious aspects of multiculturalism, and religious issues related to improved civic engagement. The documents related to curriculum analyzed in this study included national standards, state standards, policy/position statements, and American literature textbooks. Documents related to teacher preparation and developed included English methods textbooks, curricular requirements of English teacher preparation programs, blog posts, and blog comments. The research dimension was represented by journal articles. Data from the documents suggest that religious content is a part of the curriculum, but that, generally speaking, English teacher preparation programs do not well prepare teachers to handle religious issues. Where religious issues are raised, documents are most congruent with the aim of religious literacy. Multiculturalism is a concern of the field; however, religious aspects of multiculturalism are most often implied rather than explicitly stated. Personal development is a minor theme in the documents studied while the civic engagement approach was nearly invisible. This study has implications for a ii variety of constituencies, but in particular English teachers and English teacher educators. The results suggests that English teachers should be aware of the potential problems religious issues in the curriculum can raise. The work concludes with a number of possible options teacher educators can pursue to address this societal issue. iii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this work to my brilliant, beautiful wife, Chrystal. Without her encouragement and support, I could never have completed this program. Without her selfless giving of her time and effort, I could never have finished this dissertation. She is my most insightful critic, my keenest-eyed editor, my best friend, the mother to our wonderful children, and the other half of my heart. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I gratefully acknowledge the support and assistance of my advisor, Dr. Beatrice Naff Bailey. From the first time I dropped into the chair in her office, I have never parted from her without feeling supported, uplifted, and encouraged; no matter the work in which I have been engaged, our conversations always force me to clarify my thoughts and refocus on my goals. My graduate work and this dissertation would have been much less meaningful without her presence. I’d like to thank my other committee members, as well: Dr. Paul Anderson, Dr. Suzanne Rosenblith, and Dr. Robert Green. Each has added different things to my experience: inspired teaching, helpful conversations, and even book recommendations. Most of all, knowing that they would be reading my dissertation forced me to attempt to live up to my highest potential in writing it. I also acknowledge the support and encouragement I’ve received over the years from my students, my colleagues, and the administrators at Erskine College, where I’ve been working throughout my doctoral program. I am also grateful for the comradeship of other graduate students, especially my former colleague, Dr. Kelly Tracy, but there were so many others; at times, we survived because we had each other. Finally, this would not have been possible without my family being willing to do without me (and the car) so often and for so long. It will be nice for my children, Rohan and Cavan, to no longer have to think that Daddy is off-limits because he is writing. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE ....................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 Public Schooling as a Possible Solution ....................................................11 Teaching of Literature as a Solution ..........................................................14 Potential Roadblocks to this Solution ........................................................21 An Unanswered Question ..........................................................................23 Purpose and Nature of the Study ...............................................................24 Research Question .....................................................................................25 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................26 Religion and Public Schooling...................................................................27 Proposals to Address Religious Intolerance and Ignorance Through Public Schooling ..................................................39 Religion and American Literature .............................................................46 III. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................54 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................54 Statement of the Problem ...........................................................................55 Specific Research Question .......................................................................55 Research Design.........................................................................................59 Documents .................................................................................................61 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures ..................................................82 Rigor in Qualitative Research ....................................................................83 vi Table of Contents (Continued) Page IV. FINDINGS .................................................................................................84 Dimension One: Curriculum Documents...................................................84 Dimension Two: Teacher Preparation and Development Documents ...................................................................121 Dimension Three: Research Documents ..................................................144 Inferences About English Education .......................................................145 V. DISCUSSION ..........................................................................................147 Limitations of the Study...........................................................................148 Implications of the Study .........................................................................158 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................165 A. State Textbook Adoption .........................................................................166 B. English Teacher Blogs .............................................................................169 C. Textbook Timelines Dataset ...................................................................171 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................180 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 3.1 States Selected for Analysis of Grade 11 English Language Arts Standards ...........................................................................65