Alain’s technology of reading as a pedagogical principle

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Alain's technology of reading as a pedagogical principle

Martianova M.E.

Summary

alen reading technologies

The article analyzes Alain's technology of reading, which consists of detailed reading and its discussion. Two stages of the reader's perception are determined. The stimulating effect of literary works, the developing of empathic, communicative and creative skills is proved. The educative role of studying prose and poetry is investigated. The article presents Alain's required reading list which includes the works of Moliиre, Stendal, M. Proust, H. de Balzac, L. Tolstoy, P. Claudel, and their analyses.

Key words: detailed reading, required reading list, aesthetic education, motivation, positive perception.

Introduction

The end of the XIX and the beginning XX of the centuries are marked with the appearance of a great number of new pedagogical ideas and methods. One of the representatives of philosophical pedagogy is French philosopher and teacher Alain, whose pedagogical concepts were represented at such educational institutions as Pontivy, Lorient, Lycйe Pierre Corneille in Rouen, Lycйe Condorcet and Lycйe Michelet and Lycйe Henri-IV in Paris. Alain is described as a supporter of “strict education”, which includes the development of ambitiousness and patience. According to his famous work “Propos sur l'йducation”, the specific characteristic of his concept is to teach children to classical literature, music, and architecture which aim is to promote a love for art and aesthetic sensitivity. Having studied the problem of reading technics, Alain has determined that the detailed reading was increasingly frequently replaced by skimming. Nowadays due to increased life pace and social networking websites, this problem is found to be extreme actual.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis.

The theoretical basis of the research is the works of F. Naidich, L. Rosendatt, P. Reire about reading techniques. Alain's main methods of studying are described in works of such scientists as R. Lalou, A. Maurois, J. Harzelec etc.

Previously unsettled problem constituent. Despite numerous scientific works devoted to Alain's pedagogical concept, the idea of reading as one of the pedagogical principles is not disclosed.

Main purpose of the article is to analyze Alain's perception of “useful reading” and to determine his required reading list to nourish the ability to critical thinking.

Results and discussions

According to Alain, reading is not only the knowing of the alphabet and the ability of symbol decoding, but also understanding of grammar constructions appropriateness, their variation, the combination of lexical items, bound with grammar rules. During reading a person receives the knowledge which helps him to develop a model of his thoughts and their correct expression [2, p. 61]. Each word, that we use, meets an idea and the right word picture gives us a brief overview of a person's life vision and judgments [1, p. 61].

Studying the evolutionary progress of humanity, the scientist has concluded that writing language has played a key role in knowledge transmission which helped to focus on man's mental world and variably interpret the written information [1, p. 51]. Alain has analyzed the literary genres and their influence on formation of the cognitive mind, starting from childhood till old age.

The French educator was trying to prove that the formation of a personality starts with the first days of our life. From the earliest times a song has been used as communication of information and a special mood. Enikeeva A. underlines that during the early years there is the formation of the most important vital functions and the development of brain activity. During the first, year a child's brain is enlarged fourfold and listening to songs helps not only with music and rhythm perception but also with the understanding of conversational speech and verbalization [3, p. 19]. Alain agrees with his colleague, adding that a song calms a child, it serves as a safety signal. It also forms the understanding of “esthetics” and “music and language harmony” [1, p. 11].

Poetry is one of the most difficult literary genres as it demands a lot of patience and effort. Emile-August Chartier compares it with other genres. According to him prose is “full of actions and objects, it refuses from rhythm” and a song “often misses words”. The scholar concludes that due to melodiousness, rhythm, rhyme, and meaningfulness, poetry unites all the elements of art [2, p. 15]. Good poetry is an unusual alliance of different shades of sadness: encouraging, happy, melancholic, tragic. This contrast captures and creates a “grace effect” [2, p. 14]. Alain's idea is that poetry instills a sense of beauty, harmony and empathy. Poetry is focused on transferring the palette of feelings. Its structure forms a special word order which motivates to read and reflect on the content [7, p. 315]. Reading poems stimulates:

- The development of empathic skills. A person can understand or imagine an author's feelings, it addresses the question of the necessity to listen to a different opinion, to try to understand it, to draw certain conclusions.

- Aesthetic education, the aim of which is the formation of artistic perception, the willingness to use the elements of the beautiful in everyday life, to motivate students to improve themselves spiritually and morally, to correct their behavior.

- Creative activity. The preparatory work that combines discussing ideas, analyzing details, finding ways and means for its realization, and accumulating the necessary information, is necessary to create any art project. Creative activity depends on the inspiration that mobilizes the energy potential, intuitive reasoning, appearance of new images. It is poetry that motivates, adds a sense of meaning and gives an idea of different life situations [7, p. 316].

The scientist holds the view that prose was formed by reasonableness [Blqd! Nie mozna odnalezc zrodla odwolania., c. 69]. It helps to understand human nature by analyzing the heroes' problems. Students study how personalities, with different temper and social status, build their behavior. Alain believes that an interest in literature lies in the human factor that creates genuine emotions [2, p. 85].

An important point for engaging a child in reading is a positive attitude towards literature. Alain insists that the external characteristics of the book are of great importance for the child [1, p. 64]. According to psychological research, positive orientation to the process of human perception can be provided using external or internal factors [8]. The physical properties of the book are related to external factors that influence a person's perception of reality. It can be concluded that the external characteristics of the book educate the child's aesthetic taste, cultivate interest and a positive attitude to reading.

The next important aspect is reading perception. Alain raises the issue of “fast reading” propagation. There are two stages of the reader's perception. At first, people focus on the entire page to capture key points and understand the overall content. The next step is to focus on a particular part, that often takes a short period of time. The scientist is concerned that the number of students who stop at the first stage and do not try to delve into reflections on the received information is increasing [1, p. 64]. “Incorrect” reading and lack of theoretical knowledge lead to the phenomenon when knowledge remains in a memorized phrase. German scientist G.K. Lichtenberg shares qualms with his French colleague, noting that "there are very many people who read simply to prevent themselves from thinking» [6, p. 364].

A person can perceive a limited amount of information in a short time, so after that, attention must be supported by volitional efforts or strong interest [4, p. 32]. Alain gives an example of H. de Balzac's “Lilies in the Valley”, which many readers find boring. The scientist warns supporters of this thought from "superficial reading", believing that it is the cause of their uncertain attitude. Alain sends us to a passage where the novel's heroine senses water through the wall and emphasizes a talented description of a woman's agony. Using this example, the teacher only accentuates the necessity of a detailed analysis of the work, which is impossible without careful and repeated reading. According to the scientist, it helps to concentrate and enjoy the masterpieces: “A happy person is that who can read and reread” [1, p. 110]. Moreover, the scientist suggests that a person who has achieved reading skills can be considered a mentor to others. D. Perno states that Alain's reading method transforms this process into a form of meditative art [1, p. 110], which explains about the universal values, problems, and possibilities of their prevention or solution.

Continuing the idea of a man's literature perception, the French scientist studies the unity of form and content. According to Alain, “every great work is both a poem and a thought” [1, p. 64]. He considered that from the school desk, a student must perceive this harmony, which will help him to focus on analytical reading [1, p. 66]. Alain compares style to a tool, a material condition for expressing ideas. The stylistic framing, of course, is important, but the success of a literary creation is in discovering the truth, the old truth under new circumstances, and a new design [1, p. 74]. Alain insists on learning “difficult” works to study at school. It is expected that a teacher should pay attention not only to the storyline, but also to historical details, descriptions of places and clothing [1, p. 78]. An illustration of the detailed analysis is an episode from Georges Sand's novel “Consuelo” in which the hero thinks of a new armchair, a rare piece of furniture that emphasizes the style of the room and the personality of the character. Alain is fascinated by the richness of the author's language, who uses an “energetic metaphor that reproduces the transformation from an antiquary to an expert”, [1, p. 80] which symbolizes the transformation of the person's emotional state.

Also, the French educator tries to explain the stimulating effect of literary works when admiration transforms into inspiration. The scientist believes that the true masterpiece inspires a person to creative activity, allows him to understand his nature and disposes to quest for his own “genius”. Alain emphasizes that to be motivated, a person needs to identify the idea that has fascinated him and analyze the cause of its extraordinariness [1, p. 105]. After all, the underlying key moments of the work allows the student to understand the stage of the formation of his personality.

The French scientist considered that one of the literature studies aims is to teach children to understand and respect great writers. His student D. Harzelek mentioned that the teacher never denied famous people's ideas. The constant willingness to listen and the desire to understand the geniuses' thoughts develop critical thinking and provide extensive knowledge of human capacity [5].

During his educational practice, Alain studied literary works to form a required reading list. In the work dedicated to writing, “Propos de littйrature” [1] Alain has analyzed the following works, which should help to educate a cultural, intelligent, confident and hardworking personality:

1. Moliиre “Le Bourgeois gentil homm” (The Bourgeois Gentleman). Alain regards Moliиre as one of the universal writers, as his fans are the representatives of different social classes and ages. The success of this literary artist the scientist noticed in a masterful irony, which accurately highlights the disadvantages of society and the possibility of serious consequences of domestic conflicts. The scientist compares the irony of Moliиre with “reasonable beautiful words” that make people know themselves and expose human stupidity and ignorance [1, p. 116]. The French writer did not pass the problem of education. In his work “Le Bourgeois gentil homme” Moliиre describes one of the character's lessons and demonstrates the importance of a comprehensive “deep” education, which cannot be replaced by “interesting lessons”. Chartier emphasizes that the key element of the Moliиre's style is a “good” irony. It aims to influence the audience's perceptions of vital problems and to improve the situation. The scientist stresses that revealing and understanding irony leads to the transition to a new level of knowledge [1, p. 117]. The contradiction between literal and hidden meaning creates an emotional response that alters the human world view. At the same time, irony helps a student to recognize and reply to criticism.

2. Stendhal “Lamiel”. Analyzing this novel, Alain suggests paying attention to an episode where the hero is forced to use a green holly to mask her beauty. The scientist advises using this case for discussing the topic “The idea of beauty”. The example of Lamiel demonstrates how easily people can change their appearance depending on the situation and manipulate others [1, p. 128]. At all times, the phenomenon of beauty was one of the most important content-value orientations in public consciousness. That is why it is important to include literary works which include discussion subjects about ideas and perceptions of beauty in the educational process.

3. M. Proust “A la recherche du temps perdu” (In Search of Lost Time). According to Alain, this work is unique because of Proust's new aesthetic perception of the world. Proust noted that his work was an attempt to create a series of works about the subconscious [9]. The purpose of this literary work is to analyze the characters' feelings and emotional experiences and to search the cognition method of the inner man. The author submerges into the atmosphere of the intricate relationship between dreams, reality, and memories. Alain offers the moment when through involuntary associations the main character recovers the image of the city of Combre that is associated with his childhood [1, p. 134]. This moment allows to present the topic of the interaction between our memory and the subconscious for consideration. The author focuses on the possibilities of involuntary memory that flows from the subconscious. Generated experiences and impressions prompt to past events reflections and analysis, which lead to important conclusions.

4. H. de Balza, “Gobseck”. Alain admires the detailed presentation of the main character's appearance [1, p. 160]. The description of Gobsek's facial expressions and gestures, lifestyle, and the environment is a means of explaining the hero's psychological characteristics. Providing an extended analysis of this workshop teaches students to pay attention to the details that help to identify the causes and consequences of the characters' positive and negative traits. It is important to explain to children that appearance is a unique source of information about a person's age, ethnic, racial and religious identity, social status, experience, and feelings. The thorough study of human appearance will allow students to predict his or her intentions and to determine the level of intelligence.

5. L. Tolstoy “War and Peace”. Alain admits, that rereading Tolstoy's novels, a person finds new interpretations of their morals. He supposes that the novel “War and Peace” is the illustration of condemnation of aggression and “transcendent fanaticism”. The detailed description of the war, its terrifying consequences give the true image of the whole chaos and dispel the illusion of human's invincibility. Alain offers to pay attention to the novel ' s character P. Bezukhov. Being in the center of “a terrible war storm”, Pierre is considering about all the events, weighing and summarizing them [1, p. 165]. The character's ideas allow awaking to the fact that the nature of any war is wild and cruel, no matter what its causes are. The novel has a pacific goal, to get a message to new generations that war is a phenomenon unnatural to the human spirit, which brings only death and destruction.

6. P. Claudel “L'Otage”. Alain is fascinated by the French playwright Paul Claudel, the "Catholic author" whose works should be mentioned in the students' required reading list. The French scientist gives only positive reviews to the French drama “L'Otage” and ranks it above Shakespeare's plays [1, p. 167]. The purpose of this work is to illustrate the onerous conflict not only between social classes and political ideologies but also between human ambitions and religious values. A striking example of the society and clergy imperfection is the finale of the dramatic work when for political reasons a deceived priest is forced to marry the virtuous and believing Sygne de Coufontaine with the murderer of her parents', rich and powerful Toussaint Turelure.

Conclusions and further researches directions

To conclude we can confirm that Alain considered reading to be the main educational method due to which students get extensive knowledge, understand main principles and gain passive life experience. Alain's conception of “useful reading” consists of detailed reading and necessary group discussion. The educator assures that attentive reading helps to get a sense of a literary work, educate mindfulness and hardworking. The scientist's required reading list includes such literary genres as poetry and prose, which are considered to be important for studying. Poetry is emphasized as the combination of rhythm, rhyme, and content, which helps to capture poets' moods and feelings, develop empathic skills, aesthetic education and creative activity. Prose focuses the reader's attention on plot, characters and delivers the conflict of the story. Alain's required reading list includes the works of famous writers as Moliere, Steldal, M. Proust, H. de Balzac, L. Tolstoy, and C. Claudel. The masterpieces aim is to raise the questions of the conception of beauty, generosity, pacifism, friendship, and religious values. Further research work can establish the ways of integrating Alain's conception of interaction reading in Ukrainian educational system.

References

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2. Alain Propos sur l'йducation / Alain [Electronic resource] - Mode of access : http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/Alain/propos_sur_ education/propos_sur_education.pdf (in French).

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8. Soderzhanie meropriyatiya «Razvitie kultury pozitivnogo vospriyatiya izmenenij rekreacionnoj sredy cherez rekonstrukcionnye preobrazovaniya na primere DOOC «Komanda» [The structure of the event "Development of the culture of positive perception changes in the recreational environment through reconstruction transformations on the example of the “Komanda”] [Electronic resource] - Mode of access : http://mgsu.ru/organizations/RealizDogovorov/realizat siya-2012/Ot4et_1.1.pdf (in Russian).

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