A few weeks ago we talked about a book for girls to "survive school" and the controversy that arose when using irony when giving advice.
It may be coincidence or that the ideal way to explain this literary figure, irony, is more complicated than it seems for some publishers.
The fact is that the controversy is served with the ESO 1st textbook from the Santillana publishing house. In it you will find "Skakeitor" a character that He will explain how to "avoid browns" ironically, of course.
The news jumped when a father, after acquiring the textbooks for the course of his son just started, leafed through the Language and Literature and found himself surprised to read all that and some more "pearls" in the book of text of his son, he took a picture of the page and commented on his Facebook wall.
It did not take long to join other parents concerned about these contents of their children's textbooks and pointing out that not only literature or language is explained in a textbook like this, values are also transmitted to children aged 11 and 12 With stories like that.
Some "pearls" of the text
These are just some examples with which to assess whether an 11 and 12 year old child is prepared to understand that they say only and exclusively in an ironic tone, to see what they look like to you:
"Wait impatiently for a work order, never provoke it"
"A" brown "is all work that nobody wants to do. From the point of view of the boss, it is that task of utmost importance for the strategic development of the company (...) From the point of view of the employee is to get fed up, usually as a result of the boss’s latest cool idea ... "
"Once the brown has fallen on, it can be recognized by the following symptoms: nervousness and restlessness, dark circles, difficulty falling asleep, bad milk, ..."
"If you feel like working, sit down and wait for them to pass."
"There are many more accidents at work than at rest."
Is it the best way to teach them what irony is?
The text is included in the section "Reading competence" and at the end of it, it is explained that it is an irony.
In the end, in the questions about reading comprehension you can read: “Locate the conclusion drawn from the ten postulates by the author and explain why it is ironic. Does it get the effect the receiver wants? Why?"
Some parents have not found that these phrases are going to be understood as irony by children 11 and 12 years old and even less considering the number of children in the classrooms and the few language and literature sessions that teachers have as to be able to make clear relatively complex concepts that perhaps with texts like these, become even more complicated to explain and understand.
Taking into account the conclusions of boys and girls aged 11 and 12, do you think they will perfectly understand the concept of "irony" after reading this example?
And can the teacher use the example to explain it and make himself understood or more than one of his students will think that what he has just read is too close to reality?
Are the texts more appropriate for children to learn to distinguish the irony from reality? Was there no other better way to do it or is it more intended to adapt the contents to the new ways of expressing our children?
