Literature, like art, reflects the values of a culture and there is the potential for deep personal reflection when reading literature. The problem is literature is often taught by bibliophiles who can't imagine what it is like being in the head of someone who hates reading fiction. The best lit teachers are the ones who help students see the reading of literature as a thinking task and learn the secrets to the ways in which literature is constructed. Then students can connect with the themes and ideas and have thoughts of their own.
Nothing is worse to young readers than a teacher who imposes an interpretation onto a novel as the right one and then becomes self-righteously angered over students who aren't fascinated by the ideas that fascinate them. There is a narcissism in education that invalidates all efforts to teach. It's not about the teacher or their beliefs! It should be about helping students understand themselves within the context of culture.
Shakespeare can resonate today because of the universality of the stories. But why must the first exposer be a teacher-centric slogging through pages of old english with a teacher who is so enthralled by everything Shakespeare she has a Philodendron named Hamlet? Students should experience Shakespeare as plays as intended by the author. This gives the students the opportunity to overcome the language barrier by seeing the story in context as THEY make meaning. Then the teacher can help them dive deeper as they ask questions.
Focus on the learners and have some empathy for their perspective. If not, teaching literature becomes mere ego broadcasting of the teacher and her values. Students may as well not be there for that because at the end of the course they have just navigated another authoritarian points game and haven't been challenged to think beyond themselves. Just thank God the class is over and, "I never want to take that class again" becomes the only take-away.
Beyond that, If your goal is not helping students be fascinated by literature, or math, or whatever is being taught, then you are wasting time and dooming what you value to irrelevant mutterings. The world is changing fast and authoritarian structures are falling apart everywhere. If literature instruction is to survive, teachers have to shift the focus and help answer the WHY on a daily basis with students and help them become fascinated with the world of ideas. Our culture needs our stories to transmit values. It is about who we are as a society and not simply being a mirror for the teacher to see themselves.
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