What could be better than curling up with a good book? How about a little learning with your literature?
Earlier in the year our unit ran an in-person event at the Open University Library, the LDS LINK event (Learner and Discovery Services, Learning Innovation and Knowledge for those who like two acronyms for the price of one) . All of the teams in the unit came together in a big, lovely conference-style extravaganza, with each team setting up their own little booths or activities to tout their wares, showcase services, or just show off the cool stuff they’d been up to recently.
It was a fantastic way to come together as one big team, and for many of us, it was the first time we’d seen each other in person in years. In some cases—it was the first time ever.
I had the pleasure of setting up a little podcasting booth as part of the day’s festivities, and, along with my colleague and co-host Mark Williams, we decided to take advantage of our location (the Library) and our passers-by (frightfully clever edu-folk) to ask a deceptively simple question.
What and how do we learn from books?
More specifically, we snuck up on our guests with a nice ice-breaker—then hit them with the big stuff. Here were our questions:
- If you could forget a book and read it again for the first time, what would it be?
- What’s the best thing you ever learned from a book? How?
- Reflecting on that, what do you think is one way that books can support or facilitate learning?
We had some cracking conversations with our guests and a few of the day’s speakers. You can find all of them up on the Pedagodzilla.com podcast feed under the LDS Link event 2024 category. Go check them out—they’re about ten minutes each, perfect for a between-meetings cup of tea and biscuit break.
So, down to the protein and potatoes of the thing: what did we learn?
Books So Good They’re Worth Forgetting
First, we learnt that the good folk of LDS are very well-read! Here’s the reading list for the aspiring amnesiac, and what you might draw from them on the first read:
- The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield: To reframe coincidences in life and see everyday interactions as opportunities for growth.
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: To celebrate history and enjoy a heartfelt story with a powerful ending.
- Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys: To give a voice to a marginalized character from Jane Eyre, rewriting the narrative to explore themes of identity and humanity.
- Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: For a dark exploration of identity, trust, and perspective (plus a great film adaptation).
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: For profound wisdom on compassion and kindness.
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding: For rich themes of human nature and societal fragility (and to hopefully erase its imprint from Steve’s mind!).
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: For a powerful exploration of creation and responsibility.
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck: For an illuminating look at identity, relationships, and acceptance.
What Have We Learned From Books, and How?
Ice broken, we homed in on our focus: what had people specifically learned from books, and how did those books facilitate that learning?
It was a doozy of a question, and one that had some long thinking silences edited out of the podcasts, but our guests came up trumps with some deep and philosophical perspectives on what books can teach us and the process behind that learning.
Here were our big themes:
- Perspective and Connection: Books give us a way to connect with different viewpoints. Whether it was Wide Sargasso Sea offering a voice to a marginalized character or Celestine Prophecy encouraging openness to life’s coincidences, books were seen to deepen our empathy and understanding of others. The immersive nature of reading—inviting the voice of an author into your head—gives a real sense of connection to the ideas they discuss and the tales they tell, allowing us to view the world from perspectives we might never encounter otherwise.
- Reflection (on humanity, and other animals): From Fight Club to Lord of the Flies, several of our guests spoke about how books help them reflect on human nature and think critically about their own place within society. In an increasingly loud world, reading is a blessedly quiet, self-paced medium that gives us space for reflection, allowing us to better understand the complexities of both ourselves and others.
- Growth: Books can help shape us as people and how we interact with the world. Stories like The Little Prince are timeless because they tap into our emotional core, providing lessons on kindness, compassion, and joy, while Frankenstein offers a one-of-a-kind exploration of the ethics of creation and the responsibilities that come with power. These stories not only entertain but help us grow by prompting us to reflect on how we engage with the world.
- Critical Thinking: Books also challenge us to think deeply and critically. Fight Club, with its exploration of identity and reality, pushes readers to question societal norms and their own assumptions. By presenting itchy and uncomfortable ideas, books create a safe space for readers to explore different concepts, re-examine their own beliefs, and transform their own learning (funnily enough I have a book chapter on this!).
- Immersive Learning: Books offer a kind of immersive learning that no other medium quite matches. They let us step into another person’s shoes and experience their journey—whether it’s John Steinbeck’s deep exploration of relationships in East of Eden or Anthony Doerr’s richly woven historical narrative in All the Light We Cannot See. This immersion fosters empathy, allowing us to internalize these experiences at a remove in a way that feels personal and impactful.
Why Books Matter in education
Writing this article, and listening back to the conversations, two things jump out. First, that my colleagues and co-workers at the OU are a wonderfully eclectic and well read bunch, and second that books are a remarkably flexible tool in the arsenal of educators.
You’ll note that no one’s GCSE textbooks came up in these discussions, no dictionary, encyclopedia or Haynes manual of a 1995 Vauxhall Corsa. Instead, we see the kinds of inclusive (multiple perspectives and connections) learning experiences (immersive and experiential) and learning outcomes (reflection, critical thinking) embedded in the kind of literature you can pull off the shelf at a second hand bookshop for two pounds a time.
Books have always offered a medium for personal and intellectual growth. It’s no coincidence that a reading list often forms the ground floor of a university teaching. Perhaps something we can do as educators is be a little more transparent with students about our intentions with the occasionally bewildering and frequently expensive reading list, and the kinds of impacts they’ve had on us as individuals and professionals.
“We think you should read Braggart’s Subject Specific Primer because it gives you a lot of the context and background information you’ll need to get up to speed quickly with the subject. Timmy Bimblet and the Dragon of Thunderstuff is also on the list, because Timmy’s struggles with goblin juice addiction and acquisition provide an apt analogy for market drivers in our own subject.” ~A. Strawman
Tortured decontextualized metaphors aside, (which would never make their way past the editors and publishers of proper books), be it for self directed, accidental or curated learning, books continue to hold potent pedagogic power in the educator’s arsenal. They prompt thought, show new ways of thinking, expose to experiences and perspectives, and broaden horizons one turned page at a time.
Banner image: via Canva / ClarissaBell