According to a recent article in The Telegraph, high school curriculums are dropping classic, fictional books and replacing them with non-fiction to better prepare students for the workplace. (Read More…)

Two such classics reported to be on the cultural chopping block are The Catcher in the Rye and To Kill A Mockingbird.  Perhaps I am being a little biased in my objection to this proposed policy, but these happen to be at the top of my reading list.

While I am certain I have never received employment from having read such classic books, and my love of Shakespeare never closed a deal, I do know that fiction sparked my creative mind.  An imagination, and an ability to become the "well-rounded person" is an important factor in preparing you for the workplace.

Having recently taken a barrage of assessment tests, I can assure you I was asked very little that would have been garnered by reading a technical manual.  Oh, I guess you could argue that some jobs need only technical skills.  If you are locked in a basement working alone from home with no human interaction, this just might be the case.  I have never held that particular job, so some skills I learned from reading classic literature have been important to my education.

When you read fiction it requires you to imagine the people and the places described by the author.  Most of us read books, take the black and white print and create from it a mental picture via our imagination.  An entire industry of movies and film is an outpouring of such a visualization when a book comes to life as a movie.  Without imagination I think most great ideas whether in life or business never happen.

And then there are the lessons we learn from books.  I grew up in the South in the 60's and 70's.  It was during my high school years that I read To Kill A Mockingbird.  I learned a great deal about acceptance, tolerance and the moral issues of racial inequality from reading just that one book.  

Many do not know that Harper Lee wrote the book based on an event that happened in 1936 near where she lived as a child.  While the Pulitzer Prize winning book is narrated through the eyes of a child, it is perhaps the father character, Atticus Finch whose well penned morals have been an inspiration to many for years.  I am certain perhaps a person or two may have been rightfully influenced in their beliefs or perhaps chosen the legal profession from this required reading.

While the article reports that a very interesting book on the Recommended Levels of Insulation by the EPA is a possible replacement, I am certain that would have never impacted or changed my life.  And, having read EPA recommendations as part of my career, I can say without hesitation my imagination was never once sparked.

I hope a balance will be found and the great novels are still read for generations, because the lessons learned remain important to us as a people.  Education is not simply about getting a job.