Soap Box Rant: Common core is the Killer of Humanities

I was at a backyard neighborhood party talking to a graduating senior a few weeks ago and we got into a discussion of possible majors that she might be interested in when she goes off to college. She wasn't sure about whether or not to pursue a degree in science or to stick with literature and as we discussed possible options on how to navigate each, it became clear to me that this 18 year old girl did not know what the term humanities means.

And then if I am to be completely honest with you, I actually couldn't quite put my finger on an exact definition myself while I was sitting out by the backyard fire. I mean, don't get me wrong, I had an idea, a generalized version of it in my mind, but really why were all of the literature, drama, and arts all considered part of humanities? I did what everyone this day and age does and Googled it to find out what exactly humanities were, and a quick quote from this article from the Huffington Post captured it perfectly:
         "When we study the humanities we study people, only not psychologically or biologically (although those fields do come into it from time to time). Mainly we’re learning about how people in earlier ages or faraway places created the world they lived in, and how the world they lived in made them the people they were. And while studying the many different subjects contained with the humanities, we inevitably end up learning about more than simply past or distant cultures. We end up learning how we create the world we live in now, and how the world we live in makes us the kind of people we are."

I immediately reflected on all of my amazing literature classes in college and the connected philosophies and ideas that opened my eyes and my love of literature to a whole new level. So how was it that this 18 year old girl really had no idea about this concept?  And then it took me two seconds to realize exactly what the problem was...the Common Core.

As an ELA teacher I have often found the Common Core standards to be a ridiculous box that has limited our teachers and students since its adoption in 2009.  This densely defined document outlines  thousands of skills that need to be mastered by the end of a student's academic career. Here are a few that I am responsible for each year: 
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.5
Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Of course these common core standards ARE important, and getting students to be able to accomplish these tasks are relevant, but are they what the true focus should be as we read with our students? While it is important to determine how a sentence fits into a larger paragraph, isn't it just as important, or even more so for our young readers to connect with the stories, the characters, and the experiences that may engage them to become more empathetic thoughtful humans? Why doesn't the common core ask educators to look at how characters deal with problems in a book and view it from alternative perspectives to gain a deeper understanding of the situation without judgment? What about taking context of a novel written to reflect our  history to connect it to the social injustices that we still see in our world? Or if you look at writing standards, why is it that the only skills of importance according to CCSS is to be able to write informational, persuasive, and narrative pieces? What about poetry? Lyrics? A reflection of nature? Why doesn't the common core focus on these? Because you can't measure human experience like you can measure skills. 

I wonder if while teachers focus on the nitty gritty details of how to teach each strand of standards, does the passion get lost? My experience has shown me that those who have a background in humanities can still get kids to seek the deeper meaning of life, and teach the connections between us all, even while working with 2nd graders. But what about the teachers who are just trained to be generalized K-8? Do they use the CCSS as the Holy Grail of what is important in teaching kids to read because someone (without any experience in the classroom or without humanities) determined it should be so?

Maybe I am wrong. In fact, I hope I am.  I hope that teachers are able to connect our kids to the humanities side of literature rather than just locking in on just the skills. I still see many educators who realize their biggest responsibility is not to just teach kids how to "master" a task, but to become reflective humans capable of empathy and independent thought so that we as a society "we learn about the world we live in now, and how the world we live in, makes us the kind of people we are."