I teach a unit on the Hero’s Journey to my seventh grade every year. This comes after a unit called Who Am I? that delves into who the students are themselves: their families, their backgrounds, the people they know best. At the end of the year we do a unit called Night of the Notables, where they pick a notable person, research them, create a biography, do a slideshow presentation, and finish off with a monologue that they write themselves and perform (we did it on Zoom this year).
My heroes journey unit starts with the subway hero in New York, an African-American man who jumped into the subway to save a young white man. We use a TED Talk that looks into what makes heroes, the main point being networking. I give them three photos of people saving people and ask them to write a Hero story based on what they see. I use Joseph Campbell’s hero clock that outlines the steps involved to becoming a hero to give them some structure. The goal, other than research and writing, is to get them to understand that they are their own hero. We plant the seed of heroism and that gives them the opportunity to react in a heroic way when the call to adventure arises.
Hello,
I recently saw an article that in Massachusetts, DisruptTexts had The Odyssey removed from a school’s curriculum. I understand your mission, but I am confused as how it applies to this epic. I would greatly appreciate if you could inform me on why you advocated for the removal of The Odyssey.
Thank you!
Hi Max,
We do not advocate for the removal of specific books from any curriculum. That is not what Disrupttexts is about. Please see the page on our mission and vision for more information about what we DO advocate for.
“We do not advocate for the removal of specific books from any curriculum. ”
Nonetheless it sounds like that is what has happened following your intervention. Is this correct, and was it your intent?
Please read the About statement or anywhere else on the website for information about our intentions. You will find they have been consistently and clearly stated for several years now. We are not an administrative organization and do not claim to have national or global authority over individual, school-based or district curricular decisions.
disrupttexts.org 
I teach a unit on the Hero’s Journey to my seventh grade every year. This comes after a unit called Who Am I? that delves into who the students are themselves: their families, their backgrounds, the people they know best. At the end of the year we do a unit called Night of the Notables, where they pick a notable person, research them, create a biography, do a slideshow presentation, and finish off with a monologue that they write themselves and perform (we did it on Zoom this year).
My heroes journey unit starts with the subway hero in New York, an African-American man who jumped into the subway to save a young white man. We use a TED Talk that looks into what makes heroes, the main point being networking. I give them three photos of people saving people and ask them to write a Hero story based on what they see. I use Joseph Campbell’s hero clock that outlines the steps involved to becoming a hero to give them some structure. The goal, other than research and writing, is to get them to understand that they are their own hero. We plant the seed of heroism and that gives them the opportunity to react in a heroic way when the call to adventure arises.
LikeLike
Hello,
I recently saw an article that in Massachusetts, DisruptTexts had The Odyssey removed from a school’s curriculum. I understand your mission, but I am confused as how it applies to this epic. I would greatly appreciate if you could inform me on why you advocated for the removal of The Odyssey.
Thank you!
LikeLike
Hi Max,
We do not advocate for the removal of specific books from any curriculum. That is not what Disrupttexts is about. Please see the page on our mission and vision for more information about what we DO advocate for.
Regards,
The DT Team
LikeLike
“We do not advocate for the removal of specific books from any curriculum. ”
Nonetheless it sounds like that is what has happened following your intervention. Is this correct, and was it your intent?
LikeLike
Please read the About statement or anywhere else on the website for information about our intentions. You will find they have been consistently and clearly stated for several years now. We are not an administrative organization and do not claim to have national or global authority over individual, school-based or district curricular decisions.
LikeLike