Curricular reading refers to reading connected with the educational objectives in the school curriculum. It can be divided into school curricular reading and to some extent leisure reading. Both take place with educational objectives in mind and under the guidance of a teacher or supervisor. In addition to direct reading participants, both are also monitored by other groups of curricular readers (e.g., teachers, experts, civil society organizations, and the media). This can grow into polemics if curricular readers object to a book selected by the decisionmakers—either for the secondary-school leaving exam, the Cankar Award contest, the school reading program (Sln. bralna značka), or a literary award—claiming it is inappropriate for students. What bothers them most is when a book contains a (sexual) topic or (vulgar) language and can be classified as radically unconventional, with the possibility of corrupting young readers. Two examples of a polemic response are presented, and a few reflections are outlined on how to deal with this with various types of curricular reading.
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