As a teacher myself (though I don’t teach literature), I wonder what teachers can do to mitigate this problem. Just allow students to read whatever they want, at any pace they want? That would help the motivation issue, but would likely create other problems, like students reading books far below their reading level and teachers unable to guide students’ analyses of every book. Of course, even if teachers wanted to do this, they’re probably prohibited by curricula that demand students read specific texts. It’s a bit unfair to solely blame the teachers for teaching a particular book that they probably would rather not have taught in the first place.
As a teacher myself (though I don’t teach literature), I wonder what teachers can do to mitigate this problem. Just allow students to read whatever they want, at any pace they want? That would help the motivation issue, but would likely create other problems, like students reading books far below their reading level and teachers unable to guide students’ analyses of every book. Of course, even if teachers wanted to do this, they’re probably prohibited by curricula that demand students read specific texts. It’s a bit unfair to solely blame the teachers for teaching a particular book that they probably would rather not have taught in the first place.