#  Learning through literature: ‘Closer to life as it is really lived’ 

 



   ![Sucher](/sites/g/files/omnuum12666/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/vpl/files/sucher.jpg?itok=1v_jP5e7) 

 

**Sandra Sucher, MBA Class of 1966 Professor of Management Practice**, teaches “[The Moral Leader](http://www.hbs.edu/coursecatalog/1562.html)” at Harvard Business School with a literature-based approach. The MBA elective, introduced by Professor Emeritus Robert Coles in the 1980s, has since been taught by a number of HBS faculty. Each course meeting is dedicated to a work of fiction, biography, autobiography, or history, and the structured discussion forces students to describe and analyze the characters’ decision in context before passing judgment. “Students are brought much closer to life as it is really lived than they are in traditional lectures or case discussions."

## The benefits 

Spanning the globe and 2,000 years, each reading challenges students to “expand their understanding of the world and their place in it as future leaders,” according to Sucher. Whether in *Washington Post* publisher Katharine Graham’s autobiographical account of her adherence to stringent journalistic standards during the Watergate investigation, or in Sophocles’ depiction of Antigone’s decision to defy the state and bury her brother, students are presented with the sort of judgment complexities they may themselves face.

## The challenges

Sucher observes that class discussions of the same readings vary year-to-year and class-to-class because students’ interpretations are rooted in their own perspectives and experiences, requiring preparation for both the planned and unplanned. “Each class is a moving target.”



 

##  Takeaways and best practices 

 



 ### Enable students to define leadership. 

Discussing literary works over the course of a semester [enables students to develop their own workable definition of moral leadership](http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/teaching-the-moral-leader), which they articulate in a final paper.



 

 ### Literary accounts force students to debate a character’s choice. 

Unlike case-based discussion of an action question, literary accounts promote deeper understanding of cause and effect and the dangers and rewards of actions. Sucher recommends sharing the pedagogy’s benefits with students so they understand the conversation’s structure. “It’s not just chatting about literature.”



 

 ### Literature facilitates very personal learning.

“The stories become part of us, and help students not only learn about moral leadership, but prepare to exercise it in their own lives.”



 

  

 

 

 

### Bottom line 

It is human nature to view one’s own moral views as the only reasonable response that could be taken. But in a literature-based approach, “students are continually struck by how differently they each think about the characters' choices.”



 

##  Related research 

 



  [### Vulnerability in the classroom: instructor's ability to build trust impacts the student's learning experience

 ](https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1mdq5o5/TN_cdi_gale_infotracacademiconefile_A448442207) This study on “Vulnerability in the Classroom” uses the social, political, economic, legal, intercultural, and technological (SPELIT) environments, called the SPELIT model, and the Kruger Iceberg Change (2011) model to analyze the impacts of changing a... 

 

 

   [### The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies

 ](https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:880e0ee8-fd22-4697-a31e-609f7518ef0c) There is considerable research evidence that well designed and well-taught ethnic studies curricula have positive academic and social outcomes for students. 

 

 

  

 

 [ More Research arrow\_circle\_right ](/intopracticeresearch) 

 

 

 

##  Related resource 

 



  [### Debate as Pedagogy

 ](/links/debate-pedagogy) Interested in learning more about how Harvard professors encourage debate in their classrooms? Read or watch these reflections from VPAL’s 2017 Debate as Pedagogy event featuring Charles Nesson. 

 

 

   [### Berkman Klein Center’s Nymspace Platform. 

 ](https://cyber.harvard.edu/projects/nymspace) Are you convinced and want to implement anonymous discussions in your classroom? Check out the Berkman Klein Center’s Nymspace Platform. 

 

 

  

 

 [ More Resources arrow\_circle\_right ](/intopracticeresources) 

 

 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ HBS ](/hbs)
- [ Into Practice Issues ](/practice-categories/practice-issues)
- [ literature-based learning ](/literature)
- [ discussion ](/topics/discussion)