Rewriting How We See Composition #1: Belief and Perspective

 

Belief and Perspective

Rewriting How We See Composition #1 of 3

Let’s begin with a story…

Most of us will recall a tale about an emperor who believed he wore fabulous clothes that everyone could see. Yet, everyone only pretended to admire the magnificent new clothes of the emperor... 

Everyone could (regrettably) see that he wore no clothes... 

No one told him or tried to persuade him otherwise but let him march unclothed down the street. No one acknowledged his faulty beliefs, allowing him to humiliate himself in front of his kingdom, unwittingly.

In a strangely like manner, we often press forward in composition instruction, utilizing old practices or approaches, but often unsuccessfully engaging our students. 

In some cases, we do so unknowingly, not knowing any better than that which we’ve always done. 

In others, we recognize the issues but don’t know how to proceed—how to change. 

In others still, we may believe that the traditional manner of teaching writing is working just fine! 

However, I’ve—as I know many others have—recognized that we must acknowledge and evaluate our beliefs about writing. 

Writing can be challenging. When the student is asked to write, the task is often met with groans, quickened heart rates, and all-consuming dread. We need to address that, for students to grow and become more motivated to write, our beliefs (as teachers and students) need to change. 

Our writing is significantly impacted by our beliefs about writing. How we feel about writing matters.

Further, as teachers, our students’ writing and success is also impacted by our beliefs about writing. Our perspectives can greatly hinder or enhance composition instruction and practice, so it is essential that we are accountable as teachers. As we do so, our students will grow in accountability and motivation.

A Bit of Mythology

            Before we can make changes in our classroom, we need to confront the sometimes-harmful beliefs that pervade teaching. Whether they stem from a hyper-obsessiveness with meeting state standards, an underestimation of student capacity, or unprepared teaching, there’s a mythology of teaching writing that undermines authentic learning and intrinsic motivation (the things that make writing fun--and yes, it can be fun). And so, here are some overarching folk tales that pervade the classroom:

Myth #1

“There are standardized tests to prepare for, so I need to focus on those—there’s no time to teach ‘authentically’—I need to teach ‘effectively’ and ‘efficiently.’”

There’s a couple things to consider here:

1) What do we really want for our students? 

Yes, the standardized tests are important because of the opportunities they can afford. However, authentic learning experiences are so much more valuable to the sustained growth and intrinsic motivation of a student. As teachers and mentors, our responsibilities go further than the standardized tests. We play key roles in laying the foundation and ever-expanding structure of students’ progression as life-long learners.

2) Authentic learning does help with preparation for standardized tests.

Let’s think about this. Authentic learning experiences help students enjoy writing. As a result, students will feel motivated, intrinsically, to engage in the act of composition.

Alright, that’s awesome.

And then the deadly critique: “Well, it’s not just about enjoying writing, they need to learn writing.” So…there’s not room to both enjoy and learn writing? Writing must be a sterilized journey to generate perfectly executed products? That sounds miserable...

Let’s back up.

Authentic learning experiences help students enjoy writing. They begin to see it as something they want to do. If students feel a desire to write, they’re going to do it more, which gives them more practice and opportunity to process and express ideas in written language, which allows them to refine and specify their abilities. Thus, they become better writers—more prepared to perform successfully on standardized tests.

Myth #2

“Authentic teaching and effective teaching are separate modes and can’t correlate with each other.”

First, a note on authentic learning:

You may be asking: this guy keeps mentioning authentic learning—but what is it? Great question. For now, know that 1) it’s a more holistic approach to learning and teaching that emphasizes making education more meaningful (and ultimately, more effective) to students through incorporating autonomy, collaboration, active learning, and relevance and 2) Authentic learning is our path to student motivation.

Back to the myth.

We see that authentic learning and effective learning are not only compatible but bolster one another. Authentic learning leads to more effective learning, as well as learning that is more readily accessible and valuable to the students. Effective learning supplements authentic learning by ensuring that specific skill sets are acquired and practiced in the classroom. Together, these teaching approaches support student growth, motivation, and learning.

Myth #3

“To motivate students to write, we need to give them rewards and punishments. (Ice cream—or the lack thereof—will get them motivated!)”

To tell the truth, this is less of a myth. 

Ice cream does motivate students—it sure motivates me. 

However, ice cream does not sustain motivation. In fact, it can decrease intrinsic motivation and make writing less appealing. Extrinsic rewards and consequences take the value of writing away from the writing itself and place it on what will occur in response to the writing. Writing simply becomes a means to an end (or in some cases a means to avoiding an end).

Another huge issue with extrinsic motivation is the opportunity it provides for student comparison. 

When my wife was a kid in public school, the number of multiplication facts she memorized resulted in how many “pieces” to a bowl of ice cream she got (the bowl, the spoon, the ice cream, toppings, and so on). She was a struggling reader, and she remembers feeling so self-conscious about how much of the bowl she was rewarded with in comparison to the other kids. Certainly, it's not helpful for struggling writers to be blatantly aware of their struggles either.

Extrinsic motivation naturally leads students to easy public comparison as they evaluate how much or little of the reward/punishment has been obtained by each student.

Myth #4

“With struggling students, we need to water down the material and focus on the basics (spelling, sentence structure, grammar, paragraphs…).”

Struggling students are already having a hard time with learning and practicing writing. They don't need to be nitpicked or beaten down with hyper focus on traditional writing practices like spelling and vocabulary. Curriculum of this manner makes students feel belittled and dwells on what they feel are their weaknesses—which, of course, only perpetuates the challenge of motivation and progress. Although these are important concepts and habits to learn, they are most effectively taught when perpetually positioned within larger writing concepts and approaches. 

Teaching comprehensive concepts allows students to revise and improve writing as a whole, rather than focusing down on diminutive details that make the writing process seem trivial and irrelevant. Surely, they need specific, individualized instruction to be able to grow, and as we help them grow their skills in composition itself (rather than only editing), we can help them see progression and meaning in their writing.

What Now?

        Our beliefs are getting in the way of motivated learning. They’re keeping us from authentic experiences and supportive, engaged communities of writers. So how do we change? Well, it begins with changing how we feel about writing. And, to change our feelings, we're going to have to change our practices. So, let’s set aside our beliefs, put our clothes back on, and march down the street a little differently.