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Use this space to consider the answer to the above question. Think about what we discussed in class about the impossibility of imagining an audience, think about what we know about power relations from Inoue. Think about both ends of the writing experience--invention to final product, including revision.
The threshold concept of imagining yourself the identity of a writer is fraught for student writers. What can we do--can we do in assignments, in assessments, in feedback, in class policies--the move our students ever closer to this very important threshold concept.
8 Comments
Erin Slayton
10/21/2020 04:55:45 pm
So often students only associate writing with an activity they are asked to do in the classroom, whereas the hope of teachers is for students to see that they engage with literacy and writing in many different scenarios. The readings this week in Alder-Kassner and Wardle’s “Concept 3: Writing Enacts and Creates Identities and Ideologies” emphasize that literacy education should focus on social involvement and consequences, so that these aspects of the rhetorical situation are taken into consideration any time writing is occurring. To get students to think of themselves as writers, we need to model the kind of language and processes that writers use, to help cultivate that sense of authenticity in the classroom setting. Concept 3 highlights the notion that “external speech becomes internalized and then comes to frame how we think, self-identify, and act in the world” (49) so if we start using the vocabulary and vernacular of writing communities, students may start to see themselves as a genuine members of this community. When we normalize this kind of speech and model the kind of dialogue and discussion that takes place in writing settings, students can begin to see where they fit into these spaces, and how their voice can be heard among fellow writers in the classroom community. If we know that knowledge shapes understanding, then allowing students more regular involvement and access to these conversations, and being transparent about what makes a writer and who qualifies, students can take more ownership of these identities and begin to see themselves filling these roles.
Diana Cross
10/21/2020 05:14:10 pm
Andrea Hicks
10/21/2020 05:17:51 pm
Much of the reason why it is so difficult to help students generate authentic writing is because they do not see themselves as writers. Would writers only know their audience as their teacher? Too often, students will see through the strategies that their teachers work so hard to implement to allow students to be truly creative and genuine in their writing and their responses. Clark briefly addresses the inauthenticity of writing assignments that ask students to write to any audience except their teacher, because they know that it is only their teacher to whom they are writing. In class, though, we discussed if this is really such a bad thing. All writers have teachers and inspiration, and perhaps this is a place to start. If we can allow students to see their writing or language teachers as someone who is there to bring out their best work, maybe the narrative would start to shift. Maybe students would begin to accept more authority and responsibility for their own writing and their own work. This wouldn’t necessarily mean changing the role of the teacher; instead, we just need to talk about changing the way the teacher performs their role. As an English major and teacher, I am reluctant to say that we should do away with grammar entirely. I believe that grammar is important for a number of reasons. I also believe, though, that grammar becomes a trap for writing teachers. I will admit that, if I get tired while grading, it becomes increasingly difficult for me to see beyond grammatical errors, and those begin to influence the way I read a student’s writing. I think that our initial solution (and certainly not a final one) to this error is to make room for more writing that we only examine the ideas within--not the structural errors. Ultimately, I think it comes down to shifting the role of the teacher from correcter to advocate, and allowing students to write without rules.
Nicole Moscone
10/21/2020 05:30:04 pm
The readings this week all stressed the importance of the audience and developing an identity as a writer. I agree that there are problems with imagining an audience since students know the teacher is the “real” audience and the one asisgning grades. I think bringing this to light in front of the class is important. Having a discussion about that fact that the teacher is the audience since the teacher will read and grade it as well as the crafted audience the assignment involves. This connects to Inoue’s element of power, people, and purpose. Having these kinds of conversations with students about the audience can give students a sense of power. The purpose goes hand in hand with the element of audience. If students’ main purpose in writing is to get a “good grade”, it is working against the designed purpose of the assignment which may be to write to a selected audience. Perhaps discussing the purpose could be useful in having students begin to write less for the purpose of getting a grade and more for personal growth, learning to write to a specific audience, and developing writing skills. The writing topic could help engage students and give them more of a purpose and desire to be involved in the classroom writing assessment ecology.Inoue writes, “Antiracist writing assessment ecologies take advantage of the evolution of purposes by taking time out to consider, reflect, and articulate the evolving individual purposes within the ecology”(135). I think this connects to Alder- Kassner & Wardle’s concept of the identity of a writer. What we write can help shape our identity and the core of who we are. I think we as teachers need to treat students less like students and more like writers. We could focus on teaching them about the social aspect of writing and the influence the writing can have on the audience by providing them with opportunities to practice writing to various audiences while addressing the fact that the teacher is included in that audience. The use of authentic writing assessments like writing to administration about a school issue or publishing writing on the internet in the style of a blog or a newspaper column for a newspaper could provide mediums to slowly start introducing them to the world of a writer.
Clare Nee
10/21/2020 07:29:38 pm
I think to make students feel more power to call themselves writers within the classroom, we ought to give them more autonomy and freedom of ideas, expression, and execution. I’m speaking from a non-teacher perspective, so all I have to go off of is my own personal experience within the classroom, as well as the information that we have read from a variety of sources. I agree with Nicole and Erin’s points drawing back to “Concept 3” in Adler-Kassner, I think that they did an excellent job at emphasizing the significance of writing to shaping one’s own identity. One thing that is also talked about heavily in the first essay of this section is the notion of individuality, and once students are empowered to embrace individuality within the classroom, they will feel more powerful as student writers. When thinking back on my own education, I think that some of the problems with writing assignments is that they can take the individuality and expressionistic interpretation out of the classroom when students realize that they need to shape their responses to their audience: the teacher. Obviously prompts are helpful in guiding the students developmentally through lessons, but sometimes I wonder if it would be beneficial to give students the freedom of exploring their own thoughts, whatever they felt strongly enough about to want to write about. I really didn’t experience this academic freedom until college, when suddenly professors were not giving you prompts for essay responses, instead they would expect you to explore what you are interested in. I feel like kids are underprepared at doing so because they have spent a lifetime within the classroom merely answering questions, rather than fully exploring their own creativity. Some of the most powerful moments that I have experienced as a writer derived from the freedom and autonomy that I was given in the classroom as a college student, and I think that if we gave students this power earlier on, that it would help them to feel more like writers.
Carl Olson
10/21/2020 07:36:57 pm
As I mentioned in class, I truly do believe that anyone who writes is a writer. This is difficult for students to believe for themselves because they often view the title of “writer” as something that is earned - and they do not feel they have earned that title. Often, students think of being a writer as either a professional title or something someone is because they love writing and do it often. This mindset is alienating for the student because it divorces them from feeling connected to writing as a skill that is constantly improving. To clarify, by not allowing themselves to think of themselves as writers, it creates a fixed mindset that associates writing ability as something that is, at least in part, inherent and not a skill that can be worked on and improved. It is not an easy task to convince students that they are writers. The fact that several of my peers - graduate level English students - did not consider themselves writers speaks to this. I do believe that it starts with shifting the language about how we talk about writing and who is considered a writer, particularly in the classroom. Being a writer is not tied to skill level, inherent ability, or even a passion for writing. It is important to reinforce this idea, as a starting point. We must also reinforce that not only is writing a process but *learning* writing is a process. Processes take time, and that is not only okay, but good!
Maeve McDonagh
10/22/2020 03:10:06 pm
I think we can help students think of themselves as writers by emphasizing the relationship between themselves as the person producing writing and anyone who reads their writing such as their teacher or classmates. When they can see the function of their writing as a communication between themselves and whoever is reading their work they understand themselves as a writer, as someone who has something to convey with their writing. Whether the perceived audience is evaluating their writing such as a teacher or that person is simply attempting to understand their point such as a peer, the understanding that writing is a form of communication between a writer and their audience. Some real examples of activities which would help this process include a conversation journal to stay in communication with their teacher and peer editing. These activities help students see the ways in which their writing is interpreted by others who do not have the same understanding of the subject as themselves. It is also important to note the fact that professional writers are allowed to manipulate the English language to serve their purpose of making their point. Student writers on the other hand are held to a much higher standard in terms of grammar conventions. When we emphasize the point the students are making as the most important aspect of their writing, we show them that they are writers. We can show that they are simply attempting to refine their ability to get right to the point they are trying to make rather than students attempting to become writers.
Liz Brady
10/23/2020 05:57:56 am
I think that one of the things I’ve learned through my own experiences and has been validated by much of what I’ve learned in this class is that it’s so important to give students the grace and authority that a professional writer does. Establishing the notion that writing is, in fact, a process and giving students the tools and support to navigate this process can be incredibly beneficial to helping them own their work. Giving them an audience outside of just the teacher in assignments also gives them a sense of purpose that other assignments may not. Maybe even giving them regular freewriting time on topics that are lighthearted and of interest to them (“What color do you choose in Among Us and what does that say about you as a person?”) might help them get invested in their own writing. Leave a Reply. |
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