Let’s start our journey at the beginning or at least at the beginning of the twentieth century…as a new decade dawning educators and researchers noticed that the pedagogy driving our nation’s efforts to instill in students the ability to write was ineffective and guess what, it still is to this day. Thomas Newkirk’s research reveals articles about the struggles faced by English teachers as they endeavored to teach writing to the nation’s youth. Newkirk notes that F.A. Barbour claimed that “Young people do not learn to write well by trying to apply rules of any text-book to their writing, but unconsciously rather” (2). Instead of being force-fed the different rules and regulations of the written word, Barbour noted that students needed to experience writing as modeled through their reading and personal experiences. He claimed that only through modeling, continued practice in areas of interest, and the constructive criticism of teachers could skillful writing be achieved. You would think that after one hundred years someone would have finally listened to these accounts and done something about it.
Combine the disdainful reality of the “test-prep” writing classroom of today with the stagnant concept of the “normal” schoolroom and there is no wonder as to why American students lack effective writing skills. The static imaginings of both what writing and schooling “should” look like has left its mark on America’s education system and is best summed up in Newkirk’s assertion that “if an English teacher from 1900 visited a school today, he or she would feel strangely at home” he juxtaposes this image with a comprehensive list of some of the major technological advances that have been made in the course of the century to further add illustrate the anachronism of the American classroom today (5).
In order to correct the situation at present, educators need to move beyond the perennial teaching of the five-paragraph essay and explore both new and creative ways of teaching writing to students. Kimberly Wesley’s article “The Ill Effects of the Five Paragraph Theme” presented me with the type of heresy I always imagined would send a teacher to the depths of Dante’s Inferno. She presents a strong argument as to why the five-paragraph essay should not be the end-all-be-all of secondary writing instruction. To put it simply, she argues that the system limits the student’s ideas, critical thinking, and complex analysis while emphasizing organization over content.
Another moment of brilliance can be found in Jeffery Wilhelm’s interview surrounding the current emphasis on testing. Wilhelm pointedly illustrates the unrealistic format and basis of the testing writing skills. I specifically remember—and I am sure others do to— being told by my high school teachers to focus only on my writing skills when taking my state exams. It was, “The content doesn’t matter, make something up that answers the prompt if need be, just be sure to write a nice five paragraph essay with all the important parts and you will pass.” How is that a realistic assessment of a person’s ability to write an essay? How does that demonstrate reality? Wilhelm goes further to explain how such exams teach students to be dishonest and do not teach them the realistic processes of writing as found in the real world. In the real world, writers have time to think about their topics, outline ideas, write drafts, discuss their drafts with others, edit and revise their pieces, and, eventually, come up with something that is worth the time and effort. These tests offer no glimpse into the real world and will only present kids with a false sense of the truth. Wilhelm claims that, “If you get a dumbed-down test, you’ll get a dumbed-downed curriculum, and kids are not going to learn what real people do. They are going to be disenfranchised because they are going to know they are just ‘doing school’” (15).
In order to change the writing pedagogy, we as educators need to think far beyond the five paragraph essay and standardized writing tests and help students by providing them with opportunities to write genuinely, risk-free, and with enough frequency to ensure skills develop through constant practice. Students do need guidance from their teachers and this can be given in three ways outlined by Dornan, Rosen, and Wilson, as the creation of a supportive environment in which the natural processes of writing can mature, the presence of encouragement and coaching in their guidance as an instructor, and the presentation of appropriate instruction on structure, form, audience, purpose, and other aspects of writing. In doing this, teachers can help to create an environment that allows students to explore writing and the many different genres found within its branches. Tom Romano’s Multigenre Research Project illustrate one way in which students can break free of the dominant expository form and experiment with using different genres to present research. In doing this, students gain experience and confidence in their writing as they practice manipulating the English language to fit their needs. As Romano notes, “Writing is a big world mural, not a snapshot” (88).
As teachers, we might forget how monotonous, trying, and difficult it was to write and present our materials to others; the pain of handing over something you spent hours sweating over only to have it returned dripping in that abominable red ink. In order to better understand and sympathize with our students, we need to be sure that we are actively presenting ourselves as writers alongside our students. Reid professes that she forces her graduate students to write difficult assignments and to explore their writing, and to reflect on their writing experiences in order to provide them with a better sense of community and empathy with their future/current students—something she claims to have recognized herself in the process of writing the article. To me this serves to emphasize the importance of providing students with opportunities to write without the fear of red ink and to continually return to the page ourselves in order to maintain that painful, anxiety-ridden, authorial affinity with students.
http://www.users.muohio.edu/romanots/
This resource link ties directly with Tom Romano’s section from Teaching the Neglected “R” and will be very beneficial to anyone who is thinking of utilizing his multigenre research project in their classroom. The site provides more information on the mechanics and development of the project, rubrics, and examples of his students’ work. Many, if not all, of the information can be reworked into a secondary school setting and still see the same successful results.
