The complexity of what we need in teaching composition is often the realm in which we search. The constant questions of student’s inability or questioning the theory reasons beckons us to search for the answers in order to teach. The readings for this week mesh together as one, even though they present each other in various viewpoints. Personally, Alverez spoke to me as a teacher who struggles to be the best teacher I can be. I’m not burned out as she became, but I strive to wonder why students behave the way they do and what I can do to make their learning experiences more enjoyable and worthwhile. Alverez states, “Each teacher has to see research as questions related to their practice, which will ultimately improve the material conditions and intellectual conditions surrounding teaching.” The steps she provides for the teacher-research project are concrete and tangible. The format is something workable that I can see using to better my classroom teaching. But to understand why we do this, the KS reading became more relevant.
At first I pondered as I read “never question whether the relationship between theory and practice might itself warrant scrutiny…” When it comes to composition, I never put the idea of theory and practice as significant. Wasn’t theory and practice for scientist and mathematicians? But after reading North, I finally connect how a teacher of composition can utilize the practice they do in the classroom and relate it to a theory to find out the whys and wherefores of the piece or instruction. Making what we do pertinent is necessary for the respect of the subject matter. Up until this point, I wrote and taught writing. Now, I can see from this reading, it’s much more than a “knack.” It is an art that can be taught like strokes of a brush.
Now the LA reading bonds what Alverez was doing in the classroom to make the teaching experience for her students more worthwhile and using the foundations that KS discusses in the chapter concerning theory and practice. “The Empirical research is the process of developing systematic knowledge gained from observations…” This one definition in the introduction summed up the concept of observations and how they help the study of composition. The observations that Alverez used to figure out what was needed in her teaching were designed by the theory of LA. Hopefully by the end of this course, I can utilize the format and become better at what I do!
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2 comments:
"The constant questions of student’s inability or questioning the theory reasons beckons us to search for the answers in order to teach."
Sometimes students do ask me "Why do I have to do X?" It's easy to forget that the students may give consideration to some sort of "theory" and not just to authority. I usually respond with transparent theory if practice suggestions raise questions from students, but perhaps it would be possible to start with an open theoretical dialogue.
I was talking about this (sort of) to a fellow teacher today. The topic was non-fiction literature. My point was that English majors rarely study literature so that they can teach non-fiction yet once students leave school, about 80% of what they'll read will be non-fiction. So we should teach non-fiction in Language Arts class - and LOTS of it!
Aside from algebra and geometry class, I think that language arts class may be a class where students frequently pose the question "Why do I have to read X?" They cannot see the relevance of the canon to their lives. I surmise that we'd hear this much less often if we fed them a more steady stream of non-fiction. But will the teachers be able to handle it if they cannot teach what is most dear to them? This might truly test the theory of "If the topic is relevant, students will want to learn." Could it really be that simple?
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