Sharon's blog inspired me to look at Shaughnessy's article called "Diving In: An Introduction to Basic Writing." Leo Strauss's quote "Always assume that there is one silent student in your class who is by far superior to you in head and in heart" leads us to the core of what it means to "Dive In."
Teachers of basic writing students must reevaluate their own thinking about the teaching and learning process. What do the students need? Why are they in a basic writing skills classroom?
We do not have any easy answers to these questions. Each student will move across the learning spectrum over time, and we certainly don't want to pigeonhole any of them based on preconceived notions. The best way to find out what a student needs is through inquiry and open dialogue.
Teachers must welcome new students as they ride "the tide that brings them into the nation's college classrooms."Both parties need to dive in, get wet, and soak up the rays of knowledge radiating from a mutual relationship based on teaching, learning, and respect.
1 comment:
Teaching, learning, and respect-what a great combination! In all three the key is providing a two-way street between teacher and student. We need to learn not to be rigid in how we attempt to teach our expectations of individual students. Vicki, in her blog, decries the classification of Basic Writing as "dumbing down". If we teach, learn, and respect ourselves and our students and encourage them to treat us the same perhaps the ability to learn, share, and communicate will happen?
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