Have you guys seen this webpage? Letter to a high school English teacher.
It is a letter from a high school teacher to an English dept chair, complaining that his/her students tell him/her that their college instructors tell them to forget all they learned in high school. Then there is the Chair's response letter.
A friend posted it on FB; I am trying to figure out how to incorporate this into a discussion question for my students.
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3 comments:
I think there is a lot to talk about here. I think what the high school teacher is assuming, which is not always the case, that when college writing instructors tell their students to "forget what they learned in high school," it isn't always because they don't recognize that education as valuable. Often it's because we want them to try new things in their writing and not simply stick with what they know as "safe."
So maybe having a discussion with students about this about the value of "forgetting what you know," or it least setting it to the side for a reason?
-Joshua
Actually, you remind me, Joshua, I do address "forgetting what you know" in regards to forgetting what they've been taught about societal issues in the hopes that they will formulate their own opinions. But in regards to high school writing, I simply say that "xyz is high school writing," and "xyz is college writing." And that we will take what they learned in high school to the next academic level.
I actually don't feel that the five-paragraph essay is evil (as some instructors do). I think it has value on certain academic levels BC (before college). It can be comforting to have a formula to adhere to.
In fact, I teach students (those who cannot maintain control in their writing--such as myself :) about topic sentences. I don't require TS, but I feel that TS can help students control their writing. Unlike what I've done in this response :)
Yes, I think saying "forget what you know" certainly sounds dismissive to the hard work English teachers are doing in high schools. This is a great post with some great classroom fodder, Lynda. Thanks!
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