Saturday, October 1, 2016

"Perfectionism is the Voice of the Oppressor": Revising Gallagher's "Modeling"


I found myself nodding in agreement with general premise of Gallagher’s first chapter of Write Like This. Finding practical applications for that can excite students is a great starting point, and modeling writing, by writing in front of the class and narrating that process, helps make the task approachable. Where I want to push back on Gallagher’s argument, though, is where she emphasizes the teacher’s position as the “best writer in the room.” To teach from that perspective, when teaching writing in particular, is counterproductive to the goal of making writing seem like a discipline one’s students can master. I would argue that there are no true “expert” writers; there are just writers who keep on writing.

Let’s begin with the strategic foundation Gallagher provides: modeling. This is, undoubtedly, the way to teach writing. Get away from the content delivery model and, instead, instruct by doing. Enact, in pedagogy, the mantra of good writing: “show, don’t tell.” For teachers, this means being a “leader” for young writers, instead of a boss.


But even in Gallagher’s example of modeling, the teacher occupies an elevated plane, which creates a  widening gyre between herself and her students. This situation arises because the “quick writes” she gives as examples during “modeling” are actually good writing. The teacher self-moderates, and what goes up on the board is a pretty cogent set of sentences. I think this is a dishonest representation of the process, even if you “articulate” your struggle while choosing what to write. I propose that all the bad writing should go up on the board, too.

 

What deters students from writing, I think, is being faced with the awful writing that they produce in their own first drafts. Students will compare their text to the teacher’s, and say: “See? I can’t write like that.” Or, even worse, they will say: “I’m a bad writer.” Herein lies the problem. The first step to teaching writing is not modeling “great” writing; it is modeling how to use (please excuse the phrasing) “shitty writing.”


Conceptualizing the teacher as the “best writer in the room” can be problematic if we internalize that sense of superiority. We should, I think, strive to present the fact that all writers struggle, no matter how talented they are.  Anne Lamott wrote an amazing book to help demystify the process of writing, called Bird By Bird, wherein she posits that the secret to writing is, in fact, rewriting. As teachers who “model” writing, we need to incorporate that truth into our curriculum


We need to help detach students’ sense of self-worth from their writing. In my own coterie of writers, when we are reviewing each other’s work, we recite the mantra: “I am not my work.” This is important for young writers to understand. Okay, you wrote a first draft. Okay, it is not great. But that does not mean you are not a great writer. Look! Look at this gem hidden away in here. You would never have found that if you didn’t just dump all those thoughts out on the page. That is how one writes. And we should show students – publicly, in the front of the class – that the first draft of anything is often weak, or a struggle. Though it may not be the best verbiage to use with young writers, I adore the enigmatic Samuel Beckett’s perspective on this:


As a teacher, this lesson might be taught by showing students the process. Present them with one of your awful first drafts; then, show them several marked up versions; then, show them the literary masterpiece (or whatever) that is your final product. Show them that being a good writer is not getting it right the first time, but rather getting it right after putting in the time.


7 comments:

  1. Hello Kevin,
    I really enjoyed reading your blog post for this week. I agree whole heartedly with the whole idea of your post when it comes to ensuring that the teacher is not the "best writer in the room". I for one am not a strong writer and usually re write a lot, it baffles me how some can pull off a long essay with only one draft. That being said i agree that it is necessary that we show students that writing is a process, one that requires many mistakes and corrections. When it comes to presenting our own re drafts of something i feel like it would be more beneficial not to show our work at all, atleats not untill the very end. The reason for this is because i feel like studenst will always compare themselves to the teacher and the way they would frame things for any lesson. I feel like they would still do that throughout the correction process even if the techer demonstrtes their mistakes, but i do think it is important that we do show our own thought process to show students that we too would struggle with work that is like theirs. Overall i agree with your blog post and feel that you took this idea to another level that we as teachers should show our students.

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    1. Fabiola,

      Thanks for you comment. You said you are not a strong writer and that you rewrite a lot - that's what a strong writer does! The person who can write a passable paper in one go, but doesn't bother to revise in order to make it a great paper is the weaker writer.

      You idea of not showing the teacher's work at all is interesting. I would argue that you have to provide some basis for understanding through modeling, if only to show students where to begin. By showing a process of revision, you are ensuring that students cannot just copy your work verbatim; revision of one's writing is necessarily unique for each new piece of writing that we produce. To this end, I think modeling works if we show the MISTAKES along with the polished final product, as to avoid students becoming discouraged when comparing their first drafts to the teacher's final one.

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  2. Kevin,

    I believe you have hit the heart of the "expert" vs "novice" argument. I agree that we as teachers need to emphasize to students that we are also continuing students. We constantly learn about our subject area as time progresses and although, to our students, we may not seem to struggle as they do, we still continue to experience our own "road blocks." I believe your idea of students experiencing "shitty writing" can span across all subject areas. In math, this could help students see where common misconceptions may lay in operations. In science this could help students see how tiny mistakes in calculations could topple an experiment. In history, how events can be falsely portrayed. This is also important because it can open students' minds to other solution paths and creative thinking. I really liked your post for this week!

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    1. That's a great point about the other disciplines! I'm curious as to how a teacher could model the process of vetting primary sources in history so that common errors and mistakes are visible to students.

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  3. Kevin,

    I appreciate how you emphasize that there are no such thing as "expert writers". Like you said, modeling is a great way to educate students on effective writing skills, but it should not be viewed as the end all be all. Labeling the teacher as the "best writer in the room" creates a inferiority complex among the students. Its hard to feel as though your work is valid when it is constantly be compared to someone greater.
    Something I always found effective when I was in high school was when the teacher would split us up into groups to peer edit our papers. When you have multiple opinions and put everyone on the same playing field it allows for welcomed constructive criticism.

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    1. This is the same kind of "workshoppong" I alluded to in my post, when I talked about working with other writers who believe: "I am not my work." Having other people treat your work as such is a helpful step in achieving that mentality.

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  4. Kevin:

    I agree wholeheartedly with your critique of several major points of Gallagher. First, you are right that it is a team effort, in order to see that students are not following a “directive” but rather working as a team with the teacher to produce an essay. Modeling is a terrific way to teach the students, but how one models it makes all of the difference, and the teacher has to be self-conscious of his/her role in the modeling process. When I model, I type what students tell me to type, even if it is bad writing. Then I ask them to take the lead and refine it to make it better. This puts students in the role of being the leaders and enables them to see what is right and wrong in examples given (it also helps if you have a SmartBoard or other projector screen so everyone can see the writing being displayed clearly in neat, digital text). The teacher then just has to step in from time to time to offer guidance or advice or ideas to assist students.
    I agree with your criticism with Gallagher that the teacher is the best writer in the room and the problems of superiority and other related concerns are relevant. And displaying a perfected copy of excellent text in the beginning may discourage students if they feel they cannot write like that, but it all depends on the approach a teacher may take. You are correct that its takes many drafts before a “gem” may appear. Allowing students to work in groups to correct rough drafts and discuss it amongst themselves the correction helps with understanding cognitive processes involved in writing. In the end, it is the process that we are trying to show them. And it is slow, agonizing at times, but it can also be fun. Rather than try to do many writing assignments throughout the year, why not take that same amount of time to work on fewer essays and spend the time showing students the different processes involved and refine them as much as possible. Fewer essays, but they have the time to cultivate and refine their individual techniques.

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