Student Agency, Authority, and Credibility as Writers
Each semester I teach, I become even more convinced that teaching writing is a journey, not a destination. And this semester has once again pushed me in that direction.
While it was just the second time I have taught the new upper-level writing/research course now part of our general education requirements (GER), it was in my 100-level GER course that has struck me hardest, notably when a senior student sent the following message with a revised submission of the course major cited essay:
Attached is an updated copy. I don’t know if I have already said this, but thank you for being so helpful in all of these drafts! Also please let me know if it is going in the right direction or if I need to consider larger changes as opposed to these smaller edits.
This was the fifth submission of the essay, and the student has also met with me to conference about needed revisions.
What stands out here is the not-so-subtle message I have been receiving from this student and others—the “smaller edits” comment. Another student, exasperated, came very close to stating directly that I am being arbitrary and nit-picky.
My 100-level students are perfect examples of the problems associated with how a culture of grades degrades learning—and especially inhibits students from writing with agency, authority, and credibility.
Often, I am the first—and only—teacher who holds students accountable for foundational obligations related to formatting submissions and applying essential aspects of citation and scholarship.
Students have either had points deducted for formatting and citation or have simply been told they have “mistakes,” but that theses are mere surface elements and thus not really important. Here, I think, is the seed of CONTINUE READING: Student Agency, Authority, and Credibility as Writers | radical eyes for equity
