Process Pedagogy
Our readings for Tuesday by Murray, Crowley, and Faigley focused on process pedagogy. Although we discussed this topic back in ENG 601, it was interesting to read these articles now that I have started teaching and applying my own approaches to teaching to my class. Murray provides a simple, thorough description of process pedagogy in the classroom. Crowley gives a detailed history of the emergence of process pedagogy and raises questions as to if process pedagogy is really the huge departure from current-traditionalism that it is advertised to be. Faigley offers more criticism and other approaches to composition. Reading these types of analyses on pedagogy helps in reflecting on what combination of theories would work in each classroom environment that we are thrown into as GAs.
I found that I have already used some of the material from Murray's "Teaching Writing as Process Not Product" in my ENG 104 class, possibly due to having read it previously in Dr. Donnelly's ENG 690 class. Murray states that students become discouraged when judged based on the product of their writing instead of the process. They get passed on by each teacher, getting more and more frustrated with writing each time they receive negative feedback. Students end up producing "bad" writing and start to dread any writing in their classes.
I kept this in mind when I began teaching my ENG 104 class. On the second day, I had students anonymously comment on how they feel about writing, the writing process, writing feedback, etc. I told them they could link these feelings to specific experiences if they wanted to. We read these responses in a circle, and most of the responses were focused on negative writing experiences that my students had during high school or last semester's ENG 103 class. Although it was sad to hear the negative experiences of my students, they felt a sense of community through the shared experiences with writing that they had. I hoped that in making them talk out their writing anxieties, I would be able to convince them that I will be grading them differently than they have been graded before because I focus on the writing process, not the writing product. We spent the entire class period discussing any worries the students had, which seemed to help with their nervousness about writing and set a less anxious tone for the class.
As I was reading, I wondered: what other strategies do you have for easing your students' anxieties about writing caused by bad past experiences? How do you explain process theory to your students in a way they can understand?
I found that I have already used some of the material from Murray's "Teaching Writing as Process Not Product" in my ENG 104 class, possibly due to having read it previously in Dr. Donnelly's ENG 690 class. Murray states that students become discouraged when judged based on the product of their writing instead of the process. They get passed on by each teacher, getting more and more frustrated with writing each time they receive negative feedback. Students end up producing "bad" writing and start to dread any writing in their classes.
I kept this in mind when I began teaching my ENG 104 class. On the second day, I had students anonymously comment on how they feel about writing, the writing process, writing feedback, etc. I told them they could link these feelings to specific experiences if they wanted to. We read these responses in a circle, and most of the responses were focused on negative writing experiences that my students had during high school or last semester's ENG 103 class. Although it was sad to hear the negative experiences of my students, they felt a sense of community through the shared experiences with writing that they had. I hoped that in making them talk out their writing anxieties, I would be able to convince them that I will be grading them differently than they have been graded before because I focus on the writing process, not the writing product. We spent the entire class period discussing any worries the students had, which seemed to help with their nervousness about writing and set a less anxious tone for the class.
As I was reading, I wondered: what other strategies do you have for easing your students' anxieties about writing caused by bad past experiences? How do you explain process theory to your students in a way they can understand?
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI like that you focused in on that point that students are discouraged when they feel their writing is judged. And it only makes sense that they do--we are preaching process (when I say "we," I mean many teachers in our dept. and many teachers in general, including myself)--but we are hinging their grades on their ability to produce, ultimately. If you can't produce, you can't pass, bottom line.
That was a great idea that you shared about giving your students a space to talk about their writing experiences. I didn't really think about trying something like that, though in the spur of the moment, on the first day, I asked them, "How many of you are afraid or stressed when you hear the words 'research essay'?" None of them raised their hands, but sadly, I think that's because they were feeling shy and didn't want to be singled out, not because they've all had good experiences in writing classes. Thanks for sharing that activity. I'm definitely making a mental note to try it in the future.
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI like your idea for collecting anonymous responses about writing. That's a great way to help students see that they are not alone in their concerns.
Part of the problem might be that most students are coming in expecting a product-focused approach. While they may not like it, they don't seem comfortable trying to wrestle with that system, sadly content with struggling.
One way of assuaging some of these fears would be to take any risk onto ourselves as instructors. I've told my students to think about this semester as an experiment that I want them to take part in. That way, anything they aren't comfortable with can be externalized into me, rather than taking it in as some kind of personal failing on their part.
I do think I have an advantage as a creative writing person. I can pass things off as crazy poetry stuff, and can put ideas about process within that frame.
-Lucas
It's really nice that you started the semester by doing this activity; I did something similar, asking if they considered themselves good writers and to explain why or why not. It might have been more helpful if I took your approach and allowed the opportunity for anonymity, but it did help either way. I think that this could honestly do wonder wonders FOR enabling the process; beginning the process of honesty and trust has probably really set you up for success when it comes to your feedback and peer reviews. A lot of times when student get feedback they don't look at all; maybe because they're lazy (sometimes), but I think a lot of it comes from fear of rejection and fear of criticism. Creating an environment where they see feedback as out of support rather than trying to tear down, will probably make them a lot more active in the process.
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI liked the strategy you applied to make your students more comfortable in class to make them more open about their writing. I really appreciate that. Alongside, I'm also sorry about the bad experiences they had to go through. But to be honest, this is the most common scenario. Students are judged by their writing piece mostly not by the process they are encountering. That's what I oppose to.
Anyway, I think you already took a great step to make your students come out of that bad experiences. Your frequent appreciation to their efforts in writing, I think will help them to regain that confidence back again.
You can make them do little class work through the process theory e.g. giving a class activity on free writing(that's we call pre-writing), on another class You can brainstorm them on writing and on another class revising. You can do the peer review in between, make them share each-other's idea and brainstorm together.
I hope that will help.
But the most important thing is your appreciation and a clear and easily understandable grading system which will give them the assurance that they are not being judged on their product but on their effort and process(whether they are going to the right direction or not).
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ReplyDeleteNatalie,
ReplyDeleteI had a group “get to know each other” activity on the first day where I went around and asked them all about their general feelings about writing – but I think your idea of having it anonymous lends to them being far more honest in their answers.
I attempted to create an activity concerning writing process the day my class talked about drafting – I had moderate success with it, but I think I can learn from what went down and try to make it better for the future. I brought in two short pieces of creative writing – one, a finished draft that had been published in a literary journal, and one a rough draft that I had written myself (though I did not tell them that was where the two pieces were from). I had them rank the pieces of what “quality” they saw the two pieces as being, and after they had established that, to discuss what they thought the different writing processes were for each piece. The idea was to have them note that the one was perceived as a better quality because far more time was spent in revision, and to connect that with the idea that a rough draft is not meant to be the final step in the process (to give them leeway to write drafts that are not “perfect” and be okay with that, which was meant to help their anxieties about peer review, etc.). My mistake was in choosing the type of writing that I did – I assumed that choosing creative pieces would be more fun and make for a more enjoyable experience, but many of them were unfamiliar with the qualities of the genre and did not come to the conclusions that I’d hoped. It didn’t go terribly – they still seemed to get the gist of my intentions, so I think something of the sort could work if the right modifications were made.
Hi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI consider that it is a little bit frustrating for us as new composition teachers to find that there are many questions started our teaching journeys with that have not been solved yet. And it might seem worse that some of them will probably be answered only as we spend time with our students and see how they perceive some aspects of our teaching and of writing itself. However, I want to focus a little bit more on your question because that's one of mine too.
I think that more than knowing how to explain the methodology we will use to approach the class, what will really help them is our example. If they not only listen that we are going to focus on their process, but also they can see how we are concerned about their progress in every piece of writing or daily activity (I mention this last one because reading and other type of activities might also be part of the process) we have in class, they will probably understand what we value. The type of feedback we provide and the aspects we emphasize in our classes will let them know that we are more interested in their process than their product, even if we don't mention it in class.
I think it is also important to consider that they might be anxious about our expectations for the class, but we are also anxious about how they perceive our teaching. Then, as the days pass, both parts will relax a little bit more and everything will be clearer.
I love the activity you did with your students. While I had them write about what they like and dislike about writing and what they hope to get out of this class, it was only shared with me personally in writing. I should do something similar as a group of the whole class in order to foster that sense of community you talked about. I have often wondered how to combat this idea that there is such a thing as “bad writing” since it seems to be so prevalent in people’s minds. Over and over, I make comments that there is no such thing as bad writing, but I feel like it falls flat. I always see students shaking their head in disagreement. It was also something I saw working in the writing center. I think I need to do some more reading about this, but I think that allowing students to talk about their writing and those experiences that made them feel their writing was “bad” could go a long way in remedying that. Additionally, I am using some readings from a free, open-access anthology my mentor used last semester. It’s called Bad Ideas About Writing and it tries to reinterpret those common ideas we hear about writing and what good writing is supposed to consist of/look like. If anyone is interested, the book can be found here: https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf
ReplyDeleteNatalie,
ReplyDeleteI like how you had a casual conversation with your class about their feelings about writing. I think that is a great start in order to break the stigma about writing most students have coming from high school English class. I like what Murray says that "We have to respect the student, not for his product, not for the paper we call literature by giving it a grade, but for the search for truth in which he is engaged” (5). However, focusing on the student and not the product is easier said than done. I also wonder what strategies for how to bring process pedagogy to the classroom to build the student's critical thinking and creativity with writing instead of giving them a formula to follow. I think mini activities that involve a lot of free-writing and sharing would be helpful. Writing is social, and I think collaboration breeds creativity and thinking outside of the box.
Thanks for sharing!
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI love the activity you gave your students. I think the anonymous nature of the writing would help students feel more freedom and empowerment in terms of how they may address or voice their concerns for the course or writing itself. I know many of my own students seem to take the “fake it till you make it” approach and pretend to like the course, while others blatantly do not want to be there. I think by allowing you students to have a specific place and time to vocalize their opinions you are creating a more comfortable classroom environment, but also giving them a good idea of how process theory can impact their learning.
I think process theory is a great approach in theory, in that we are focusing more on the process than the product; however, I do worry that there are times where things like grading systems and university deadlines force is to work within a hybrid of current-traditional rhetoric and process theory. What do you think? Do you think our system strives to be built on process theory? How can we be better?