I agree with much of your assessment about the conditions that lead to
the necessity of basic writing classes and the quality of those basic writing
classes. One of my biggest problems with remediation programs is that students
have to pay for classes that they don't get credit for. If it is a requirement
of a program, some credit should be granted toward the completion of a degree.
I also think that students who test into these programs should be allowed to
take other classes simultaneously. If the student has more invested in the
educational experience, they are more likely to succeed. It's not just...I have
to take this class to get into a degree program; it's I have to complete this
class along with another class--maybe a humanities course or computer science--in
order to succeed in this program. Requiring basic writing and excluding
students from any other options sends a very clear message--you're not good
enough to participate in the institution that you're a student in. It's a very
strange position to be in, I think--and one that values one kind of literacy
above all the rest.
I also think there's a problem with the bar being set too low. I know a lot of people--some of them in my own family--who didn't succeed in post secondary education. And, I can tell you--there's nothing wrong with their brains--they're just not that good at the standard. There's a man I see sometimes on the 2 train, he calls himself Blue, he gets on the train, performs his own poetry an sells his self-published books. His background--as described by his poetry--was very difficult--drugs, jail etc. Some of his poems describe experiences he had in school--sitting in the back row...not taken seriously...he learned, basically, that if he was quiet the teacher gave him a passing grade. Talk about setting the bar low! Just be quiet and you pass. His experience speaks to an educational experience wherein people are alienated; they are not important, they don't have anything to contribute. It's really sad. Blue found a way out of the silence through poetry--his poetry is pretty good, I think, and I've read quite a bit of poetry. Many people never find that outlet, they're not compelled to speak out in the way that he is--by some inner mechanism--so, they attempt a more traditional route--school. They get the same message he did. Teachers should respect students' experiences, even if we don't know where they're coming from. It's easy to ignore people that don't fit the mold, don't perform the standard. Respect, I think, goes a long way in motivating people to learn. Classroom practices need to send the message that the students do have something to contribute and help them contribute better and in different ways. We need to teach skills that move between worlds and allow students to succeed wherever they want.
I also think there's a problem with the bar being set too low. I know a lot of people--some of them in my own family--who didn't succeed in post secondary education. And, I can tell you--there's nothing wrong with their brains--they're just not that good at the standard. There's a man I see sometimes on the 2 train, he calls himself Blue, he gets on the train, performs his own poetry an sells his self-published books. His background--as described by his poetry--was very difficult--drugs, jail etc. Some of his poems describe experiences he had in school--sitting in the back row...not taken seriously...he learned, basically, that if he was quiet the teacher gave him a passing grade. Talk about setting the bar low! Just be quiet and you pass. His experience speaks to an educational experience wherein people are alienated; they are not important, they don't have anything to contribute. It's really sad. Blue found a way out of the silence through poetry--his poetry is pretty good, I think, and I've read quite a bit of poetry. Many people never find that outlet, they're not compelled to speak out in the way that he is--by some inner mechanism--so, they attempt a more traditional route--school. They get the same message he did. Teachers should respect students' experiences, even if we don't know where they're coming from. It's easy to ignore people that don't fit the mold, don't perform the standard. Respect, I think, goes a long way in motivating people to learn. Classroom practices need to send the message that the students do have something to contribute and help them contribute better and in different ways. We need to teach skills that move between worlds and allow students to succeed wherever they want.
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