Engagement, The Holy Grail
It wasn’t hard to
come to my topic and research question. I got there fast, but then changed
multiple times. If anything I found myself regretting the questions I didn’t
follow, and every day I find myself becoming more and more convinced that the
questions that I couldn’t explore will not disappear.
All of my questions
and many of our questions have revolved around what I see as the holy grail of
engagement. How many of the issues that disrupt my classroom really boil down
to a lack of engagement? What could my classes accomplish if they cared and
understood the purpose in everything we do? A student’s reluctance to discuss
heady issues might have to do with my classroom climate or my particular
techniques, but I’ve had great discussions in classes that I didn’t feel that I
had established a great classroom climate nor had I looked for or used
particularly special techniques. I’m looking at many of these TIW’s and
thinking that this is what we’re truly after.
I know my strengths
and I play to them as much as possible. But I’m also keenly aware of my
weaknesses. When the frantic end to the year dissipated and I found myself with
time to really dig into my workshop, I realized that the original passion I’d
felt for my topic was missing.
I’d wanted to spend
my time examining what literacy meant. My district has been implementing
changes based on a perceived need for better literacy. Our kids can’t read, and
we have to go into emergency mode to fix it. My problem has been that the
measures seem skewed and disagree with both anecdotal and academic evidence I
have. Part of my passion had a pin put in it by the fact that my school
district listened to my and the reading teachers’ concerns and are working this
summer to implement many of the changes we suggested. The other part melted
away when I began examining the research on reading and reading tests. Clearly
this was a question for doctoral research.
So, what then? I channeled Dylan’s mellow voice, “Find
your stuck place…” he purred. Where am I stuck? A wave washed over me – faces
of students, their questions ringing in my ears, colleagues weary faces as I
watch them burning out – so many stuck places. I’m stuck wondering how to lead
from a non-administrative position. I’m stuck wondering how to save a great colleague
who is allowing anxiety and negativity to pull him closer and closer to the
abyss of burn-out. I’m stuck trying to find a way to connect my classroom and
my school to its community. I’m stuck trying to find ways to bring my students
along with me to the places I want to take them. I'm stuck trying to figure out
how to make sure that I don’t joke myself out of ever being taken seriously.
Now I’m stuck being stuck.
There’s Dylan again, “Something you want to overcome, a
place that you want to look closely at to find a way through or around or over
it.” What can I control? I can only control my behaviors. I can’t make sure
they’re fed or loved or nurtured or encouraged, but I can ensure that when they
walk into my classroom I’ve spent the right amount of time and effort in
preparation to engage them.
My question revolved around using philosophical inquiry
as the fuel for discussion in my class. I had three particular students in mind
as I wrote and researched and presented. Victoria was absorbed entirely in
grades. She was blunt and clear in that she saw value from my class in its
placement on her resume and the A she had damn well better earn. Heather had
nothing but distaste for teachers – all teachers. Her sighing and eye rolling
was always centered on how asinine my questions had to be, how I couldn’t
possibly have a point to what I’m asking, how she was on to my schtick, and I
needed to give it up. Jasmine was the most upsetting: a smart, kind, eager
student her sophomore year who had soured on her classmates. Their comments
were met with non-verbal derision – some of which prompted harsh reaction from
me.
What I realize was missing from them is really buy-in
and connection. Engagement. Maybe philosophical inquiry will help, but so might
incorporating technology, using creative writing techniques, connecting writing
to professional fields the students are deeply interested in, examining the
constraints and choice of genre, and engaging students in direct investigation
of grammar through the use of exemplar texts.
I didn’t find all the answers. I’m still trying to
narrow the possibilities of where the answers might come from. But I think that
I’m learning every day. I’m intrigued by the idea of varied methods of
expression helping to get students engaged in deep critical thinking. My
students write mirror poetry when responding to literature, but I think that
their desire to create might be a way of helping them get to the deep end
without them even realizing it. I’m starting to think that the more I can
camouflage deep, analytical thinking, the more successful it might be. Why not
let students engage in criticizing elements of pop culture as long as the
discourse can stay academic? More and more, people-who-know reiterate that the
common core will be about what kids can do, not what they know. If a student
can compare and analyze the depictions of womanhood in “Call Me, Maybe” and
“You Oughta Know,” does it matter that the media isn’t classic literature?
I’m also sure that
I’ll keep adding to the answers to this dilemma as I watch more TIW’s. What’s
amazing to me is how a community of learners can come together and inquire
openly and help each other directly and indirectly.
