A Response to "Reaffirming the Writing Workshop for Young Adolescents"
One of the things that has really struck me this week is how very real the pressures of testing standards are for teachers. I sort of understood in a vague way that “teaching the test” was a problem, but I think I thought it was more of a philosophical or abstract one. Instead, the teachers at the summer institute have made it very clear that it is a constant source of tension in their schools and classrooms. And that it complicates that search for integrity as a teacher that Parker Palmer indicates is central to what we do.
Which is one of the reasons I liked Lain’s article. I understand that some teachers might ultimately want to get rid of or reform the standardized testing in place in most states. And that articles dissecting the pro and cons of standardized testing would probably be beneficial for me to read. But in the meantime, I appreciate Lain’s practical advice about and rational for the writing workshop. She acknowledges the pressures of time and testing on teachers, and very clearly spells out why she continues to take the “healthy chunk of time” that the writing workshop requires. And she spells out the advantage from a perspective that teacher’s can appreciate: her students learn more and own their learning. And acknowledges that one of the advantages is that her students score higher on standardized tests. I appreciate that she doesn’t make the writing workshop sound like pie-in-the-sky, but a concrete and practical process that works.
I’m also realizing that much of the practical advice she offers could transfer directly to teaching composition in college. I’m adopting her mantra of “the one who does the work is the one who learns” for myself when I conference. I often find myself doing more of the talking when I conference with the student. I probably learn a lot! But I’m not sure that my students always do.
Unfortunately, the battering down of teachers' wills by the forceful nature of the standardized testing movement has too often resulted in teachers who become resigned to teaching writing in ways that they know are not good for their students but that meet the requirements. Happily, there are still many teachers who recognize this sad phase in education as one that will pass and who, bolstered by educators such as Lain, continue to teach from their hearts in ways that support their students' writing growth. While we wait out the reign of standardized tests, our students benefit from teachers who hold fast to the pedagogical beliefs that their gut instincts (and decades of experience) tell them work for kids.
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