A correspondent wants to know what I wish students would learn in high school so they would be prepared for my classes at Marietta. That's a difficult question because high school is simply too late for students to learn many of the things I'd like them to know.
I would be delighted, for instance, if all my students arrived on campus with a passion for reading, but who is responsible for instilling that passion? A particularly scintillating high school English teacher can inspire or nurture her students' love of literature, but it's difficult to quantify that passion on standardized tests or justify its inclusion in the curriculum. Further, if the student's family or peer groups and popular culture disdain reading, who will help that love of reading grow?
Likewise critical thinking: high school classes can certainly introduce critical thinking skills and employ methods that encourage critical thinking, but at some point the student has to take responsibility for his own thought processes. (Or, as Dorothy Parker is reputed to have stated, "You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think.")
But I suspect my correspondent wants more practical suggestions. What should students know before they get to my class? Here are the top five items on my wish list, in no particular order:
1. The ability to adapt writing style to the needs of various contexts and audiences. (To U or not to U? That is the question.)
2. The ability to evaluate the reliability of various types of sources. Some days I'd be happy if students demonstrated an awareness that there's more to research than Google and Wikipedia.
3. The ability to locate answers to questions about grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style. I don't expect students to have memorized the MLA handbook, but if they're uncertain about whether a title should be underlined or placed in quotation marks, I'd like them to know how to find the answer for themselves.
4. The ability to write a clear, straightforward thesis statement that's not hedged about with qualifiers and weasel-words like "I feel" or "I think" or "It seems to me" or "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion so who am I to say?"
5. The ability to draw on prior knowledge combined with the willingness to put aside every pettifogging grammar peeve, every SparkNote-worthy interpretation, and every prefabricated argument in order to tackle a reading or writing task from a fresh perspective.
Sure, it would be great if all my students could spell and use semicolons and properly employ the subjunctive mood, but if all my students came to me with the five characteristics above, I'd be happy.
How about you?
5 comments:
I'm obviously not your target audience, as I'm a lowly high school sub. Having said that, I'll share what I'd like my charges to have learned before they walk into a classroom I'm overseeing: I would like it if they knew not to text in class. I'd like it if they understood that English class isn't really the place to be braiding a classmate's hair. I'd like it if they chose not to use profanity in their conversations with one another. I'd like it if they didn't think it was appropriate to stand up seven minutes before the end of class to get their backpacks in order. I think it would be nice if they didn't all feel the call of nature at the same time. It would be good if some of them decided to use the restroom between classes. I'd like it if they felt the need to get out of their desks in order to discard balled up pieces of paper, etc. (I would imagine all of this nonsense is part of the reason they aren't learning the things you want them to have learned.)
I've never heard that Dorothy Parker quote, by the way. That's quite amusing. I'll will certainly find a way to use that in conversation. Have a nice weekend, Bev! Betsy
Ooh yeah, I'm with you on all of these. I had a student some years ago who did the hair-braiding thing; girls would take turns sitting in front of him so he could mess with their hair all through class. And this week a student picked his nose during my class--not just just a few quick picks but an extended nose-picking session. He was sitting where other students couldn't necessarily see him, but I could. This is one instance in which I wish the student would have left the classroom!
I would have asked him if he was digging for gold. That usually makes 'em stop.
Really interesting post. Thanks! It seems that most of your top 5 would come under critical/adaptive thinking that you outlined above. If you don't know the answer, look it up! I wish you luck, and I hope that all your students that come your way possess those abilities!
There really is a huge jump from the ability to excel in high school to the ability to excel in college. That's why I'm so happy that Ohio has decided to adopt Common Core State Standards. These standards are challenging and rigorous and aim to bring ALL students up to the college and career ready level. Check them out more at http://corestandards.org/
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