You’ve seen the movies (and I’ve discussed them before here): slam poetry in the classroom, kids sharing heartwrenching personal accounts of violence and abuse at home, teachers flawlessly responding to those stories with grace while other students listen in awe and respect.
But what is the place of personal narrative writing in the secondary English classroom? This is a question I’ve been discussing lately with other preservice English teachers, and we haven’t necessarily come to any conclusions. We know from research that writing about personal experience helps students learn the nuances of argument, develop a sense of voice, and use concrete detail – because they’re not worried about treating unfamiliar content.
At the same time, bringing personal history and experience into the writing classroom might feel invasive to students whose lives are difficult to share. It might also blur boundaries between teachers and students – which could be a good thing in some cases, but might also lead to quick burnout for the teacher.
One of my colleagues has suggested that though it’s important to give students opportunities to work through personal experiences via creative/personal writing, teachers should try to limit their comments and responses to the quality of the writing (and suggestions for improvement) rather than the personal implications of the content. That seems like a difficult challenge for English teachers – who are often a sensitive, emotionally engaged group – but I wonder what effects it might have in the classroom.
- Rachel Bowers
It’s a difficult question to answer. One does not want English class to turn into psychotherapy or Oprah. I do see where it can be occasionally valuable for a student to share an experience or expertise in a certain area… if it’s related to the topic being discussed and the student is willing to share. But it would be nice if there were alternate assignments for those students who do not wish to open their lives for inspection. At this age, the resemblance between a teacher’s authority and coercion are just too blurred. (Hopefully that made sense to you.)
I send two of my children to public schools and two are homeschooled. Because of our very BAD experience with one of the younger children in PS, we have taught our children to be very suspicious of school authority in certain situations. I’m sure my oldest son takes writing assignments as a form of forced confession, because I’ve seen the silly and superficial things he writes when he’s asked to “share personal experience.” Under other circumstances, he is a tolerable writer with vivid ideas in a gifted classroom.
Mrs. C
Oh, great. I forgot to type “blogspot” in my last comment’s website box so I’m leaving another comment. Hopefully this works.