Oh So That's the Definition of Andragogy

When I first read this week’s blog prompt my first reaction was “huh?” To be quite honest, I had no idea what “andragogy” meant. Thankfully, Google came to the rescue and gave the definition for andragogy as, “the method and practice of teaching adult learners; adult education.”

With that definition in mind I considered the prompt: “What is andragogy, and how might the approach help in teaching FYC?” As I’m sure I’ve made it clear in previous blog posts, my life goal is to be an editor in a big publishing house, not a teacher (I’ve even talked to Dr. Lang about working in the Writing Center in order to get some experience rather than teaching next year). If I am ever to fulfill this dream I must become familiar with andragogy because as an editor I will mostly be dealing with adult writers and helping them with their manuscripts. In the context of this prompt I guess it can be appropriate to describe my potential clients as adult students and it with this mindset that I move forward with my response.

I believe that a big part of interacting with adult students is respect. Nothing pisses off adults more than patronization (the same could be said for teenagers but usually they don’t have the life experiences to back their anger up even though they think they do). Adults have gone through life, had different experiences and it is important for teachers of adult students to remember and respect that.

There is a concept in composition called contacts zones, described by Pratt as “social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power" (462). As an editor I will be working in nothing but contact zones. I will be working with adults with widely varying backgrounds, levels of experience, and competency.

Not only have adult students experienced things no regular student has but they have also been defined by those experiences. Younger students who have yet to experience all that life has to offer can still be molded. They are much more likely to accept the teacher’s word as law. Adult students will not do that. They have their own opinions, their own ideas. Disregarding and disrespecting their ideas and opinions can only lead to disaster. To be successful in this minefield is to never forget that another human’s experiences are just as valid as my own.

Empathy is defined, again by Google, as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another” not to be confused with sympathy which can be negative as it involves pity which has the connotation of looking down on someone. In my own educational experiences I have found that I am most eager to learn from those professors that not only truly enjoy their subject but also seem to truly empathizing with their students. Empathy promotes understanding which in turn promotes cooperation. It is the cooperation between students and teachers that truly helps in education, especially in teaching adult students. Only armed with empathy can anyone in a pedagogic position at any level be truly effective.

When I Teach Composition in My Nightmares

Our blog prompt for this week was to detail our philosophy of composition in accordance with our teaching philosophy. Seeing as I have never considered what my teaching philosophy might be because teaching is not in my life plan in any way, shape or form, this particular prompt was difficult.

In class we were asked to condense our teaching philosophy into one sentence, which I did, and I’m not sure if it works, but this is what I came up with: My teaching philosophy focuses on getting students comfortable with writing by helping the student find their voice in their writing by allowing them to learn through trial and error and exploring how to apply different writing techniques to their own work.

I’ve noticed in my grading that most students aren’t comfortable with their writing. As a result, they hate having to write at all. They consider it a chore which is a shame. They don’t understand that writing can be fun and I feel that a big reason for that is they weren’t encouraged when they were younger to write whatever they want. Too often they were constricted in their younger years in their writing assignments. With that constriction came resentment. Students resent being told what to do, it’s a cornerstone of teenagerdom.

As I’ve written in previous blog posts, allowing students to express themselves in their writing is an important component of their education. I also believe writing and learning to write well is an on-going process that requires extensive, repetitive practice. I also believe that incorporating subjects the students are actually interested in will really help engage students in class discussion and encourage them to be enthusiastic about the material. Of course, sometimes you won’t be able to make material interesting and relevant to a student all the time. Sometimes you will have to tell students that the reason material is relevant to them is because they are citizens of the planet earth and it is their responsibilities as citizens to know this information.

If I were to ever somehow get suckered into teaching I would really like to focus on encouraging students to find their own voices in their writing. I would do this by assigning them work that allows them to practice their writing in creative ways that they choose. The students could then dissect their creative writing to understand the rhetorical devices they chose in order to reach their audience. I would also try to include pieces to analyze that are relevant to their interests, more contemporary pieces like Harry Potter or other works not written by old dead white guys.

I would also want to meet with students one on one over the course of the semester to discuss with them what they think their personal learning style is. I would ask the students if I need to include power points, handouts, perhaps even audio recordings of class discussions. Not every student learns the same way and it is important for teachers to reach as many students as possible throughout their careers. 

My...Teaching Philosophy and Potential Assignments?

When we were given this prompt, to write about what assignments we would give students using our teaching philosophy, well, I don’t want to be a teacher, have absolutely no interest in being a teacher, and as a result have no teaching philosophy. I wasn’t even sure what a teaching philosophy is until I did the reading for this week, to be quite honest. From what I can gather, a teaching philosophy is what you as a writer value and what you want to impart on your potential students. Well, I thought, I could work with this.

After I have completed my education my ultimate goal is to become an editor for a publishing house. With this in mind I reexamined the prompt for this week. As an editor what will I be looking for in the submissions that come across my desk? Working with this expectation, what will I want authors to have the most experience with? Thinking from this perspective, the answer came quite easily: interesting, creative content and a strong clear voice.

Keeping in line with those expectations, I feel that the assignments that would best help young writers meet those expectations are assignments that help them find their voice in the context of creating writing. Give students the ability to write whatever they want so that they can experiment and discover what works for them. Journaling exercises would help with this. Possibly have students read letters and then write responses to those letters; or perhaps one sentence prompts and let the students figure out what story that prompt seeds; or have students read stories and then talk about the different methods the authors use and discuss how they can apply those some methods to their own writings.

I feel that allowing students to find their own voice in their writings, especially in their creative writings, is an incredibly important part of the writing process. When I was in grade school all I ever wrote were research based papers which were good exercises to be sure but because there really had no creative outlet in my academics I turned instead to what is called fan fiction in which I took already established characters from published works and manipulated them using my own plots or settings. I would then take these pieces post them online where I would receive feedback from other writers on the websites but it wasn’t the same as getting feedback from those with the experience and education to help young writers learn and grow.

It wasn’t until I entered college and began taking creative writing courses that I began to receive the kind feedback that really helped my creative writing. Sure, the more academic writing helped with my overall style but I had to work hard to develop my voice in my fan fiction and then my college professor helped me refine it.

The using of spare time to hone writings skills is not something that every student does. If I were ever to be a teacher—and keep in mind if this were to happen I would try to be an elementary school teacher—I would really like to focus on allowing my students to explore their own imaginations through the medium of writing and I would give them assignments that reflect that focus.

Learning to Write Well is a Process

The ability to teach someone how to write is a unique talent, one that I, personally, do not posses which works great for me as being a teacher is not even something that is on my prospective jobs radar. However, if I were to speculate on what is hardest to teach a new writer, I would have to say that it is most difficult to teach new writers that practice is necessary, even crucial, to become a better writer.

 I spent most of Thursday grading the first round of Brief Assignments for ENGL1301 and the most frequent commentary students had about writing was that they hated it because they weren’t any good at it. I rolled my eyes more times than I could count because writing well is not something that one can do overnight. Looking back at my own first attempts at writing creatively I can tell you in no uncertain terms that I was awful. Thankfully, I kept trying. I submitted my work to online archives and got helpful feedback and suggestions and I tried again. With every story, every word typed into a Microsoft Word document or written in slanting cursive I got a little better and a little better and I’m still getting better.

 I am going to go ahead and sound like an old man waving his cane and grouching about young whippersnappers in my front lawn but this generation is the generation of instant gratification. Patience and perseverance are almost nonexistent qualities in the youngsters of today. With the advent of the internet and its plethora of online databases that take less than fifteen minutes to search this generation has become accustomed to getting results fast. What’s more, there are things we call “Life Hacks” which make life even easier than it already is. All of this it getting to the point where it’s more than a little ridiculous.

 Working hard is becoming a foreign concept to most young people and I am no exception. I am an incredibly lazy person and instant gratification is my bread and butter so I have to work to overcome that mindset in order to improve in my chosen field of creative writing. I constantly have to remind myself that instant result are not the goal, that most of what I am doing is part of a process, a long, never ending process.

 Students need to be encouraged, whether they see themselves as good writers or not, to just write. I feel that it’s important to tell students that it doesn’t really matter what they’re writing so long as they are writing. They need the practice. They need to figure out what their style is. And they need to get feedback from other writers so they can keep learning and improving. Writing takes work, long hours of hard work but the rewards are infinite and that is something that is difficult to teach in this day and age.