Through this assignment, I hope that you will see that we can write for reasons other than to earn a grade and for audiences more varied than teachers. We can write to change the world. Unfortunately, the typical writing assignments in school give students very few meaningful reasons to write and often silence students' voices by disconnecting them from real audiences. In this course, though, we dare to be different. I am proud of you and honored to learn from you.
Write on,
Jessica
“If you're going to be passionate about something, be passionate about learning. If you're going to fight something, fight for those in need. If you're going to question something, question authority. If you're going to lose something, lose your inhibitions. If you're going to gain something, gain respect and confidence. And if you're going to hate something, hate the false idea that you are not capable of your dreams.” - Daniel Golston
As your instructor, I feel obligated to say something eloquent, wise, or powerful to finish a semester that has been filled with risks and hopefully rewards in terms of lessons applicable to our lives in college and beyond. Ultimately, I hope that this course has convinced all of us of the importance and urgency of raising our voices.
Effective communication is critical to succeeding in the personal and professional roles that we will occupy in our lives. As we have seen this semester, language has the power to transform us and our world whether for better or worse. It is less important to me that you can follow MLA protocol for formatting documents and more important that you are able to articulate your ideas in such a way that demonstrates critical thought driven by passion and informed by research. This ability is important because it is practical as we have heard from the experiences of our speakers. We will each be called upon to speak out and rally others around our ideas if we want to make a difference—which we can and will do.
I have been so impressed by your ability to tackle the writing projects in the course as well as by your willingness to listen and to share in our conversations in class. We have seen how writing—the best writing—results from a process that links passions to ideas to questions to research to arguments to action. It is a process that involves risk and makes us vulnerable because we know that we will be judged and because there is a quality of permanency in words. Therefore, we must have courage. With courage comes a willingness to embrace and inspire change.
As we move through our lives, I hope that we will all find some usefulness in a lesson or two from the course. Perhaps, that lesson came from a speaker. Maybe, the lesson was learned in a blog post. An encouraging word or conversation with classmates could even house the lesson. From you, I have learned that humans are resilient. This resiliency is bolstered when we have someone else who believes in us more than we believe in ourselves. I have also recognized that there is hope for our world because you are in it. Humor accompanies hope, and it is quite alright to laugh a little (or a lot), too. In addition, I have recognized that it is important to use my language to elevate others, not to keep them oppressed. Furthermore, I have come to understand just how remarkably creative humans are. Finally, I know that the baggage that we carry and the obstacles that we create for ourselves cannot and should not keep us from acknowledging the beauty we possess as human beings.
It is my hope that you will take advantage of the freedom and responsibility to raise your voices according to the integrity of your spirit. Furthermore, I hope that you will always choose to live life on your own terms. Please know how grateful I am to have walked with you briefly on your journey’s path. You are smart. You are talented. You matter to me and to the world. Feel free to keep in touch and to reach out to me if I can ever be of assistance.
With tremendous love and respect,
Your student and teacher,
Jessica
1. –Noun. Physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension
2. –Noun. The experience of a college student.
College students report more stress now than they have in the last quarter century. This finding is included in the 2010 Freshman Norms study of college students published by the
Explanations of the causes of the increasing stress levels are less than clear. Certainly, adaptation to collegiate life is stressful. Students making the transition to college direct from high school must navigate the demands of a new institution—some are more than prepared and others are under-prepared. In addition, universities like The
What has changed? Some hypotheses noted by researchers connected to the report include the troubled economy or the inclusion of more students with mental illnesses on campuses because of expanded services through offices for students with disabilities. I would suggest that given the increasing necessity of a college degree for success in the workforce, more students are attending school. However, they are not necessarily leaving other commitments behind; more often than not, they cannot afford to do so. In fact, on a regular basis, I see how much more complex students’ lives are than mine was when I attended The
Can you identify? What contributes to your stress? How do you manage your stress levels? Do we want it all, but cannot handle it all?
Despite this rather stressful news, students also report being more driven and confident in their abilities. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of the students surveyed are satisfied with their experiences on college campuses and are optimistic that their degrees will result in higher incomes in the future.
Personally, I am optimistic about your futures though not because I envision all of you as millionaires. Instead, I am optimistic because you have incredible gifts to share. Still, I want you to have lives that are balanced. I am in no position to judge the other responsibilities that may keep you from performing at your optimal levels in this course or your other courses. However, I am in a position to set high and clear expectations, to support you, and to encourage you to make choices that keep your stress levels low and your optimism levels high.
The role of social media as a platform for change has been seen in the protest movements of the last year. During both the Arab Spring and the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, internet forums like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs raised and continue to raise the voices of many individuals who augment their power by connecting to the motivations of others. Social change aside, much writing occurs through digital communication, and this writing should not be foreign to the classroom if we are preparing students to meet the world.
As a believer in the power of writing, I am aware that our educational institutions often ask students to complete tasks that offer them no real purposes for writing and no real audiences for their messages. We ask students to craft five-paragraph essays and research papers, but are these forms useless outside of the classroom? I have certainly never been asked to write a research paper for any of my bosses who instead prefer that I can craft a well-written email or memo. Even if we think more broadly than job preparation as a function of education, I do not write research papers for personal enrichment or connection to others, choosing instead love letters, emails, blog posts, and thank you cards. Yet, what I have gained from academic research papers have been abilities to think critically and deeply about issues, ask questions, support my ideas, and communicate clearly. Who is to say that these same deliverables cannot be granted through the use of more updated forms of writing in the classroom?
Blogs have found their place in this English classroom, but I still sense that I am behind the times with the use of Facebook and Twitter. A student even suggested that I text him his homework. While these modes are often shunned because the conversations or thoughts are not considered as "deep" given the limitations on words/characters, an argument could also be made that because writers must sell a point as efficiently as possible the posts could necessitate more careful crafting rather than mindless rambling.
How can we feed the hunger for reading and writing mini-byte-sized messages in the classroom to give students the skills to succeed outside of the classroom? Is this new media simply a craze, or could it be the cure for remedying students’ passions for writing? Why do you write? In 140 characters or less, you decide.
P.S. As a motivator, The New York Times celebrated National Day on Writing by asking the public to tweet reasons why they write. A couple of inspirational bytes (#whyIwrite) are below:
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.” Anais Nin
“Because I don’t get paid to tweet.” ~Andrew Shaffer
Ken Robinson's ideas on education resonate with many of my personal pedagogical perspectives.
As I am passionate about recognizing and developing the often discounted potential and voices of our students, I keep the following quote close to my heart.
"There are too many brilliant kids in the schools who think they're not." ~Sir Ken Robinson
Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution! | Video on TED.com
If this talk interests you, you may also wish to view his 2006 speech on how schools are killing creativity as well as his 2010 RSA Animate speech on changing our education paradigms.
Our American culture is marked by its share of super heroes—men and women who choose to challenge the status quo. To the extent that heroes inspire us, they are beneficial. To the extent that they allow us to abdicate our responsibilities, they are immobilizing.
What are we, as a community, to do as we dedicate a memorial to one such hero tomorrow while we simultaneously work to forgive ourselves for his death day? The problems often seem massive or worse disconnected from our lives. If Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were alive today, he would most likely be discouraged by the progress that our community has made on issues of social and economic justice.
At the same time, he would be encouraged by our victories. Initiatives like Common Ground and Racism to Reconciliation are helping our community to heal from the racial wounds that continue to afflict us. Organizations like the Church Health Center are addressing the disparities in access to healthcare. Workers Interfaith Network is empowering workers to overcome economic injustices like wage theft. Project Hope is striving to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. CHOICES educates our community’s members on sexual health to prevent the spread of STDs, unplanned pregnancies, etc. LaunchMemphis is promoting the entrepreneurial spirit that lives in Memphis in hopes of generating large-scale economic benefits. The Tennessee Equality Project is advancing and protecting the civil rights of our LGBT community members and their families. The Door of Hope Writing Project delivers the message of so many men and women who are overlooked because of their experiences with homelessness. MPACT Memphis is drawing attention to the voices of young professionals like us who must be heard and kept in this community. We will dialogue with some of the people who are championing these causes this semester, but the list of good people working for the good of Memphis is even more extensive. We should consider ourselves among them.
Let us consider how we can use our words and actions to demonstrate a more powerful respect for individuals whose lives are different from own privileged existences. We can also use our words to question and critique an acceptance of a status quo when it is damaging. What are our responsibilities as individuals who have access to the freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Individuals who have heroes like Dr. King to inspire us to do our part as educated and engaged citizens of our local and global communities?
We are all heroes in the moments that we choose to speak up and argue against the injustices that most deeply affect us—to argue for our passions. I have been so impressed by your willingness to share your experiences of raising your voices. We will celebrate the victories, and continue working for our truths and our passions.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” ~Dr. King
I am unsure if you have encountered any lopsided professors in your studies at The University of Memphis or in your primary or secondary education, but I am frightened by the thought that these individuals—and our drive to produce more of them—are scaring away perfectly normal and quite brilliant students.
In Memphis, there are 9,000 individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 who are not enrolled in school, not employed, and have not finished college. Have we alienated these individuals by the somewhat alien-like approaches to which we cling in education? More specifically, has our focus on the development of academic skills so separated students from their passions and has our emphasis on following the rules so stifled creativity that students are disenfranchised and disengaged because they do not see the relevancy of education to their lives?
Students have an easier time asking instructors for directions and a harder time identifying any genuine direction for their lives. Yet, they are intelligent, and their brilliance is essential to our success as a community both locally and globally. If they do not have the ability to understand themselves and their passions, the degree definitely does not signify an education.
Regularly, I hear students tell me all of the activities that they cannot do. However, I wish that we could nurture students who were aware of their talents and potential and who feel valued for the contributions that they can make in the classroom and in the world because of the classroom…contributions that go beyond lopsided, disembodied professors unless, of course, that is their goal.
Research lends evidence to the claim that college students are not learning. Are you?
The book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa critiques higher education institutions based upon a sample of 2,300 students from 24 unidentified schools; the students at these schools do not show substantial progress on a standardized test as a result of instruction during their first two years of college. The test is designed to measure writing, complex reasoning, and critical thinking, and the students’ performance demonstrates that they are not only not acquiring these skills but also that they are not reading and writing in substantial amounts for courses.
Given the importance that we place on having a college degree, the claim made by these authors that our students are not learning much in college deserves some examination. One condition of participation in this study was that universities who participated could remain anonymous. Therefore, we know nothing about the schools though we are told that this sample is "representative." Furthermore, we must keep in mind that the standardized test measures how well students perform on the standardized test, and therefore, it may not be a reflection of whether the students are learning.
However, while "researchers are still learning how to measure learning," it is notable that college students may not be doing enough reading and writing and thinking to have the practice needed to develop these skills. In our knowledge economy, it is less important that students memorize facts and more important that they can think critically, communicate well, and collaborate with others. However, these abilities do not develop magically. As students shared on the first day of class, the degree is important, but the experience of being in college should prepare them for success in their given careers in such a way that is engaging and practical.
While discouraging, the results are not surprising. Learning, at its best, results in personal and systemic change. However, instead of embracing change that results from a spirit of critical inquiry, educational systems prioritize the stagnation of tenure, the rigidity of standardized test questions, and the deference to the authority of the teacher figure. These mentalities are creating a crisis from kindergarten to college as students and teachers are forcibly locked into mindsets and patterns of behavior that do little to promote the real value in education. The questioning and creation of ideas as free-thinking humans is critical to self-actualization and a removal of the bars that irrelevant curricula are welding.
For institutions of higher education, the battle is, perhaps, more difficult as students must overcome at least thirteen years of indoctrination in classrooms that have often not begun with the students’ needs or tapped into the students’ passions. Undergraduate students suffer particularly because they are often silenced by higher education structures that reward research by professors and graduate students but do little to empower undergraduate students to think critically and creatively. Certainly, there are many outstanding professors, instructors, and teaching assistants who have managed to blend research with teaching in a way that is engaging and meaningful for the students. However, many undergraduate students at research-based universities are faced with out-dated lessons that are far removed from the realities of life. It is a status quo of imprisonment.
Locally, we are working to cultivate and retain college graduates. The Memphis Talent Dividend Project is designed to increase the number of college graduates in our community from 23.7% to 24.7% (or 8,002 graduates)--an increase that could generate $1 billion in economic development. These numbers are appealing, but if there is not an equal emphasis on the quality of the knowledge or skills learned that will be useful to the students as they enter the workforce, I am unconvinced that we as local and national participants in a knowledge economy will have any advantage.
What is the alternative to selling our students a degree with no accompanying knowledge or practical skills? How do institutions of higher education respond to the need for critical thought that sparks revolution in an era of unquestioned messages and malaise? As costs for higher education rise at faster rates than the perceived value of these degrees by both students and employers, what can be done to ensure that students and communities are able to capitalize on the value of learning and thinking that leads to acting? How do you learn? What do you want to learn?
You might also be interested in Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids—and What We Can Do About It.
“But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.” ~John Stuart Mill
Do not believe everything you think. A wise friend of mine shared with me that his Life List includes changing his beliefs on something that he always held as the truth. This idea sparked reflection about my own truths. Which thoughts are worthy of belief and which ones should be questioned? I have been conditioned on what to think not necessarily on how to think even though the ability to think is essential to humanity. Consequently, many of the messages in my head are not my own. I suspect that I am not alone in holding truths that are created by others’ messages (language) that have become ingrained into my thoughts without any questioning of these beliefs. Fortunately, as human beings, we have the intellectual prowess to think critically and re-examine our truths and the truths of others.
Truth and the freedom to express truth are central to Banned Books Week celebrated from September 26th until September 30th. During this week, we honor the privilege to think, read, and write. According to the American Library Association, the week is important for raising awareness of “intellectual freedom — the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular.” With this freedom, we have a responsibility to challenge ourselves and each other to discover the truth, if there is just one.
Whether for vulgar language or sexual or violent content, the banned and challenged books cause offense because they violate another person’s idea of the truth. Yet, is censorship the most productive way of handling truths that contradict our own? Have not our greatest inventions and social changes come from individuals who have the courage to take action on ideas and truths that may seem crazy or unpopular?
The challenging and banning of books recognized in Banned Books Week are just an example of how the truth is told or suppressed. This course will allow us to explore what constitutes the truth and whose truth is the truth. Do words put in motion, whether floating in our heads, on paper, or in the air, create the truth? Does the truth change? If so, what role does language play in the process of change as we research, analyze, question, and dialogue about ideas that may or may not be true?
We remember a time when we were more invincible and less vulnerable. A world in which the lexicon of “terror alerts”, “axis of evil”, “ground zero”, and “extremism” did not possess the same connotations for our national psyche. Nostalgically, we lower ourselves into a pre-9/11 past with the flags at half-mast asking and answering the question: “Where were you when…?”
I had just begun my undergraduate studies at The
It is important to acknowledge the lives lost and the families left with raw wounds where their loved ones once were. Yet, other than leaving my liquids behind at the airport security gates and existing with increased government surveillance much of which I am probably unaware, my life is not radically different because of the events of September 11th. Your lives, as freshmen, may, in fact, be very similar to my life as a freshman. I am, and perhaps you are too, separated from the front lines of the war on terror wherever they happen to be drawn.
In fact, we hear much about continuing to live, not giving into feelings of fear which only serve to satisfy our enemies. With time, we become passive…passive to the point of not knowing anymore, if we ever did, who our enemies are. Not only passive but also tolerant. Yet, we have some real enemies that are basking in our tolerance much more than a handful of individuals are basking in our fear.
We are too tolerant that we tolerate a 23.1% poverty rate and the unnecessary death of an infant every 43 hours in our
I am included in the “we”. Therefore, what if we began to focus not so much on the development of attitudes of tolerance but on actions that would embody a more powerful respect for individuals whose lives are different from our own privileged existences? What ideals will we stand behind on this anniversary of 9/11 so that the history books are written depicting positive changes in some of these appalling statistics that represent human lives interconnected to our own?
This day of remembrance gives us an important opportunity to substitute the delusion that we are unconquerable with the reality that we are not superior and have much to learn from others about conquering those injustices which really could lead to our destruction. Where am I now? Where are we now? What will you, as students in this English composition course and in your first years at the university, point to as the most important events that will change the world for the better? What role will we play in making these changes?With an increasing emphasis on raising the national college graduation rate as more students flood colleges and universities, it is worth asking how we determine which colleges and universities are the best so as not only to help students select schools but also to channel public resources to the schools that are producing the most meaningful results. In other words, what can schools do for students and the greater society, and how can we measure the value they add?
The U.S. News and World Report has historically published rankings of colleges and universities, but now, The Washington Monthly is arguing that we must begin to emphasize factors like social mobility, research, and public service as the indicators of good schools rather than factors like alumni donations, professor salaries, and class sizes--factors that clearly put Ivy League and other private schools at the top of the charts. Under this alternative ranking system, the creators aim to reveal and hold universities accountable for how much learning is occurring and how big the return on investment is not just from tuition dollars but also from public subsidies.
1. Social Mobility: This factor tells us not just whether a university can attract the economically elite but whether a university can take lower-to-middle income students and actually move them up the socioeconomic ladder once they have graduated.
2. Research: The Washington Monthly scale also is founded on the idea that universities should be able to graduate students who will go on to obtain PhDs with the ultimate goal of fueling economic growth via that research.
3. Service: Finally, the alternative ranking system is based on the premise that more engaged students are not only more academically successful but also that they are giving back to society.
"We all benefit when colleges produce groundbreaking research that drives economic growth, when they offer students from low-income families the path to a better life, and when they shape the character of future leaders," the editors argue.
You shared on the first day of class that education should be practical, engaging, challenging, informative, and relevant. What would your ranking system for universities look like? Would it be more similar to the system of The U.S. News and World Report or to that of The Washington Monthly? How would we determine if you, the students, were really getting the most bang for your buck and work to increase that value?
"Dialogue is that serious address and response between two or more persons in which the being and truth of each is confronted by the being and truth of the other." ~Reuel L. Howe
Throughout the semester, we will have the privilege to engage in dialogue with each other and with leaders who are making a difference using their voices. Dialogue is a rehearsal for writing as we explore our ideas and ask questions. Here's an overview of our guests with more to be added:
September 1st: Wendi Thomas, The Commercial Appeal
September 13th: Kerry Crawford, Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.ilovememphisblog.com
September 15th: Jennifer Marshall,
September 22nd: Audrey Gonzalez, Foster Care Review Board
September 27th: Austin Baker, hro partners, MILE program
October 4th: Ellen Prewitt, Door of Hope Writing Group
October 6th: Marvin Stockwell,
November 1st: Whitney Jo, Playhouse on the Square
November 3rd: Sonia Walker, First Congregational Church
Wow! This group is filled with impressive people who have effectively used their voices, and we are so grateful to lend them our listening ears and receptive minds.
I do not fit comfortably into the ivory towers of academia. As I was dreaming about ways to ensure that university students would feel the practical implications of their educational experiences in the classroom, I realized that the best way to do so was to get outside of the classroom. To meet the world. To question its existence. To understand its strengths and challenges. To look for ways to create change.
This change cannot happen with silence, however, which provides a perfect opportunity for students of language and creators of the word. Paulo Freire writes of a “culture of silence” that has taken hold as a result of banking models of education. We, because of our educational systems, are conditioned to be passive receptacles of information while silencing our voices. Yet, like Freire, bell hooks reminds her audience that having a voice is crucial for liberation of ourselves and others. Language is power.
“To speak a true word is to transform the world,” notes Freire. Through these blogs, we, as smart students of the world, will speak out in hopes of creating positive change. This semester will present us opportunities to be critical thinkers, readers, and writers. We will understand the practical implications of research, argument, and expression, principally writing. We will also recognize that speaking out takes courage and involves risk but hopefully yields great rewards.
In the words of Steven Covey, “The crucial challenge of our world today is this: to find our voice and inspire others to find theirs.” It is my expectation that these blogs will be just one avenue for University of Memphis students—dreamers, thinkers, and doers—to positively inspire and be inspired by their community and dedicate themselves to its improvement while holding true to their personal gifts.
Let us know that your voice matters by commenting on this blog with a brief biographical statement including your most rewarding experience of raising your voice. Then, create your own blog that will be linked to this page.
