Updating, but Outdated?

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

Bringing on the Learning Revolution

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.

Celebrating the Heroes Among Us, Celebrating Us

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

Alienating Our Students

“If you were an alien from another planet visiting Earth and you asked yourself what public education here is for, you'd have to conclude, if you look at the output -- who really succeeds, who does everything that they should, who gets all the brownie points, who are the winners -- that its whole purpose, throughout the world, is to produce university professors. . . . [W]e shouldn't hold them up as the exemplars of all human achievement. They're just a form of life. But they're rather curious. . . . Typically, they live in their heads. They live up there, and slightly to one side. They're disembodied, in a kind of literal way.” ~Ken Robinson

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.