I apologize for my title.

It seems like a huge obstacle to student writing is that they are thoroughly conditioned to be performative and to respond to cues- the compulsion is to mimic each other, satisfy the teacher or get the correct answer. Their writing, at this adolescent stage, is reflective of the way they’ve been taught to read, which is to”scan for a master code” (reference to our theory class) or more

simply to look for signals of familiarity. We really only gave them one creative writing prompt so far, the literacy narrative, and it was clear that the majority of them were writing what they thought they were supposed to write. The ones who were really keen to “hit the mark” brought up the buzzword “literacy” in a disconnected way, like ringing a bell that announces, see, I did it! 

A select few actually wrote earnestly, and that was only after much persuasion on my part. The fact that they have a voice still doesn’t seem to register— which falls in line very much with Paolo Freire piece we’re reading (bell rings! I mentioned the name! I did it!)

Freire states that “Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift. It must be pursued constantly and responsibly. Freedom is not an ideal located outside of man; nor is it an idea which becomes myth. It is rather the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion”

My students seem to bargaining with the freedom won by being honest and deciding that it’s not worth it. I am reminded of how my heart would pound in Jr High when I knew the answer the something but couldn’t say it out loud for fear of being wrong. It still does, in fact. It is a brave thing to write from a place of guileless honesty, which will only take time. Maybe a life time.

yeesh.