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Khadija Houston
Dr. T. Butler
ENG 413
5/4/15
Humanizing Students Through Writing
Throughout my undergraduate schooling it has come to my attention that many
teaching practices do not cater to the wants and needs of students. It is easy to get caught up
in teaching to the test or strictly following the district curriculum; but at what loss are we
putting on spontaneous teaching and informal teaching methods. A large portion of the
secondary English language arts curriculum is teaching students elements and methods of
writing. With larger emphasis on students learning all the standards in the Common Core than
it is easy as an educator to teach only the skills the standards portray, but does that create as
risk of dehumanizing the students learning experience. Throughout my teaching experience I
have noticed a decline of students being able to bring the concept of third space into their
academic writing. I propose that we need to allow students to bring in cultural/community life
into their writing and take less focus of argumentative writing. Students are being beat over
the head with the notion of argumentative writing due to the skills that supposedly come with
creating a solid argument. Other forms of classroom writing can just be as helpful in assisting
development of various writing skills. With many other branches of writing available such a
personal narratives, autoethnographies, poetry, visual composition, short stories, or even plays
to explore within an English Language Arts why are we constantly having our students explore

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the same forms of writings. In order to tap into our students funds of knowledge we owe them
the right to explore their writing skills in more than one academic manner.
During senior courses of Teacher Education we discussed limited ways of teaching
writing. A large chunk of our semester was dedicated to producing a mock argumentative unit
that we envisioned for our future classroom. I began to question why so much emphasis was
placed on skills such as grammar and creating an argument instead of having students do
creative writing, or narrative writing. During our class sessions on teaching literature we often
discussed bringing students outside knowledge into the classroom in order for them to
understand the text, but during writing the discussion did not come up. Why is it that is
appears that we value students non-academic experiences when we want them to relate to
themes and characters in text, but not give them amble opportunity to write about those
experiences. This brings to light a major disconnect and issue within the American Educational
system.
The problem of todays American educational system is that we treat our students as
prisoners, and not as the humans they are. We tend to overlook the unique traits that each
individual brings into the class room. With the United States of America becoming more diverse
everyday it is important we take into account not only students likes and dislikes in the classroom,
but find ways to value their culture. This becomes problematic since the growing number of
students integrated into American schools are Mexican, Korean, Chinese and other ethnicities
are flooding our classrooms. According to National Center for Educational Statistics Fast Facts
(2014), about education; there is a record of data about the tremendous amount of students
currently underneath the wings of our educational systems.

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Of the projected 49.8 million students attending public elementary and secondary schools in fall
2014, White students will account for 24.8 million. The remaining 25.0 million will be composed
of 7.7 million Black students, 12.8 million Hispanic students, 2.6 million Asian/Pacific Islander
students, 0.5 million American Indian/Alaska Native students, and 1.4 million students of two or
more races (source).
As the expanse grows, so does our inability as teachers to reach and fulfill the needs of these
students. Sure we may be teaching these students the bare necessities of the common core, but
are we not responsible for teaching our students how to operate within society and how to
properly express themselves. With America turning into a melting pot it is time to adjust writing
curriculums in school. One cannot expect students to be passionate about writing when they are
never presented with opportunities in which they can write about something that resonates with
them.
Treating students only as students removes and limits their established literacies such as
drawing, creativity, free styling for music, oral skills, improvisation, and it also erases their other
racial, ethnic, cultural, religious identities. Transforming our students into these boring single
story children, it is no wonder then that we as teachers are challenged to motivate and build
emotional and mental connections with them. Hence we as a nation (the government imploring
the standards) are implicitly neglecting our students as humans, and if we are to build a new
community of leaders and innovators of the next generations to come, we must approach them
with a humanistic authentic view. According to Stephen Brookfields (2006) The Skillful Teacher:
On Trust, Technique and Responsiveness in the Classroom, Chapter 4 explains the vital aspects
students seem to value when it comes to their teacher, one characteristic are teachers who are
authentic and genuine. Students believe, They are viewed as allies in learning because they
clearly have the students interests at heart and wish to see them succeed (pg.74) Authenticity

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creates a wholesome view of students, maintaining a realistic view of students and ourselves, we
are less likely to get angry at our students when they face error and or make irresponsible choices
during their personal development in academic writing.
Each student goes down a different path of personal development when it comes to their
writing capabilities and interest. Often times during the beginning of their middle school career
students learn the basics of essay writing, mostly expository and argumentative. From my
experience students will receive whole lessons on the elements of argument and then short
lessons on meanings of poetry, story-writing, or other creative writing opportunity. During my
field placement in an eighth grade suburban classroom I noticed that the students were rapidly
losing interest in writing back to back argumentative essays. On the days I would sit back and
observe the class instead of teaching or assisting with lessons, I would deem to watch the
students reactions to the teachers lessons instead of just the lessons. The students would fidget
in their seats or begin doodling whenever the teacher reviewed the elements of argumentative
writing. The teacher placed so much time of argumentative writing in preparation for the M-Step
which in itself had the students stressed. During class I asked students to raise their hands if
standardized tests made them anxious and only 5 students hands remained down. The high
stakes placed on testing worried not only the teacher but the students. Many of the students
voiced that they would like the writing portion of the test better if they could pick their own
prompts or not have to create an argument.
Many researchers have placed third space opportunities in English classrooms in areas
outside of writing. Some of those areas include discussions on current events, community
activities, and text book selections. Gutierrez believes We have conceptualized such particular

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discursive spaces as the third space in which alternative and competing discourses and
positioning transform conflict and difference into rich zones of collaboration and
learning.(Gutierrez, 287) With collaborative learning educators are able to not only keep up with
common core standards, and set curriculums but enhance students development in various ways
of literacy. Thus, the construct of the Third Space has been productive in helping us understand
the complexity of learning environments and their transformative potential.(Gutierrez,
287)

Students should not come into a specific subject area and gain only one form of

literacy. When students are able to enhance their literacies or gain new ones the better-rounded
a student can become.
Students spend vast majorities of their time within school, and in order to keep interest
in respective disciplines its important to look at your lessons from the students
viewpoint. Educational consultant Margaret Cook argues that, if we want curriculum continuity
between home and school, we need to create third spaces in schools that bring together the
experiences and pedagogies of both.(Cook, 85) The concept of third space does not work
without those two variables. If a class is not evenly distributed with students learning school
material and bringing experiences in then the theory fails. As an educator we cannot expect our
students to take the curriculum seriously or the discipline in a serious manner if there is no
connection between the two.
Through previous research and observations I have found that third space can be
implemented in simple ways. Instead of taking a whole unit and dedicating it specifically to third
space which I have found to be a major turn off to teachers; with strict guidelines and deadlines
on what material the students must cover, it is reasonable to mix activities and genres of writing.

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From the perspective of activity theory, the third space might also be considered an expanded
activity in which the object of activity is extended and the activity itself reorganized, resulting in
new opportunities for learning.(Cook, 85) When the concept of third space is skewed it can force
your students to not actively participate and share in the classroom. Being that a large part of
third space comes from home and community discourses, students may not want to share unless
they can understand the larger picture. (Cook, 88) It is important not to offend students during
explorations of ones person background or community. For some students it takes a while for
them to warm up to an inventive teacher who may teacher in an urban, lower income
area. Students may feel that based upon the teachers background they may not understand
their community or lack the street knowledge they have been raised with, which in itself is a
useful literacy that can have its shining moment in relations to the classroom. This understanding
of student will then transfer into passion that they place into their writing, especially if it is a form
in which they get to express their individuality.
There is a lack of research in which the teachers main objective is to try to fit writing to
students individual needs and interests. The focus has been skewed towards teaching to the
test and common core standards, due to factors like high priority schools, and high stakes teacher
evaluations. There are several articles in which teachers find that it is more conducive to the class
if their students are able to relate to the text that they have them read. What is not often
discussed is how to get those students once to want to write about a text that they have enjoyed.
Of the teachers I have had the opportunity to be around; they feel that a few creative writing
assignments a year or free writes are enough to keep students engaged with writing. Evidence
shows that students desire to incorporate things that they already know about into essays to

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take the high stakes off the writing. I propose that we give students the opportunity to show
their level of academic writing in other forms besides the typical ones.
An article by the National Writing Project, entitled, Ten Ideas That Get Kids writing,
discusses various avenues in which educators can have students engage with writing. A lot of
work conducted by the National Writing Project resides within students getting the most out of
writing instruction, and actually enjoy learning said skills while becoming competent. The vision
of NWP is, Writing in its many forms is the signature means of communication in the 21st
century. The NWP envisions a future where every person is an accomplished writer, engaged
learner, and active participant in a digital, interconnected world.(NWP) They coordinators of
the project believe it is important that students learn about many different forms of writing
which will build their overall knowledge base amongst other things.
In the article, the first idea provided is, writing need not begin and end at the classroom
door. This point coincides largely with my teaching philosophy because I believe students need
to have other opportunities to write besides inside the classroom. Teacher-consultant, Judith
Ruhana gave her high school students the opportunity to write about a real life event as well as
incorporate other creative outlets such as art and photography. The entire composition unit
was centered on the art sculptures that the students were to see. Teachers like Ms. Ruhana
show that there are ways to not only engage your students with different cultural aspects, but
having them see writing as not only words on a page. As educators it is easy to forget that
writing behind schooling may not always be academic and that students need to be able to
record ideas in different mediums and through various outlets. During their project her
students were allowed to produce photos, poetry, songs, descriptions, and short stories which

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would discuss the artistic expression. This gives students the opportunity to use their prior
knowledge of what details go into these forms of composition as well as be free to insert their
unique abilities into an academic setting.
When we fail to give students time to express themselves without relying on the
standard academic methods, we fail them as educators. It is essential for students to
understand not only themselves but one another. While writing argumentative, research and
expository essays gives students certain academic tools, we cannot forget to give students life
tools. In the NWP article another idea is, to have students write about what they care about
and concerns them most. During classroom discussion relatability to the real world often
comes up when reading literature. Having students write about real world issues gives them
insight into different elements that writing may encompass.
Janet Swenson, director of the Red Cedar Writing Project in Michigan, is one of the creators of
Write for Your Life. The core idea of Write for Your Life is that important issues in students lives
should be at the center of their learning. After brainstorming what these issues are, students
spend time in a reading/writing workshop setting, researching and writing on their concern, be
it a toxic landfill in the area of the school or the prevalence of asthma among the student
population. Swenson and her colleagues believe that whatever writing students do should seek
an audience beyond the classroom. For example, one student created a firsthand chronicle of
her journey through anorexia. She wrote to her teacher, I wanted to let you know that I let my
doctor read my paper and he is now using it to show the other patients. I felt very proud of
myself. In a small way I accomplished my goal, to help other people not go through what I have
gone through.(NWP)
It is often noted that many students do not understand what writing is useful for thus they only
see it as an academic assignment. By giving students agency to write things like a personal
chronicle with something they are struggling with, not only shows the student that you care
about what is occurring in their life, but want them to use their writing skills for non-academic
reasons. It is easy to not see what common core standards assignments like this will meet if

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you are not well-versed in the skills that writings, like personal narratives can embed in a
student.
The entire portion of CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3 deals with narrative writing. The
standard states grade 9-10 ELA students should be able to, Write narratives to develop real or
imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and wellstructured event sequences. Through this standard it teaches students various techniques
that encompass an academically rich narrative. None of those techniques overbear the real
goal of the standard which is to develop experiences through writing. Given students do need
to learn the declarative knowledge of writing techniques before you let them journey off into
completing this standard, it is important to voice this information to students. I am a firm
believer in having students aware of the reasoning behind everything you teach them and have
them write. By teaching them the techniques behind narrative writing it opens up a door to
other styles of writing. Many students I have had the opportunity to sit down and talk with
only see research and argumentative papers as having a structure or technical elements. By
showing students that even the fun things that they deem to write has a technical element, the
teacher is opening a window for students to enjoy writing in all formats. It is easy to see that
argumentative writing is at the top of the standards list, but it is necessary to explore other
methods students can produce arguments in ways that they may enjoy. A good personal
narrative could encompass elements of narrative writing, research and argument depending on
the topic.
One form of personal narratives that teachers could use to have their students learn
how to apply their stories to larger issues would be, autoethnography. Autoethnography is a

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form of self-reflection and writing that explores the researcher's personal experience and
connects this autobiographical story to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and
understandings.(Wikipedia) or an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and
systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) in order to understand cultural
experience (ethno) (ELLIS, 2004; HOLMAN JONES, 2005). As previously stated it is important to
view our students as humans, not robots to which we code information into un-purposefully.
Authoethnography bridges different realms of writing within dehumanizing the students story
or values. The student gets to use their voice, and opinion while connecting their story to
larger cultural and social understandings.
In one of my mock units I have prepared I wanted my future students to journey
through political and social activism. I initially felt that such a unit would be dry and my
students may feel that writing about such rigid topics may be boring. When I came across
authoethnography, I knew that was the way to get my students to understand how useful this
unit would be. Students would begin by writing short narratives in which they tell detailed
stories about social or political experiences and they impact that it had on their lives. From that
point I would have students research the larger scale of their main experience and write about
how those experiences match/or counteract with their narratives. This way students are able
to explore, but not being explicitly told what to research or write about. Each student should
be able to tell their story, and find that through research there are others that are going
through the same issues.
Often times research, like in the article, Starting with Self: Teaching Autoethnography
to Foster Critically Caring Literacies (Camangian) tells us that we especially need to learn how

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to humanize our urban students with cultural narratives so that they may explore their
identities. While I feel this is great it leaves out a vast majority of students. If we focus on only
humanizing certain students based on their socioeconomic, race, or gender then we segregate
our students ability to learn new things. It is important however that we allow our minority
students to write about their cultural experiences, but I disagree that the non-minority students
do not deserve an opportunity to write cultural narratives.
During fall semester of 2014, I was given the opportunity to work in a WRA 1004,
preparation for college writing class. The students in the PCW class were given the opportunity
to reformulate one of the pieces of writing they had completed over the semester on the
personal connection to culture shock and cultural experiences. The majority of the students in
the class were from China, or Spanish speaking countries. Not only was the Professor, Cheryl
Caesar able to provide a third space through bringing in the personal connection to writing
about culture throughout the semester but it was easily inputted so that students were able to
learn valuable lessons on writing and grammar while talking about themselves and things that
interest them. The students were able to work through their own situations of the present in
order to create a better understanding writing in various forms. The students wrote a personal
narrative, a wiki informational page, a letter, two formal essays, and then the reformulation
project coined as the Remix Project. Students were able to elaborate on their understandings
of writing about their culture shock and cultural experiences through producing art such as
picture, paintings, drawings, and collages, along with technology such as photo narratives,
powerpoints, and videos. Because the students were able to choose their own format it was
easier to see the students individual literacies flourish.

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It is time that the education world reassesses the importance of what our students are
teaching. Professor Bill Tucker, of Eastern Michigan University feels says, Apparently the
current mission of secondary education in the United States is to prepare students for the next
level of education, whatever that may be. The notion of "College and Career Readiness" is as
amorphous as it sounds, and it overshadows the essential goals of the arts, humanities, and
sciences.(Tucker 115) Instead of forcing college readiness down students throat we need to
ensure that our students learn about themselves and others through various learning processes
and goals. We have to make writing assignments useful for our students outside of the
classroom. Bringing in other forms of knowledge is a major way that we can produce this
classroom transformation. I intend to be the teacher who lets students explore the world of
English through not only various texts but writing prompts and writing genres. I want my
students to be able to write in all different formats, which I feel is more beneficial than teaching
to the test or constant research essays. Every format of writing has its own learning goal, and
each learning goal is a stepping stone into their future not only academically but into
adulthood. Every learning goal is seen through the prism of adulthood and how it will
transform them into sophisticated and respectable citizens, displacing their shallow and futile
adolescence. (Tucker 115) A successful ELA student should be able to convert what they learn
in class into being a respectable and knowledgeable people that will not only be college and
career ready, but ready to share what they have learned with those around them. After all
English is not only a language, but an art.
Bibliography

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Adams, Ellis, and Bochner. "Autoethnography: An Overview." Autoethnography: An Overview |

Ellis | Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research. FQS,
Jan.2011.Web.04May015.<http://www.qualitativeresearch.net/index.php/fqs/article/vi
ew/1589/3095>.
Camangian, Patrick. Starting with Self: Teaching Autoethnography to Foster Critically Caring
Literacies. Research in The Teaching of English, n.d. Web.
Cook, Margaret. (2005) A place of their own: creating a classroom third space to support a
continuum of text construction between home and school, Literacy, 39:8590
"Digest of Education Statistics." National Center for Edcucation Statistics. IES, n.d. Web. Dec.
2013. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_203.50.asp
"English Language Arts Standards Writing Grade 9-10." English Language Arts Standards
Writing Grade 9-10. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/910/>.
Gutirrez, Kris D. (1999) Rethinking diversity: Hybridity and hybrid language practices in the
third space. Mind, Culture, and Activity 6(4): 286-303
"TEN Ideas That Get Kids Writing." NWP. National Writing Project, n.d. Web.
<www.writingproject.org>.
Tucker, Bill. "Speaking My Mind: The Dream Deferred: How "College and Career
Readiness"."JSTOR.NCTE, Jan.2011.Web. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25790074>.