Critical Review of Helping Students Meet the Challenges of Academic Writing by Fernsten and Reda

Schools systematically subjugate minority and black students when a school’s enrollment contains a huge racial majority. If students have no exposure to persons of different ethnicities, cultures, races, and religions, then these students will experience culture shock when they confront “other” people. Even in our class, we talk about black and minority students as another group, one that differs from “us.” We think about the inequalities in school systems as problems we need to fix, not as problems that have influenced our thinking and affect us as prospective teachers. For example, a white graduate student with

In “What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This One- and How Can We Get Students to Join Us?”, English professor Michael Kleine conducts a research of his own the similarities and the contrasts of students and professors when it comes to writing academic papers- what makes professors differentiate in methods of writing an academic writing piece versus a student and how to have students be more open in writing about their own interests? Mr.Kleine concluded this essential question by observing high school and college students on one Sunday night, writing research papers. He noticed a pattern in all of the students in which they were actually doing, copying. “I know they were writing research papers because they were not writing at all-

In the 2011 article “Helping Students Meet the Challenges of Academic Writing”, educators Linda Fernsten and Mary Reda offer innovative self-reflective writing exercises that post-secondary instructors can employ to help students improve writer self-image and academic writing. The authors’ rationale for reflective and practical writing strategies were developed from direct classroom experience, and are based on four (4) assumptions. Their claim that self-reflective writing can aid student writers in overcoming conflict (due to dominant culture, upbringing, former writing experiences, gender, and other marginalizing factors) to improve writer self-identity is plausible. However, their argument that cross-curriculum academic writing can be improved through self-directed, self-reflective writing requires further investigation.

Currently, general education classrooms have increasingly become diverse with both disable students and students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In order for educators to ensure that they effectively teach these classrooms, meet the needs of each student both successfully and individually, effective research that is based on strategies need to be implemented. The U.S. Department of Education suggest that, the current school-age population is becoming more diverse as time passes, yet, majority of the teachers in these schools are white non-Hispanic women. According to another report by The Condition of Education in 2006, American schools are portraying increased diversity and growth. The report suggested that, forty two percent of students in public schools were ethnic or racial minorities in the year 2003; this increased from twenty two percent since 1972. Owing to these reasons, teachers in these schools are expected to educate a diversified class of students including those that come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Teachers are therefore, required to implement a number of key strategies that will ensure that every student in specific classroom feels that he or she belongs there (Worrell, 2010).

When presented with the question, “who are you as a writer?”, I was speechless at first. But after thinking about it, I realized who I am as a writer has been influenced by so many different sponsors throughout my life and there was not a short, concrete answer. Brandt mentions that “literacy is sponsored by people, institutions, and circumstances that both make it possible for a person to become literate and shape the way the person actually acquires literacy.” (Brandt 43) My attitude towards writing has been influenced by teachers, both negatively and positively, by my mother, and by academic assignments over the years. My answer to the question can only be answered by a narrative of my writing life. I have convinced myself that I am a terrible writer, and when presented with a writing assignment, I get anxious instantly. I see writing as a burden and a huge obstacle that gets placed in my life. Academic writing is not fun, but something I value due to the fact that we are a grade driven society. When writing, I write to the guidelines in order to receive points for the requested criteria. The reason being, I gave up on expressing my own ideas because I had been shut down by so many teachers throughout my education. I tried to write down what came to my mind and put my own twist on things, but that was not the “right” way to write papers. In order to make both my teachers and my grades happy, I wrote what they wanted to hear, and even then I was not to the level they

Arguably, there are situations where the tone in the text betrays the author’s insistent perspective concerning writing. For instance, the author argues that a student can pass through the writing process successfully if the teacher chooses to shut up and allow the student to write. In reviewing this particular text, one may argue about the choice of words, however, the tonne also elucidates the author’s viewpoint on the involvement of teachers in the writing process. One of the questions the author has prompted but not answered is how the education system as a whole can be transformed to embrace the concept of writing being a process rather than a product. While the idea is sensible and well thought, its applicability in the education system is a challenge, which the author has not highlighted despite writing being under the umbrella of

A school setting provides opportunities where issues of social justice, oppression, and discrimination can be addressed. According to Bemak and Chung (2009), students of color and economically disadvantaged students are likely to have low academic achievement, in comparison to their White middle class counterparts. These disparities in academic

Writing can be a daunting task for students in any grade. Teachers have to implement new basic components for those struggling to write. Finding new methods and being able to execute them requires teachers to design lesson plans that help

Teaching in racially diverse classrooms often leaves educators feeling uncertain about how to proceed and how to respond to historically marginalized students. There is pressure to acknowledge and accept students of color with different perspectives, to diversify the syllabi, be more aware of classroom dynamics, and pay attention to how students of color experience the learning process.

These combined factors greatly undermine the social, economic, and political potential of minorities in America. I am developing myself professionally and through academic studies to develop comprehensive plans addressing school improvements, enforcing civil rights, and equitable access to resources and higher education for all people. Through HGSE I will expand my network of professionals that understand the achievement gaps and collaborate to not only ask the daring questions but be agents of change. I plan to become a leader whose future work is never displaced from the community I serve. After graduation my true desire lies to straddle both the hands-on forefront of the classroom and the transformative policy and administrative lens. My ideal position enables me to only to hear the voices and see the needs of the community I impact but also take the theories into practice to ensure that all students are prepared for a 21st century global society. Though my role is multifaceted; from a role model, artist, and educator, being a leader that demonstrates a commitment to equity and excellence comes

Steele focuses her argument around high achieving, motivated black student’s underachievement rooted in stereotype threat. She argues that students that are of equal intelligent level underperform due to subtle but powerful impacts of stereotypes, and that colleges can lessen these impacts by addressing the issue through creation of identity safety and diminishing of racial divides. This point is strongly proven through the study conducted by Woolf et al. (2008) where minority students underachieve in medical school due to decreased teacher interactions rooted in student classifications. If a safe identity space were created in this institution the classifications and ultimately racial divide would be nullified, leading to equal relationships amongst all students and teachers and ultimately opportunity for equal performance. Upon examination of Steele’s essay and other case studies, stereotype threats biggest disadvantage lies in ultimate creation of unequal opportunities and testing environment

As teachers, we operate in a world of assumptions about the communities that we work in, the students that we serve, and ourselves. Most of us live in a world where the assumptions remain a hidden subtext in our lives, as something that dictates how we interact with others but yet does not actually come to the surface. Because we are not critically aware of these forces, we assume that this is the way that things are supposed to be, never asking if this is working to oppress other people. Unfortunately, because teachers are not critically aware of the damages that these assumptions, in the form of biases and privilege, can cause to students, they allow a cycle of oppression to continue when do not fit into the ‘perfect student’ ideal. When

. . attributes racial disparities in education to the more burdensome route to educational success related to disparities in social capital as well as barriers to earning good grades and navigating the academic climate in a successful manner” (p. 54). These negative experiences at the hands of administrators and teachers are said to be educational barriers. Unlocking Opportunity (2014) uses information from a report by the National Women’s Law Center (2012) which includes educational barriers such as “stigmatization and harassment by administrators, teachers, and fellow students”, as barriers that “prevent African American young women from realizing their potential, forcing them to reluctantly leave school” (p. 27). In order to achieve a sense of belonging, some girls chose to assimilate with their White counterparts but were unsuccessful. As Unlocking Opportunity (2014) notes:

The United States of America is known for being a country filled with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Likewise, the student population in schools is just as diverse as it continues to grow. Lynch (2015) notes that schools are expected to teach their students “how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base” as this will help “facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world” (para. 8). Educators must be able to provide for the diverse needs of students and are expected to equip students with skills that can lead to healthy development as it can affect higher levels of student achievement and students have more opportunities of success in their future. Providing students with tools and skills requires an awareness and acceptance of their ethnic identity. Once students have developed self-acceptance about their ethnic identity, they can begin to feel empowered and motivated to do well. Through cultural empowerment, students of color can develop intrinsic motivation and achieve academic success.

Eid. Schools create conditions where students do not want to learn because the school itself privileges certain groups over others. Ellis (1999) argues that children need to see themselves in the stories they read in classrooms (as cited in Courtland et al., 2009). As an educator, I believe it is important to teach the curriculum expectations, but I also think it is important for students to see themselves in the curriculum and what is being taught.