I am the product of a system that consistently works in my favor.
Before you come at me with sticks, allow me to explain.
On the last day of my graduate seminar, my professor asked everyone to consider how they learned to write in an academic setting. I am a walking millennial stereotype, so I usually pounce at any chance to self-reflect. But at this moment, I realized, in horror, that I had no answer to this question. There was no "aha!" moment in which I'd clarified all confusion about writing in college because I'd never not been taught how to prepare for academia.
I've talked extensively about being the "product of academia," usually to end with a large helping of guilt that I didn't suffer more, that I wasn't a first gen-er who had nothing but determination to climb through four years of college. I feel like I've been screaming, "yes I know I'm privileged and I'm so sorry!" for the past two years. This is unnecessary and irritating for everyone involved. Privilege acknowledgment is productive; privilege guilt makes your friends want to stuff socks inside your mouth.
And so, it's about time I move past the self-pity stage, and instead toward privilege acknowledgment--more specifically acknowledgement that makes me a better student and teacher.
I know, a realization that in order to be a good person, you should look outside yourself. I don't think I can handle these profound epiphanies.
It's impossible not to bring your background into the classroom, especially as an instructor. This is why, in our composition-instruction course, all English graduate teaching assistants were asked to consider our backgrounds as students and connect them to our expectations and styles as teachers. I remember discussing elitism in that paper as well, only to conclude, "well it doesn't matter through, because these kids are in college now, and I'm just gonna go through the curriculum that's been assigned to me!"
Well. Not those words exactly. But you get the idea.
There are always exceptions, but typically graduate teaching assistants find themselves in this position because they maintained a grasp of academic discourse in college. Stopping at this realization and taking the "sink or swim" attitude I took my first semester is not enough, and hurts students who were set up to sink from the beginning. Sure, it's easier to dismiss the student who refuses to do group work as "not a team player" (every teacher--myself included--seems to forget that group work is the worst thing ever and will suck out your soul). It saves time to conclude that the athlete with an attitude is just coasting through classes to get their scholarship. It's easy to respond to these situations with grade penalties and frustration. The easiest responses are often informed by the most ignorant assumptions.
I frequently made these assumptions until I had an agonizingly difficult semester with quite possibly the most apathetic class, topped with aggression, plagiarism, and failure to follow even the simplest of instructions. I had, in particular, a frustrating case with a student that took up approximately 200% of my time. I often responded with irritation that I was putting effort into this student's success, while he was turning his back to me during class and flirting with his friend. An experienced teacher observed this dynamic, and suggested that my student wanted to try, but felt like he didn't belong in an academic setting. He was so uncomfortable in a college-level writing course, that he resorted to social interactions that he was familiar with and confident in doing well. Recognizing the reason behind the student's distracted behavior allowed me to consider how I might respond if I had never been anywhere near academic discourse before, and forced me to try to engage the student in other ways.
There certainly exists a risk in which instructors take this recognition too far and start to coddle their students. The student should be the primary actor in ensuring their own success, and if they cannot meet the demands of college-level writing, they should not be given a "free pass." I am in no way arguing that the responsibility falls solely on the instructor. What I am saying that we are often blinded by the assumption that we will say things like "traditional argument structure" and "critical reading," and each student will light up and go "oh! I guess now I have to carefully and analytically read sources, and synthesize them to make a nuanced argument!" Responding to a perceived lack of academic prowess with punitive measures only further alienates students who were wary of academic spaces to begin with.
We talk a lot about accessibility at CSU. Usually we associate this term with accessible architectural structures and digital access (all important things!). It gets trickier when we start to discuss accessibility in academic discourse. A lot of structures in college are explicitly designed to keep people out. Changing this phenomenon often extends outside of the feasibility of the individual. But, as instructors, starting with a shift in tone and mindset to and about students is a helpful place to start.
I admire the students who, just in getting into college, fought through obstacles and processes that were designed to keep them out, to halt their success right then and there. They will continue to fight through structures that continue to work against them, and it is our job to recognize and work to fight against those structures.
Starting the semester with an invitational approach not only helps build rapport with students, but can factor into student success in so many ways. I may not be able to reach every student, but trying to connect their backgrounds and experiences with college composition is a necessary first step in breaking down academic barriers. It takes time. It takes tremendous effort. But it can start to open collegiate success for all students, not just the students who were given access to academia-prep.
I am by no means an expert, and continue to struggle through the fine line between inviting and coddling. I wanted to end this post by posing a question to my fellow teacher friends: how do you invite opportunities for success among your students who may feel alienated from academia?
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