Thursday, April 30, 2009

Mike Rose: Creating Thinkers, Not Students

I have not raised any children - I have raised content, competant adults. I do not intend, in the classroom, to create students - I intend to create thinking human beings.

I completely agree with Rose's assumption that students will give to us what we expect from them - I have always found that to be true of anyone.

I do not know what side of the argument I fall on in terms of whether we teach academic texts, literature, or even Berlin's pop-culture. What I do believe in is Anne Ruggles Gere's assertion that it is motivation that creates good writers, and our job as teachers is to help them find that motivation.

I also agree with Rose that to treat "underprepared" students (of any age, but even more so for older students) as though they are incapable of higher thought is insulting and - I think - counter-productive.

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