Language Investigation 2

Learning to read and write in elementary and through high school seemed easy enough. My teachers expected all the students to be able to write well, learn everything expected from them, and move on to college. Reading and writing came naturally to me and how could I fail anyways? My older brother, friends and twin brother were already on their ways of successful language development. During my elementary and middle school career, I disliked reading but was able to meet the language performance expectations of all of my teachers. The whole process of learning seemed strait forward and seemed to make me part of the standard society.

Throughout elementary and middle school, we learned subject-verb agreements and so on. We learned to write in complete sentences and the wrath of the teacher and grading kept us in line. Heaven help us if we forgot to include the verb or the receiver of the action. My teachers taught me the almighty 5-paragraph paper. It magically includes an introduction, three paragraphs giving support and my favorite, the conclusion with half of it containing a summary of what I already wrote.

I met all the expectations of my teachers, regardless of whether or not I actually did the task or pretended to, and moved on to high school. Even in high school this magical 5-paragraph formula for essays seemed to get me by and I was even a “good student”. Language classes in high school taught me to think critically, often without even using my imagination. We would read a novel and connect ideas and themes to the events we learned in history or in government. My teachers told us these were building blocks or steps in preparing us for college. By high school, I was a good student. This means that I was a master at the 5-paragraph essay. I was willing and able to play their learning games. High school had apparently made me a model student, molded and ready for college and then a career. Like a clay model, I didn’t really think for myself, I just knew to find the teacher’s expectations and meet them.

Upon arriving in college, Composition 150 seemed to turn my narrow school view upside down. The 5-paragraph essay was not good enough. It did not examine things deep enough and did not explain the importance of the thesis. Blasphemy! College Professors had all kind of weird expectations and it was hard for me to simply find these expectations and mindlessly meet them. Teacher wanted my writing to have a provable argument, with multiple examples, evidence and proofs. These support items needed to span across multiple pages. Suddenly 3-5 sentences was not a well-written paragraph! Our writing often had to have a target audience in mind. The conclusion of the paper had to explain the “so what” or implications of our argument and support.

By my second year in college, I learned that I couldn’t just play the education game. I had to put time and effort into my work. I had to think for myself and apply the knowledge that I learned into my own life. Thinking back, primary and secondary school taught me many important lessons and while it sometimes taught me ways to think and solve, it was just a shallow way of critical thinking just to please the teacher. Education reformers and such are often trying to change the curriculum to get students to learn problem solving and critical thinking skills. Some of my more enjoyable classes were achieving this, but I remember the mindless, structure-based classes just as well.