Teaching philosophy
Empower your students
We must empower our students to believe that there is something in them that is worthy of writing down. We have to create space for honest exploration, devoid of self-criticism so that the first draft can show up on the page. We have to open space for students to believe that their ideas and their stories are already powerful.
Step down off the pedestal
We must decentralize power structures and set up an egalitarian space so that students can bring their knowledge to the table. We must treat our students as experts in their own rights. We have to really, really look at traditional power structures. The master-apprentice model doesn’t work anymore, and that’s a pretty colonized way to think anyway. We are all part of a community, and each member of the community has their own intelligence.
Radically rethink your notions of community
Go a step further. Consider that it’s not just humans that are a part of this community. Imagine we’re part of a community of everything on earth, whether we consider it alive or not. Would you consider what it is like to be a rock? Does a rock have a life? Well, it’s a member of this community as much as we are.
Academics would call this an eco-centric perspective. I just call it being a good neighbor. But this perspective is at the root of my teaching philosophy. Everything has a story, everything has a life. Academics would probably call this animist woo-woo. Thank God I’m no longer an academic.
We are all related; teach from connection
We must root into our place in the community of the world. Then we can truly connect with ourselves and with the other people in our writing classroom. When we come to the table with this perspective, we are all equals. We no longer need concepts of master/apprentice or hierarchy. The “teacher” becomes a space-holder, and doesn’t have to be the supreme authority. In this way, we open space for the people in our classroom to play. And through the act of play, they engage in self-expression and self-discovery. They connect with themselves, and they connect with each other.
But the big question is, “How?”
But how do we remove ourselves as the supreme authority? It’s so tempting to show up as The Teacher, to lean into the comfortable authority of the traditional power structure. How do we abandon it? The key is curiosity. The key is asking questions.
Get curious
I spent a lot of time (two years) during my Linguistics MA program as a Graduate Assistant Writing Tutor. I used non-directive tutoring methods. Which means, I asked a lot of questions. Did you understand the assignment? What did you mean here? Can you point to your thesis? What is the bigger picture you want your audience to walk away with?
By asking questions, we open space for discovery. And we empower students to find the answers for themselves.
Invite them to play
In my creative writing and creative typewriting classes, there are no consequences for “doing it wrong.” Because there’s no way to do it wrong. If you’re exploring, trying new things, and taking risks, you’re doing it right. No one ever broke new ground from inside the comfort zone. Be courageous enough to be messy!
Improvise it!
The rules of improv help. A few of my favorites are
Yes, and…
Don’t block
Focus on the here and now
Change, change, change!
In my work as an on-demand typewriter poet, I’ve learned that we have to start somewhere. First thought, best thought, just get it down on the page. Don’t block yourself from starting. And then, once you have something down, say yes, and… to keep your momentum going. “Yes, and…” allows us to say YES to whatever shows up on the page. Sometimes it goes in a direction different from what you would expect.
Make peace with it, and keep going! Sometimes you have to change your expectations when things go in a direction you didn’t foresee. And that’s part of the fun! When people can focus on the here and now, it brings them down into the writing space. Leave everything else at the door. There’s only you and the typewriter, or you and the pen, or you and the keyboard. Finally, change, change, change! By which I mean, risk it! Be brave enough to do the weird thing! Take it in a direction that may challenge you! And try to get excited about it!
References
Chavez, F. R. (2021). The anti-racist Writing workshop: How to decolonize the creative classroom. Haymarket Books.
Miller, C. (1984). Genre as social action. Quarterly journal of speech, 70, 151-167.
Nowacek, R. S. (2011). Agents of Integration: Understanding Transfer as a rhetorical act. Southern Illinois University Press.
Yancey, C., Robertson, L., and Taczak, K. (2014). Writing Across Contexts: Transfer, Composition, and Sites of Writing. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.