The concept of Inventing the University is described as when a student "has to learn to speak our language, to speak as we do, to try on peculiar ways of knowing, selecting, evaluating, reporting, concluding, and arguing that define the discourse of our community," and has to do so "as though he were easily and comfortably one with his audience, as though here were a member..."
All of this is to say, a student has to adopt the structure of a discourse community he has likely never been a part of and do so in a way that makes it seem like he was born there. This isn't a one-time event either; he must do it for several different communities in the first few years of higher education. The obvious question (to me) is whether or not that is a GOOD thing for the student to do. On the one hand, providing a starting point for entering into a discourse professionally gives students a foundation from which they can learn about the discourse and contribute (however minimally) in an effective way (or at least more effective than simply throwing them in with their high school tendencies). On the other hand, you have to wonder how controlling such a restriction can be on the voice of the student who is likely going to perceive a structure (or anything in college) as objectively correct (as opposed to "one way of doing things").
It seems to me that providing a base for students to begin their gradual transition into a member of an academic community is beneficial if the teacher makes a point of showing it as an option, not a rule. One way I think of showing this is by presenting several options for engaging the discourse content and highlighting what each option does correctly and what each option lacks. The downside to this is that students may become confused if they are holding onto notions of looking for "the right way to do things" while you are trying to present multiple "right ways of doing things."
No comments:
Post a Comment