Sunday, September 25, 2016

Guiding and Reflecting - Blog Post #1

I can't lie, a part of me missed these weekly blog responses, and looking for the appropriate reactions memes to sneak in wherever appropriate possible.

This semester, my blog will be focused on entries for English 5020: Theory and Practice. To get started, this week we were assigned two articles; "One Approach to Guiding Peer Response" by Kim Jaxon, and "On Reflection" by Kathleen Blake Yancey.

To begin with, Jaxon's piece. I immediately found her topic of guiding peer response to be both interesting and pertinent, because I am all too familiar with unhelpful peer responses on papers. The general reaction to the peer review process, even to the college level, seems to be, "Peer review? Great, so I don't have homework tonight!" Whether this is due to lazieness, or general confusion on the goals of the peer review process, I think Jaxon's guidance is helpful.

In the article, she stipulates several guidelines that, if utilized, would offer help to the writer and encourage the reader/reviewer to refine his or her close reading and editing skills. She goes on to cover several key issues that are involved in peer editing, and includes an appendix of what a successful peer review should look like. A point I appreciated in particular was her differentiation between editing and revision-- focusing on the content and ideas, first and foremost. I intend to hold on to this article because it could one day be incorporated into guidelines for peer review which, as I mentioned above, are necessary on all grade levels. I wish my professors had supplied these guidelines, because I may have received far more insightful feedback that "Good job!" on the many papers of my college career.

Thoughtful feedback is valuable, and my favorite point that Jaxon made was that a successful peer response should respect and value the work that the writer has done, and what they have to say. I couldn't agree more. 
I refer you back to my comment on including memes "wherever appropriate possible."

Next, I'll move on to "On Reflection." Yancey's piece ties in nicely with Jaxon's because it focuses on another underutilized part of the writing process- reflection on one's own writing skills and the knowledge gained through the writing process. Although, over the years, there have been several different theories and approaches to composition, Yancey chooses to focus on the importance of reflection.

It appears, from Yancey's findings, that directing students to reflect on their writing- finding the whats and the whys- gives them the ability to think more consciously about the project they are working on: "Reflection here is used...in a way consonant with the times: as a mode of behavior indicative of growth of consciousness" (4).

Yancey's analysis of reflection involves three processes which is delves into throughout this chapter. First, it involves setting goals, then revising "in the light of introspection" (6) then, finally, articulation of the learning process that has just taken place. I like this process because, as she explains it, learning is the important part. Both in school and in life, being able to explain oneself is crucial. This reminds me of something my mom has always said-- "If you understand it, you can explain it.'

Much like Jaxon, Yancey focuses on the outcome of proper writing instruction, rather than focusing on strict adherence to grammar and form. Whereas Jaxon writes about the helpfulness of student reviews, and the insight that can be gained from a well thought-out response, Yancey focuses on self-reflection, and true learning gained from the writing process. I particularly appreciated what Dewey said on the subject: "While we cannot learn or be taught how to think, we do have to learn how to think well...especially how to acquire the general habit of reflecting" (qtd. in Yancey 9). 
More often than not, I think we are programmed to "do." We do things because we're told to, without question but, while writing is important, learning how to think it also crucial. After all, what's the point of an assignment if it's done for the sake of getting it done? Reflection is not always easy coming, but it is a crucial step in the writing and learning process.

This article also made me think about reflection as a way to sharpen and refine the mind. This most specifically struck me on page 10, when Yancey cites Vygotsky's theory that "Reflection...requires both kinds of thinking, the scientific and the spontaneous, the strength of scientific concepts deriving from their 'conscious and deliberate character,' the spontaneous from 'the situational, empirical, and practical." I really like this summary, and it made me think deeper about the overall process of reflection. I look forward to further discussing these articles in class. It will be especially interesting to hear the perspective of the teachers who can carry forth the ideas introduced in these papers to apply to real-life class settings.