Last night we took a step towards the complex connection between writing and a sense of self-empowerment, and the challenges that inherently come with the reality of the present day classroom. Donald Murray’s dated yet seminal call to teach writing as a process rather than a product resonates strongly with bell hooks’s vision in Teaching to Transgress, where education is framed as a practice of freedom rooted in dialogue, discovery, and lived experience. Both thinkers insist that learning is not about static outcomes but about ongoing engagement—Murray emphasizes the recursive stages of invention, drafting, and revision, while hooks highlights the liberatory potential of classrooms that honor voice, vulnerability, and transformation. These views are aspirational, and to set a course (based on their stated values) is important. Taken together, their perspectives invite us to see writing and teaching as dynamic, humanizing processes that center growth, critical inquiry, and the empowerment of learners rather than the mere production of finished texts or the passive transfer of knowledge. We must never lose sight of this.
That said, we talked about the truth of the systems that hem us all in (whether as teachers or students). We will continue to talk more about the difficulty of limited and constrained time, testing as the damning measure of student learning outcomes, the behavioral challenges that plague classrooms today, and the painful lack of care that teachers receive (while also being expected to care for others). We talked about the trauma of being silenced or ignored, and the frailty and humanity behind these learning breakdowns due to mismanaged power relations.
The Danger of a Single Story
After our discussion of Murray & hooks, we shifted our attention to Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk, we considered how stories are powerful, how they may humanize and connect, but they can also misrepresent and marginalize. Her talk reminds us how narratives shape our understanding of people, cultures, and identities— and how a “single story” flattens people’s identities, erasing nuance and multiplicity. This notion is important when thinking about how to effectively design learning communities and classrooms, and how to teach emerging writers.
Slides from this week:
Your to-do list:
For October 2:
- Please read: Queer Theory in the Writing Classroom by Jonathan Alexander & Michelle Gibson ; Cj will kick-off our Presentation Series with a discussion on this article next Thursday.
- Blog #4 – Write your reflection on the above reading. I also welcome you to make connections to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk if you feel the inspiration. You might connect some thoughts on this talk to Cj’s selected reading while reflecting on your experience or understanding of writing & collective memory.
Enjoy the weekend
