[English] suggestions needed for context teaching
Alison Smith
smith.alison.cl at edumail.vic.gov.au
Tue Jun 14 14:01:02 EST 2011
Hi,
This is really interesting reading, but I have a more banal question in response to this statement from Janet (?): "... in the exam it's pretty clear who the audience is."
I understood that the exam no longer states who the audience is... Or am I being obtuse, and you are suggesting that the examiner/some standard sophisticated general audience is the audience?
Thanks,
Alison
Sorry if I've missed the point here.
On 12/06/2011, at 7:54 PM, <mccurryj at netspace.net.au> <mccurryj at netspace.net.au> wrote:
> ... in the exam it's pretty clear who the audience is.
>
> Quoting Sharon Gardiner <sharmick at tpg.com.au>:
>
>> Writing for an audience is an important thing for me. I am correcting SACs
>> and the mid-year exam at the moment and I think, if students have a clear
>> idea of the audience to whom they are writing, then their writing is better.
>> In the SAC, with the written explanation, this is clear as they state their
>> audience, but the exam is a more difficult.
>>
>> Just thinking as I correct..
>>
>>
>>
>> From: english-bounces at edulists.com.au
>> [mailto:english-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Caruso, Greta
>> Sent: Sunday, 12 June 2011 6:37 PM
>> To: VCE English Teachers' Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [English] suggestions needed for context teaching
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>>
>>
>> I think that the text that discusses hybrid writing is the Oxford book. It
>> is a good book, but I warn people that text books are the interpretation of
>> a few teachers. The publishers are not the authority. VCAA is the authority
>> and the Study Design is the document to refer to.
>>
>>
>>
>> Many of us have faced the same problem with the styles of writing in Writing
>> in Context. I ask myself : of all the possible styles of writing in the
>> world (EVERYTHING: fairy tales, limerick, beat poems, newspaper articles,
>> instructional writing, diaries whatever) which forms could not be considered
>> either expository, persuasive or imaginative. If you remember that
>> expository just means to expose, persuasive to persuade and imaginative to
>> imagine, then it follows that they are not even really forms of wriiting.
>> They are general purposes of writing and encompass many forms Thus, my
>> answer is that ANY form of writing is allowable.
>>
>>
>>
>> Next question is: which are we going to recommend. And for me the answer is:
>> It depends on the student, the text, the context and the prompt.
>>
>>
>>
>> Next question is: are there any styles to steer kids away from. My answer is
>> that there are some forms that would be really hard to produce in a SAC or
>> exam whilst showing sophisticated development of ideas. It is possible that
>> an extremely clever writer could produce an acroustic poem that was
>> brilliant, but I have not yet met that student. Also we know that an strict
>> analytical exposition writing in the same manner as a Text Response ie part
>> one of the exam, is not going to be the best idea.
>>
>>
>>
>> I tell my students and staff to forget entirely about the style or form,
>> just write well, keep the idea of the prompt at the heart of the piece, keep
>> the context in mind.
>>
>>
>>
>> Sometimes people need to hear the message from someone outside their work
>> context. VATE maybe able to help with someone who could do some on-line
>> mentoring.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Yours,
>>
>> Greta Caruso
>>
>> English Faculty Head
>>
>> Kingswood College
>>
>> _____
>>
>> From: english-bounces at edulists.com.au [english-bounces at edulists.com.au] On
>> Behalf Of Jenny Gilbert [nenifoofer at gmail.com]
>> Sent: Sunday, 12 June 2011 3:13 PM
>> To: 'VCE English Teachers' Mailing List'
>> Subject: Re: [English] suggestions needed for context teaching
>>
>> Hi Gail - and thankyou - this is VERY affirmingJ. Thankyou for taking the
>> time for such a detailed response. I hope you follow up with that text book
>> and I sincerely appreciate the ideas for writing PD you are suggesting. We
>> are, for all intents and purposes, on the same page with our approach to
>> marking context. I hope to mark it this year in exam marking. I believe we
>> have to do some PD as a staff on teaching writing - it is an area of
>> weakness IMO across the board and I am looking into ways of doing this.
>> Maybe I will start with a plate of Jelly lol.
>>
>>
>>
>> Have a good weekend (off to benchmark context pieces lol)
>>
>>
>>
>> Jen
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> From: english-bounces at edulists.com.au
>> [mailto:english-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Reynolds, Gail G
>> Sent: Sunday, 12 June 2011 2:22 PM
>> To: VCE English Teachers' Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [English] suggestions needed for context teaching
>>
>>
>>
>> HI Jenny,
>>
>>
>>
>> I think it helps to think of those descriptions as an opening out of what
>> can be done rather than a prescription for what must be done. I challenge
>> you to nominate any piece of writing that cannot be fitted to one of the
>> modes or a hybrid of these. I did this exercise with my staff and we
>> couldn't find anything which could not be seen as fitting; because of this,
>> we have somewhat ( but not completely) de-emphasised the categories and have
>> increased focus on ways of producing "good" writing.
>>
>>
>>
>> Note that in the exam the students are not allowed to nominate any style and
>> in fact last time I marked this section, we were told to disregard any
>> Explanations which might accompany the Context. This in effect means that
>> the only place the students need to be able to identify how their piece fits
>> into the nominated formats is in their SACs in their "explanation of
>> authorial choices". Our Y12 teachers agreed that we were doing holistic
>> marking and as we marked the SACs we would place the emphasis of our marking
>> on the actual piece of writing more than the Explanation (although we still
>> took this into account). I personally would not overly-penalise students
>> who mix up the various categories, especially in view of the contradictory
>> information which the students may be accessing. It is interesting that my
>> best students can all provide an excellent Explanation and those who mix up
>> the information sit in the mid to lower range in any case... ( I may be bad,
>> but I do not lose too much sleep over this)
>>
>>
>>
>> One of our major difficulties with this section is that the Design itself is
>> unclear as to the task and our approach is always going to be like juggling
>> jelly... you have to find your own way to succeed and some of it will end up
>> on the floor. I do understand the feelings of the teacher who wants
>> something to cling to -- in its first year everyone was playing safe and
>> Assessors had SOOOOO many boring formulaic expository pieces to mark. I also
>> know that variety and freshness and engagement with the writing are things
>> the Assessors look for. I am afraid we have to lead our staff and our
>> students into more open fields when it comes to this section... and it 'aint
>> easy!'
>>
>>
>>
>> The awful how much text question -- answer: between one word and all of it.
>> I have seen excellent pieces which have used a text as a springboard to dive
>> into new ideas -- for example a student who used the film Witness as the
>> basis, writing about the Amish practice of Rumspinga. There is a clear
>> relationship to the film, a sound platform for discussing Identity and
>> Belonging and scope to incorporate the prompt, but it did not draw directly
>> upon the text. On the other hand there is an occasionally successful
>> strategy which views the plot of a text through the eyes of another
>> character (so this one is nearly all text). The thing to remember is that
>> this is not a text response (50% text is likely to be way over the top in an
>> expository for example). We don't need mention of the text every paragraph
>> or use a formulaic paragraph about the student's experience followed by a
>> paragraph about the text (few writers are able to make this interesting and
>> engaging) I try to get my students to think about the big ideas, how do we
>> explore these, what will capture the young writers' imaginations/ interest
>> the potential audience?
>>
>>
>>
>> As for your staff member, I wish you luck (she says, her mind crowded with
>> bitter memories). One of the text books has an excellent section on hybrid
>> writing (It is on my desk at school and I can't remember which one off hand,
>> but I'll let you know if I remember) you could try giving that to the
>> teacher concerned. For the students at her mercy, how about offering the
>> whole 12 Eng cohort an afternoon of Context-focused writing workshop with
>> the English teachers in attendance (Is there a local writer you could get to
>> facilitate the workshop? Mildura is a relatively big place, there has to be
>> someone who would do it ... or someone prepared to come in from elsewhere.
>> VATE may have some ideas for people to approach???) This one has the value
>> of acting as PD for your staff without singling out or confronting ... and
>> it could bring new ideas for everyone.
>>
>>
>>
>> I don't have many more suggestions and believe me, I can empathise with your
>> predicament. I am not sure that I ever completely succeeded with my guy, but
>> I tried to give oblique gentle shoves and increased exposure to a range of
>> sample responses/sample lessons (Could you do this in an English faculty
>> meeting?) I have just had a meeting with my staff where I asked everyone to
>> bring a sample writing lesson. It was actually a lot of fun and some of that
>> will translate into teaching our Context...
>>
>>
>>
>> (Hope I haven't done that grandma and egg sucking thing..)
>>
>>
>>
>> Gail Reynolds
>>
>> English and Literacy Co-ordinator
>>
>> Box Hill High School
>>
>> 9877 1177
>>
>> _____
>>
>> From: english-bounces at edulists.com.au [english-bounces at edulists.com.au] on
>> behalf of Jenny Gilbert [nenifoofer at gmail.com]
>> Sent: Sunday, 12 June 2011 11:23 AM
>> To: 'VCE English Teachers' Mailing List'
>> Subject: [English] suggestions needed for context teaching
>>
>> Hi Everyone
>>
>> I have a need for some help in leadership J I have an English teacher that
>> is being quite prescriptive ( she is quite presecriptive with most things)
>> with the writing forms 'expository, persuasive and imaginative'. She is not
>> dealing well with the combination of possible forms and voices in written
>> texts. She see them as three completely separate entities. Our teaching of
>> this area of study has evolved over time - and we now see the students as
>> having to 'create' as writers using what they know about the Context, text
>> and their understanding of the concepts in a given prompt. This means we
>> have moved away from strict structural controls for a 5 paragraph essay,
>> although we do teach it for those students who need something to hang their
>> work on as they cling to something of a model. In yr 11 we do focus on the
>> three modes - in Unit one we focus on expository and persuasive, in Unit two
>> creative. (We used to try and do all 3 in semester 1 but it became a
>> workload nightmare) . In Units 3-4 students choose freely.
>>
>> When we first started with context there evolved an understanding of the
>> expository essay form and that wretched formula of third person formal style
>> with 50% use of the text, 25% world and 25% self as a guide for students to
>> structure their writing as informed by the ideas and issues of the set
>> Context and text. While I have not said do not do this I have encouraged the
>> flexibility and creativity of both students and teachers to see that the
>> limits here are on the boundaries of the text and context not the 'rules' of
>> a specific writing genre. I wonder if there are 'rules'. The way I see it
>> there are typical features of writing depending on purpose, audience and
>> form and we need to teach those over the years so that in Yr 12 students are
>> able to use this knowledge and their skills to write a response they feel
>> comfortable with. In expository writing students can explore ideas, look at
>> them from a number of angles, and draw conclusions. We are still
>> experiencing confusion with this - students explaining their work as
>> expository when it clearly argues a view, or vice versa, claiming they have
>> done a persuasive piece that in fact has not clear line of argument and is
>> even lacking a clear contention. The pick 'persuasive' simply because in the
>> end they express an opinion.
>>
>> Then there is that awful question - how much from outside the text has to be
>> included? It seems the struggle with the grey continues with that 50/25/25
>> formula. I have - after PD recognised this is not the way to encouraged good
>> creation of texts. Last years examiners report confirms this
>>
>> On the other hand, it should be noted that:
>>
>> . there still seems to be a dependence on formulaic responses, which
>> suggests that some students believe that
>>
>> rote-learning is sufficient. The study of English is concerned with
>> developing students' understanding and
>>
>> confidence in responding to the specific topics and prompts that are offered
>> in the examination. Active
>>
>> engagement with texts enables students to develop language awareness,
>> articulate ideas and develop
>>
>> communication skills
>>
>> . some students did not fully engage with the actual elements of the topics
>> and prompts. Greater care needs to be
>>
>> taken in analysing and recognising the specific expectations of each topic
>> or prompt - often this comes down
>>
>> to a precise understanding of the words which comprise the task
>>
>> In section B the commentary is quite clear
>>
>> The most successful responses drew thoughtfully from the text; however, the
>> least successful only used a scene or a
>>
>> feature of character in a superficial way or retold the plot of the text.
>> This approach was not always relevant to the
>>
>> prompt. There can be no definitive advice on the success of relying on a
>> single text or employing both (or more). Some
>>
>> students used the two texts expertly to demonstrate exceptions and
>> qualifications, while others did little more than use
>>
>> the second text to add yet more of the same examples. While students writing
>> using an expository approach tended to
>>
>> employ both texts, a number of students explored only one text. Students who
>> used more than one source to illustrate
>>
>> their ideas often produced pieces with a strong sense of unity and purpose.
>> This cohesiveness was contrasted by pieces
>>
>> where one idea followed the next as students went through their list of
>> examples. The product was more a plan for an
>>
>> essay than a thoughtful, finished piece.
>>
>> The transference of ideas from the texts is critical. Students who
>> understood and could convey sophisticated ideas from
>>
>> their texts were the most successful, regardless of the approach to writing
>> selected.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> <http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce/studies/english/englishassess/2010/engl
>> ish_assessrep_10.pdf>
>> http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce/studies/english/englishassess/2010/engli
>> sh_assessrep_10.pdf
>>
>>
>>
>> Our focus has been much more on the concepts and ideas in the prompt and
>> text than in writing to a specific formula. Our returning prescriptive
>> teacher is more focussed on the required form and wanting rigorous specific
>> supplementary texts included in the study. I will refer her to this
>> examiners report and others have provided her with documentation from
>> inservices- but can anyone offer useful definitions of the 'three explicit'
>> forms because I can't. I prefer to paint the grey lines and encourage
>> students to create with the focus much more on the connection of the
>> concepts and texts. In this instance the labelling of expository, persuasive
>> or imaginative is squishing the potential to write from the heart and mind
>> if it is done as this teacher is suggesting. SO...
>>
>> What suggestions do you have about what I should say to her other than to
>> send her on PD to meet the examiners -I have not yet marked this section so
>> I am at a bit of a loss and relying very much on my experience teaching it,
>> PD and examiners reports.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> PS..to add to confusion some publications are now using the word exposition
>> for persuasive writing - how do we deal with that?
>>
>>
>>
>> Jenny Gilbert
>>
>>
>>
>> English Coordinator, St Joseph's College Mildura
>>
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Alison Smith
Chisholm House Leader
Wanganui Park Secondary College
Shepparton, Victoria
Phone: 03 5820 9900
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