Re: Student involvement

[jwerchan@osulima2.lima.ohio-state.edu (James E. Werchan)]

hi josie,

Yes, of course I know about _Write On_ (remember, I'm an alum of that very
department.)

Your mention of Freire really made a lightbulb go on above my head.  I've
read tangentially around/about the guy, so the lightbulb isn't very bright.
But this culture of silence business really struck a chord.  The silence is
their way of resisting the dominant ideology, right?  geez, i wonder whether
what we're talking about is the ideology of the academy that mainstream
literacy is the only 'correct' way of interacting with the world.  since
that _is_  inescapably true, what's a WC/WAC-dood to do?  when we'd like for
them to use literacy to resist dominant ideology, but literacy itself is
part of that ideology, we've got catch-22.

hm..........   I think I may have gone way round the bend on that one.
What do wcenter folks at large think?

thanks
james w


>
>> Dear James,
>>      Here at Texas A&M (ETSU), we have a publication called _Write On_
>> which is composed of the essays written by our own BWs' and the students
>> in our first year composition courses. It is centered in the
>> Communications Skills Center (our Writing Center) where the tutor's and 
>> the WC director judge the entries and choose the winning essays which
>> we then publish. We, the graduate and undergraduate students, are very
>> fortunate to have the type of support and communication that is found in 
>> the Literature and Language Dept. here at TAMU-Commerce. The
>> faculty and staff--including the GAs/TAs who teach several composition
>> courses, communicate quite well and eah one of us encourage our
>> students to submit their works to "their" publication. We also use the
>> publication--the published texts of student writers--in our BW and first
>> year comp. courses. This not only encourages new student writers but also
>> gives students who come into the world of academia and belong to the
>> group defined as the "culture of silence" (by Paulo Freire) some
>> selfesteem. I'm not sure if this idea and use of a student publication
>> will help you or not, but maybe it will give you something to think
>> about--strong communication and committment within the dept. and among the
>> TAs and GAs is the key to this type of project working. Sorry if there are
>> any mistakes. I go to school here in Commerce, and I am in a hurry to
>> leave for home (Magnolia, AR).
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                    Dr. James Werchan
(or maybe it's just someone who kinda looks a lot like him)
              Ohio State University at Lima
                    4240 Campus Drive
                     Reed Hall #135
                     Lima, OH 45804
                      419-995-8882
				
                    werchan.1@osu.edu					jwerchan@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
(for main campus biz)
jwerchan@osulima1.lima.ohio-state.edu  (for local biz only)
								
  Come and visit: "http://www.lima.ohio-state.edu/~WACC"    
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