Findings: Anti-Example
Textbooks are intended as models and examples for students. I have already identified the problem that textbooks do not consistently present definitions, explanations, and examples from which students can model their writing. Even more problematically, the content that I found at times did not adequately represent standard reflection writing.
Of the three actual samples that I found in the seventeen books studied, one contained what I will call an anti-example.
My senior year in high school, I had to write a research paper about the march in Selma, Alabama in the 1960's. I Googled to find some information and I wrote the paper. I just wanted to pass. I worked for probably two hours on it, but I failed. There was so much red on that paper, I could hardly see what I wrote. I guess I just can't write. I have failed everything I've done for English classes since then. I will probably fail this class, too.
Unlike other models, this sample:
- Lacks specific details
- Self-deprecates
- Sustains a defeatist attitude
The textbook presented this example as a representation of student learning, but it was quite the opposite. The book did convey a progress narrative through surrounding context. However, students who seek an example after which to model their writing might not pick up on the problems with this sample.
Anker, Susan and Miriam Moore. Real Reading and Writing. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014.
