I have had many a debate on the usefulness of the five-paragraph essay, and I generally tend to agree with what Pirie had to say in his article. I think students need to learn how to write academically, which includes knowledge of the five-paragraph essay, and we as teachers would be doing a disservice to our students by not exposing them to it. On the other hand, this is just one tool in our large chest of writing styles and formats. We can and should teach our students to think creatively and can encourage them to use more than one form of writing throughout the year.
For those teachers out there that absolutely abhor the mere mention of the five-paragraph essay, they can feel free to express that dislike to their students. In much the same way that we have been discussing having a safe classroom with open discussion about topics such as language and culture, I think teachers can be open with their students about the “system” and the “man” as things that they may not want to conform to, but that they will have to at least know how to deal with throughout their education and beyond. I don’t think it is a problem to acknowledge the dominant power structure that we have been discussing in order to validate and engage those students that feel like the “other.” They need to know that they don’t have to give anything of their culture up in order to succeed in your classroom, but they may need to work with the system for one or two assignments and standardized tests. The five-paragraph essay can be one choice of many that students can choose to use to craft their arguments. For those who feel more comfortable using other formats, I think that is perfectly fine.
Being open and honest with students about what they need to do to be successful in a (still) white, male society is important and the students will choose whether or not they will acknowledge that world, and maybe work to change it, or ignore it and possibly be defeated by it along the way.
2 comments:
The idea of a "teacher toolkit" is one that I take to heart. If we begin to think about all the strategies presented in the theories and the added testimonials from the Vinz, you want to do all these things that you know are good for kids. However, aside from causing ulcers, sleepless nights, and brain bleeds, trying to be th perfect teacher is truly impossible. What we need to do is build our toolkit with thing like the 5 Paragraph essay, along with narrative writing, creative writing, freewriting, and others so that we can offer our students a chance to build their toolkit. As teachers, our job is to pass on skills (I think you brought this up in class). We are doing them a disservice if we deny them the skill of the 5 paragraph essay just if we denied them the skill of writing a journal entry.
“Safe space” is the mantra of your cohort. We mock it a bit, yet you are right that it is a key to so many things. And it is true that we need to have discussions with students about the culture of power and how to gain access to it (whether they choose to gain access is up to them). As you say, be open and honest with kids—about the choices you make, the restrictions you are under, the ways you live as a teacher. It can go far!!
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