We’ve been reading up on Supreme Court cases involving “student rights” in one of my classes. Most of the readings and videos have involved the biggies – student speech, mostly, and some search and seizure. I recently asked them to pick a topic related to student rights in school, and of course offered a list of possibilities for those not particularly motivated to come up with their own.
We’re not looking to do a serious research paper at this level. Mostly, I want us to go through the motions of gathering information, understanding the issues, and recognizing the difference between an informational or expository text (“here’s the current law about X, plus examples”) and a persuasive or rhetorical text (“here’s what the law or policy should be, and here’s why”).
The first day was all groundwork – some videos summarizing various cases and a little discussion about possible topics. Day two was intended to be straightforward, but essential. Students needed to come up with FIVE SOURCES they were going to use for information about their topic. Books or periodicals would be fine, but realistically I knew we were talking websites. I briefly addressed “valid” vs. “invalid” sources, but for something like this I wasn’t overly picky.
Honestly, there are SO many “student rights” sites out there, so many news stories citing various court cases and issues, so many legal advocacy sites with sections about students and education, it should be difficult NOT to find valid sources of information at the level I’m looking for. I figured most would be done in 15-20 minutes. I asked them to email me their five links or share a Google Doc (for easier follow-up on their part) and we’d discuss their topic and sources before they move on.
We’re not doing a doctoral thesis here; we’re trying to learn whether or not dress codes are sexist or when principals can search your backpack. I was only taking it slow because this foundational step was so important.
Sources, Shmorces…
By the next day, I only had a handful of completions. By itself that wasn’t so shocking; my students aren’t always a particularly self-motivated group. But I’d watched them working, and writing. I’d overheard what sounded like productive, on-topic discussions. I knew the product I was asking for was NOT all that demanding, and yet…?
I started taking a closer look at all the activity I thought I’d observed.
Several were overdoing it – summarizing entire web pages or the issues covered on each. That’s a good problem to have; obviously, they need to eventually read the information in their sources. Most, however, had simply started writing about their topic – what they thought, why this or that policy was unjust, ect. They were on fire! Except… they weren’t doing the assignment.
“Looks like you have a lot to say. That’s good. But… where are your five sources?”
“My what?”
Now, this is something many educators will immediately recognize. You can explain something quite explicitly while the same instructions are projected on the screen behind you and in large font on the paper in front of them. You can restate those same directions in multiple ways, give examples, and make sure they know how to refer back to them if necessary. Ten minutes after you turn them loose to work, a third of them haven’t started because they have no idea what they’re supposed to do. Of those, several are already mad that you never explain anything.
It’s not personal. You get used to it.
But this wasn’t silent confusion. These kids were writing! Several were quite emotional. Most responded with annoyance and confusion when I tried to steer them back to those FIVE SOURCES. Save what you’ve written! You might decide to use it. But first, we need to know stuff. What does the Constitution SAY? What have the courts already DECIDED? We can agree with it or disagree, advocate or accept, but we must start with existing KNOWLEDGE on which to build our opinions!
Their bewilderment and frustration were palpable. BUT I ALREADY KNOW WHAT I WANT TO SAY! Yes, I see that – and I want for you to be able to say it. I’m just asking that these strong opinions of yours begin with some facts and information.
Eventually, I thought they’d heard me. Maybe I hadn’t explained it as well as I thought the first day. They mutter what passes for agreement. I walk on.
And you know what comes next.
Ground Fog Day
Day Three. We should be outlining by now. Discussing topic sentences and supporting details. Instead, I’m walking around the room trying to figure out why we’re still not turning in those FIVE SOURCES. One pair (I finally caved on letting them work together) has given me a list of homepages – forbes.com, vox.com, etc. I try to explain that I need the actual URLs of the specific articles, which prompts them to sulk and refuse to do anymore that day. Another gives me a handwritten list of very long URLs, which I suppose technically meets the requirements, but WHO DOES THAT AND WHY?!?!
Mostly, however, it’s a brand new start in all the worst ways. What are we doing again? So we have to do research papers? Can I use the essay on Vikings I did for World History first semester? Again I’m left referring back to the same very basic instructions… and insisting they need FIVE SOURCES. Sources? For what? How many? Five?! So any five websites about anything? Mister, you’re not explaining this very well.
Most are genuinely stuck. Bewildered. Stymied. Buffy and Willow and Xander, wrestling with Spike’s assertion that Ben IS Glory and Glory IS Ben. There’s simply too much dark magic in play to allow their brains to grasp – let alone retain – such madness. FIVE SOURCES? Related to a student right of our choice? So what are those posted directions and samples for? What are we doing again?
Lost Connections
Most educators know how bewildering kids can be. We love them anyway, and it’s not usually the same from day to day or from student to student. In this particular case, however, I’m convinced that the sticking point was more than usual teenage cluelessness. I think it’s the nature of the requirement triggering the crisis. I might as well have asked them to recalibrate their heartbeats to produce more of a polka rhythm, or required them to eat only color and write with one-dimensional fruit. Starting today, work will only be accepted in Morse Code. Grades are determined by the square root of your age as a negative number divided by zero. And informational writing must be supported by FIVE SOURCES.
Information. Existing facts. Building our arguments on knowledge and reason. Assume a common foundation of documented truth and empirical understanding. Know stuff FIRST. Then feel. Then rant. Then insist, explain, or decry.
That’s just not how we do things anymore, is it? They’re high school freshmen – I’m not mad at any of them or despondent over the process. Every lesson has its unexpected wrinkles, and they’re not always the same from year to year or class to class. But I don’t think they’re alone in their bewilderment. If one of our goals in public education is to prepare students for the “real world,” I’m not even sure that insisting on facts and reality as the foundation of their informational or persuasive writing is doing them any favors. Facts and reality don’t seem to carry much weight these days. They get in the way of too many emotions, agendas, and belief systems.
Why Ruin It With Reality?
We’ve watched over the years as our primary social and political arguments have shifted from disagreements over methodology (“Which approach is most likely to accomplish the goals we largely share?”) to tribal warfare over basic reality (“Did Trump lose the election due to fraud? Is violent overthrow of democracy a valid form of peaceful political protest? ARE BIRDS EVEN REAL?”) Reaching across the aisle has become more and more like a mid-season Star Trek episode; someone always ends up in a different time-space continuum. Emotions are strong, and tied firmly to belief, and religion, and tribal associations, and convictions regarding values and one’s own sense of self. What they don’t seem overly concerned with is objective reality.
My kids will eventually give me those FIVE SOURCES, but at the moment they’re products of the times in which they live. It’s legitimately difficult for them to fathom the idea that their opinions and emotions should at least take facts, history, and reality into account. It’s not just that they don’t want to do it – they can’t easily get their heads around why anyone would expect such a thing. My instructions are inconvenient and irrational – the bizarre babblings of a madman. “FIVE SOURCES,” he says. Honestly, he won’t shut up about it. Cleary he doesn’t understand – I ALREADY HAVE STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THIS. Why would we slow all that down, complicate my position with these… these… what did you call them again? “Facts”?
I realize it’s old school. Outdated. Perhaps even detrimental to their future success. But we’re going to get those FIVE SOURCES before moving forward if it takes all month and nearly kills us all. I can’t do anything about the rest of the country, but for now… THIS group is going to at least START with facts and reality. Where they go next is entirely up to them.