Nelson Discussion Questions by Claire and Keaton

1.     On page 413, what does Nelson mean when he calls students “true insiders” and teachers “naive outsiders”? Do you agree with his interpretation?

 

2.     Would you agree with the suggestion that instructors should position themselves as outsiders to the students interpretive practices? Would this theory make a difference in English 30?

 

3.     The “culture of school” is brought up numerous times in the beginning of the paper, but is never fully explained. How would you describe the culture of school?

 

4.     Kate becomes disillusioned to her teacher’s expectations when she remarks that all he expects is his students’ work to “sound like a textbook” (Page 416). As a result, Kate “was unwilling to take risks or expend much effort on subsequent assignments” (Page 416).

This implies that convention interferes with a writer’s identity. Can this be a good thing? In academics, should writers be constrained by convention at the cost of their identity, or is identity more important than convention?

 

5.     “Helen’s reading of her classroom context and assignment led her to approach her assignment with a sense of authority and commitment that appeared to be missing in the other students’ approaches” (Page 422).

What factors contribute to this difference? What enables Helen to approach her assignment with a sense of authority and commitment?

 

6.     Nelson’s paper explores how students read and interpret classrooms as text. Do you think the students in our workshops read and interpret the workshops in the same way? If yes, how and why would they read and interpret our workshops? If no, why wouldn’t they?