Annotated Bibliography #2

Smagorinsky, Peter. “‘Growth through English’ Revisited.” The English Journal 91.6 (2002): 23-29. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. < http://www.jstor.org/stable/821812 >.

Smagorinsky discusses a book written by John Dixon in the 1960s, with subsequent editions, called Growth through English. He is impressed by the way Dixon’s ideas seem to come “from post-millenium schools rather than the schools of the 1960s” (24). Dixon stresses a student-oriented classroom rather than a teacher and text-directed classroom, and the problems he and his colleagues faced mirror those teachers face today: an externally-driven curriculum. Dixon argued that student growth is most important, particularly through discussion, writing about personal experience, and drama. However, Smagorinsky warns against romanticizing student-centered approaches: he says that in “writing workshops, we see nice, wholesome kids writing about nice wholesome topics” (29). Real life is much different. Smagorinsky points out that often one’s own personal growth comes at the expense of another, and this can happen often, such as through misogynistic language of a student, or bigoted writing. Thus a teacher needs to set some authoritative boundaries. This is a useful warning for teachers who choose to forego any authority. And what seemed a routine article about student-centered approaches became a much more practical guide for classroom management and guidelines. Student-centered approach is good as long as it has some limits.