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Modern Language Studies
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Seeing
Beyond
the
Ordinary:
Imagination
nd
the
Work
of
Teachers
and
Students
in
Basic
Writing
SUSAN
NAOMI
BERNSTEIN,
UNIVERSITY
OF
CINCINNATI
Maxine Greene assertsthat,"Imaginationwillalwaysome intoplaywhenbecomingiterateug-gestsanopeningofspaces,an end to submer-gence,aconsciousness of therightto askwhy"(25).Greene'swords are not so much a reason tocelebrate hepowerofwritingoliberate,but a calltoaction,to"openingspaces,"o use ourpowerandprivilegeasacademics o work towardssub-stantiveandsystemicchange.Suchchangewouldchallengeherigidhierarchies f access tohighereducationntheUnitedStates,nparticularo edu-cationinliteracyandwriting.Inthisregard,Iunderstandmaginations the constantneed toseebeyondtheordinary,o continue toquestionourown identitiesandpurposesorteachingandwrit-ing,even as we continuetochallengeourstudentstowardbecomingwriters hemselvesandlearning"aconsciousnessof therighto askwhy."amespe-ciallynterestedhereintheimaginativework thatmaybecomepossiblefor both teachers and stu-dentsinintroductorywritingcourses astheyextend thehorizonsof their worktogetherintheclassroom.notherwords,teachingandlearningwritingneeds to be aboutmore thanpresentingbasicskillsorpreparingorsubsequentcourses.InthisessayIfocus ontheimportanceofimagination,bothinterms ofhowIimagine myown work as ateacher,aswell as how that workengagesncultivatingtudents'maginations.dis-cuss two differentgroupsof writerswith whomIrecentlyworkedinHouston,Texas:hildrennacreativewritinglassat apublicelementarychoolandyoungadultsinbasicwritingcourses at anurban,open-enrollmentuniversity.My "dayjob" was at theuniversity,hereIwasexpectedto fulfillthe traditionalob descriptionor assistantprofes-sor ofteaching,research,andservice.Nonethe-less,myexperiencesofmovingbetweenthe ele-mentaryschool anduniversitylassroomsaughtme that thecategoriesofteaching,research,andserviceare notsoseparateastheyfirstappear.Per-hapsthe most obviouslinkis that ofcontext,ofattemptingomanagehe needs of classrooms it-uatednlargepublicbureaucracieshatare fundedbythe state of Texas.Butbeyondthat,Ifound aswell that the students'hungerandpassionforlearning-theirsense thattheclassroomwas anopportunitynot to be wasted-alsoprovidedalinkthatwas richwithpossibility.The work ofteachingnuniversitylassroomsisusuallyperceivedasnecessarilyplitfromteach-inginelementaryschool.Methodologiesandgoals,processesandproductswould seem to bearno relation to eachother.Infact,asImovedbetween thesewritingenvironments,found thatan invisible eamjoined myclassrooms.Thisseam
U'PROFESSION& PEDAGOGY
 
MODERN LANGUAGESTUDIES34.1/34.2
waswoven withthepossibilitiesofseeingbeyondtheordinary hroughimaginativewriting.Partofmyworkhere is tomakethat seamvisiblebyreflectingon thewritingofthestudents them-selves,whetherinnaturepoemsorexpositoryessays.Inthisregard,metaphorplayedakeyroleintheprocessofexperimentingwithnewperspec-tives.Withmetaphoralso cameacriticaldisso-nance that furtherinformedthework of bothgroupsofstudents.Rediscoveringthepurposesofimaginativewritingprovidesacrucialmeansofreconfiguringthe workoftheorizingpedagogybyexamininghowwritingworksacrossthecontinuum ofschooling.Particularlymportantnsuch work isreexaminingurapproachesoteachingstudentsenrolled incollegebasicwritingprograms,stu-dents who areplacedatthemarginsfhigheredu-cation.Suchstudentshaveoftenbeenfailedby sys-temicproblemsthroughoutheirschooling,suchasunder-fundedchools,largeclasssizes,deterio-ratedphysicalplants,and lackofaccess tonecessi-tiessuchasupdatedtextbooksandtechnology,asdescribedbyJonathanKozolinSavageInequali-ties.Partofthe workoftheorizingpedagogymust,ofnecessity,nclude thepracticeofreachingallofourstudents,especiallyhosewhohavenot beenequitablyervedbydistressedchoolsystems.
BuildingonStrengths:TheLargerView oftheField
Intermsofimagination,metaphoris avaluablemeans ofgainingaccessto thecomplexitiesofthematerialrealities.AsCandidaGillisandCherylL.Johnsonand SusanVWalluggest,metaphorsanimportantmeans forteachers todescribedailyclassroompractice-thetasks,challenges,and suc-cesses thatconstitutewritingclassrooms.Suchpracticesreoftenlostinthecacophonyofschool-ing,ofteachingandlearning.Metaphors onemeans ofmakingsense ofwhat oftenlooks andfeels likeunmitigatedhaos.For21/2years,onTuesdaymorningswhenIlivedand workednHouston,Ivisiteda smallpub-licelementaryschoolas a writer n residencetoteachcreativewritingosecond, third,andfourthgraders.Writers n theSchools,a Houstonnon-profit organizationhatplacescreativewritersnresidenciesinHoustonpublicschools,arrangedmyresidencyWritersn theSchools).Amongmyfavoritememoriesare the timeswespentoutsideon naturewalks.Atfirst,all I saw was a barrenieldwith afewtrees.Iwonderedwhat thechildrenwouldfind toobserve,to write aboutastheyranthroughthefield,lookingforspacestocelebratetheirtemporaryiberationrom theclassroom.I was oftenpleasantlyurprised.WhereIsawpatchesofgrassparchedbythe southernsun,thestudents foundladybugs,ermites,fireants,andspiders.WhereI sawgreen,never-changingrees,the childrenfound the odd red leaffallen tothegroundatthebaseofthetree,oryelloweaveshid-denamongbranchesofgreenones. Whatthistaughtme aboutteachingwas to learnto seethelargercontext ofeverything-tolearntoseebeyondthe surfaceof theordinary.Thatis,Ilearnedtotake ametaphoricalmagnifying lasstomy teaching,oseeteachingnot as a narrativefprogress,butratheras a series of framesoverlayingeachother,as in our naturewalksat school.Firstcamethelargerviewof the field-andthentheviewwithinheview,hehillsof fireants hiddennthe forestsofparchedgrassthatthechildrenfound whentheywere ontheir hands andknees.Each view informed theother-and eachviewallowedmetobegintomakesenseof the other.Soitwas withteaching.Aftereavingheelementaryschool,Iwould arriveafter alongbus ridedown-town totheuniversityampusto attendmeetings(Idid not teachclasseson thedaysItaughtattheelementary chool).Manyf themeetingsIattend-edon thosedaysdealt with studentsenrolledinbasic skills coursesandchallengesofcomplyingwithstate-mandatedtandards.Insomeways,the discussionsat thesemeet-ings provedobe anextensionof theongoingcon-versationsnwhich theelementarychool teachersandIwereengaged.Althoughwespokeoftenof
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