Crispin 1

Arionna Crispin

Marisa Enos

ENG 111

2 May 2018

Critical Reflection

I sometimes find it difficult to determine how I have grown and developed as a writer,

especially throughout one semester. But, after looking back and comparing the first and final

drafts of my essays, it is safe to say I have made a considerable amount of progress during the

ENG 111 course. The fundamental skills I have gained and enhanced are synthesizing,

problematizing, and incorporating my own unique voice into my essays.

Synthesizing is a proficiency all should learn while furthering their education. This is my

first semester at Mid Michigan Community College, so when I started taking ENG 111, I had

never heard of synthesis; it was a completely new concept to me. My synthesizing skills are still

developing, but they are far more advanced than when the class had first begun. After learning

what synthesis is and the overall objective of it, I had plenty of room to practice during the

semester. One of the journals I completed was completely based on practicing synthesis, and I

discussed the works of Jack Mezirow and Paulo Freire:

Mezirow teaches his readers not only what transformative learning is, but also how to

facilitate it. He makes it well aware that communication is key, “Transformative learning

is rooted in the way human beings communicate and is a common learning experience

not exclusively concerned with significant personal transformations” (91). In order to get

a proper education, there must be exceptional communication happening in the

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classroom. Paulo Freire wrote ​The “Banking” Concept of Education​ where he presents

the idea of problem-posing education, which can relate to the theory of transformative

learning, especially in the means of communication. “Through dialogue, the

teacher-of-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist and new a term

emerges: teacher-student with student- teachers . . . they become jointly responsible for a

process in which all grow” (7). Students and teachers must join to create a place for

authentic learning to take place. Mezirow and Freire have different theories when it

comes to effective learning, but they have very similar concepts. They both conclude the

importance of communication between students and their teachers to have learning thrive

in the classroom.

When considering the fact I had never known of synthesizing, I am proud of my new ability,

though it is still in progress.

Another major improvement I made was adding my own unique voice into my essays. At

the beginning of the semester, my introductions needed extensive improvement. The first draft I

wrote for my AMS 1 essay demonstrated my inexperience. Instead of making it unique, I started

off with a quote from Leamnson. By the end of the course, I feel that made a great deal of

improvement with adding my voice, especially in the hooks of my essays. When I came to my

second AMS draft, I was able to start it off with a more personal approach:

There have been countless times throughout my scholastic career in which I have sat in a

classroom, surrounded by students of all learning styles, who were taught in one

distinctive way. This style of teaching is not only ineffective, but also detrimental to the

learning of my classmates and myself. I remember thinking, “I am not comprehending

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this, I will have to find an alternative way to learn this all later on”. I, myself, am a very

independent learner, and I must practice, use, and apply information in order to grasp it.

But, I have found this is not the approach of many professors.

I went from simply using a quote to being able to relate to the problem at hand, which makes a

significant difference in the quality of my essay. I thoroughly believe I made astonishing

progress with adding my unique voice - especially in the introductions.

In addition, this course has also helped me to develop the process of problematizing. As

with synthesizing, I had little to no experience, and found the task to be difficult. My first

attempt in my AMS 1 Proposal did not turn out well: “The problem I would like to address in my

essay is how students have difficulty learning because they are treated as depositories and cannot

relate to the information being presented.” Needless to say, instead of problematizing, I restated

Paulo Freire’s article ​The “Banking” Concept of Education. ​I spent a lot of time practicing, and I

made a substantial amount of progress. In the final draft of my second AMS, I was able to

produce a higher quality essay by constructively problematizing and stating a strong, clear thesis:

“An extensive problem in adult education is standardization–all students are expected to learn

the same way, or figure it out on their own. Because of this absurd obligation, students become

quickly discouraged, feel no need to pay attention, and thus, do not have their educational needs

met. Institutions must prioritize individuality, creativity, and critical thinking in order to help

students thrive.” I feel that I was able to proficiently problematize while still using the sources in

our textbook to support my thesis.

Writing is difficult in itself, let alone learning and developing new skills, as well as

tracking one’s progress. When I first started the semester in ENG 111, I struggled with adding a
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unique voice to my essays. I also had complications with synthesis and problematizing, as I was

inexperienced in those areas of expertise. After taking a look back at the drafts of essays I have

written throughout the semester, the improvement I have made is indisputable.