2 of 8

Giving Students the Rights to Their Texts: The Brannon and Knoblauch Reading

Students are not (ordinarily) experts on the topics they are writing about, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be given respect or control over their work.

Teachers shouldn’t tell students what to say or even how to say it; rather, they should help students express their thoughts as clearly as possible.
Don’t correct a student’s choices simply because they deviate from an imagined “model text.” (Brannon and Knoblauch 158).

This often leads to students writing what they think the teacher wants to hear.

If students are allowed to revise their work, revision becomes the focus and students retain control (162).

“Return control of choice-making as soon as possible to the writer,” (163).

3 of 8

So…what does this have to do with creativity?

4 of 8

It’s About Control

Control is contrary to creativity, in all kinds of writing. The Brannon and Knoblauch reading seems to be mainly about academic writing, but the idea also applies to creative writing.

And, even in academic writing, students should have their own voices, something they develop, I’d argue, through creativity.

Creative or academic, when students are writing in school, their talents should be nurtured by allowing them to retain control.

Writing what they think a teacher wants to hear is not going to help improve their writing, because writing isn’t just about putting words down on paper…it’s about thinking.

Personal example: I didn’t feel like I had control of my writing in high school.

Catholic school, I couldn’t really write about queer topics, be it creatively or academically. I felt like I really had to self-censor.

5 of 8

Feedback on Writing

We’ve talked about what kinds of feedback are helpful to student writing, but it’s worth reiterating.
Grades=Ranking=Control

Especially when grades are given based on whether a teacher likes what the student is saying.

Written comments, and/or conferences with students, can be the most helpful.

If a teacher can determine what it is a student is trying to say, they can then help them figure out how to say it most clearly (Brannon and Knoblauch 164).
Of course, this isn’t always practical in the current school system…

This applies greatly to a student’s creative work as well! Think about the feedback an author would receive from an editor…
In the same way, drafts give student writers plenty of opportunity to improve their work (with teacher feedback).

6 of 8

Remixing

Remixing subverts the power dynamics students are used to: instead of someone (a teacher) changing their work, they get to alter the work of someone else.
If typical schoolwork usually includes relinquishing control, remixing is a way for students to take control.

Fanfiction is popular among students, and while there’s surely a vast variety of reasons for this, I speculate that some of them have to do with freedom, choice-making, interests of the student, and constructive evaluation and feedback from readers.

Interacting with well-known stories and getting to make them more personally-relevant/relatable may be especially able to encourage creativity as well as help to establish identity.

7 of 8

Let’s Remix

8 of 8

Wrap-up Discussion

Why is it important to nurture creativity in school? (Or is it not?)

Does remixing, using someone else’s work to produce your own, diminish one’s personal creativity?

How can English teachers nurture creativity in a world full of standardized tests and strict curriculums?