Metamorphosis Paper

David Jensen argues that we should ask ourselves “what sorts of beings we are creating by the process of schooling” (Jensen 2004, p. 3). As students, we’ve all had the opportunity to spend time in countless classrooms with a wide range of teachers, all of whom aimed to touch our lives in some way. As Jane Roland Martin argues, the result is that we’ve undergone varied and complex changes; they often happen in ways that we and our teachers did not understand. The aim of this paper is to help you analyze how your schooling experiences have influenced who you are today.


To do so, your task is to weave yourself into Martin’s discussion of educational metamorphoses: your own. Yours is obviously one that is on-going, so it is a self exploration focused on this point of your educational journey. As you think about who you are today as a student and how you got here (through those educational metamorphoses), you may find that it is best to ground your discussion in an experience or event from your prior schooling experiences. I suggest you try to remember a specific instance or experience and use it to ground your discussion. (You are welcome to use more than one, of course.) Explore and discuss what the experience was like, who was involved, and how they and the event were significant to your learning experience. Investigate how the experience may be currently informing who you are (what you are interested in, how you approach schooling, how you think about yourself, others, and the world around you.)


As Florence Krall (1988) suggests, this exercise is about working toward writing “thick descriptions of educational experiences in [your] past that are remembered with special clarity” (p. 469).  By thick Krall intends for you to identify an experience, event or general feeling that stands out for you and then to include as much information as you are able to help your reader “see” the experience you are trying to convey.  In other words, you are to include time, location (place, environment), people, quotes if you can remember them, and/or the essence of how you felt in the moment.  The key, of course, is to explore how the experience continues to influence who you are today.


So, in short, the specific question I want you to address is:


How has schooling helped you become who you are?


Your audience is the class and Jane Martin. Thus, your discussion should situate your personal metamorphosis within and extend the discussion begun in Educational Metamorphoses as well as the ones we’ve had in class.


Here are some questions to start your thinking:


Who are you? Who are you as a student? How and why are these two people different or similar? Have you developed skills, interests, habits or dispositions as a result of being in school? Have you consciously tried to develop them? Have they arisen unconsciously or did you attempt to change yourself in response to your school experiences? Are there some that you want to continue to cultivate? Are there some that you don’t?


Follow this link for more questions.


Details:

  1. •As you begin thinking about and drafting your papers, I encourage you to consult others who knew you at earlier stages of your growth as a person and your school experiences.

  2. •Your discussion may include out of school experiences as long as you situate them within how they complemented or differed from what you learned about yourself within school.

  3. •Since capturing what you want to express through a paper might be difficult, I invite you to add complexity to your paper through the use of alternative forms of expression. For example, you could use video, PowerPoint, audio (music or other), art (painting, sculpture etc.), or something written like poetry or fiction.

  4. •Length: The paper must be long enough to develop a thoughtful analysis. Please do not ask for minimum length requirements. I am most concerned with quality.

  5. •Style: Please be sure to submit papers that are carefully edited and revised. Please do not mistake my inviting you to be self-analytical and to share your personal experiences as an invitation for sloppiness. This is not a journal entry. It is a paper that demonstrates careful thought and preparation. That stated, I invite you to use the first pronoun, I, in the paper. Own your ideas.

  6. •Due Date: The paper is due in class on February 23.



LINK TO PAPER RUBRIC