embracing the i-search

I read a great quote today from David Bartholomae in Inventing the University: "When students are writing for a teacher, writing becomes more problematic than it is for the students who are describing baseball to a Martian. The students, in effect, have to assume privilege without having any. And since students assume privilege by locating themselves within the discourse of a particular community--within a set of specifically acceptable gestures and commonplaces--learning, at least as it is defined in the liberal arts curriculum, becomes more a matter of imitation or parody than a matter of invention and discovery."

When I read this quote, I immediately thought of the I-Search, which was by far the most enjoyable unit to teach/grade this semester. In the midst of the Position Paper unit, although it seems to be going well, I find myself wishing for those happy days of teaching/brainstorming/discussing/drafting the I-Search with my students.

The I-Search, in my opinion, is a way to circumvent students' instincts to "imitate" the traditional research paper. Because of its unique approach to the process/reporting of research, the I-Search commands what Bartholomae articulates as "invention and discovery," two practices I think we can all agree we wish our students will experience in our classes. The I-Search's structure leads students to examine their experience researching, which includes an honest, evaluative reflection of current knowledge and assumptions, the process and practice of finding and evaluating sources, the discussion of findings and results, and reflection on predictions, unexpected results, and revelations. I taught this paper as a "written documentary" and I think this clarified what I was looking for. (I showed my class the documentary "Supersize Me" as an example of mixing personality/personal voice with facts, findings, and interviews. It works wonders.)

This semester, I required each of my students to interview a source for the I-Search; one student ended up interviewing the top official in charge of environmental concerns for the state of Missouri (the official title escapes me) for his paper on "Going Green." One student interviewed a professor on campus about his best friend's experience living in a commune for her paper exploring the benefits of communal living. With maybe one or two exceptions (and these were the people who never came to class), the I-Searches were provocative, reflective, insightful, and interesting! They described their experiences in the Missouri State library using descriptive language, articulated their frustrations with web sources and their elation when they found, and I quote, "the motherload of articles on my topic." One student commented, "I learned how to do an interview for this paper which was quite helpful." I submitted one of the I-Searches on the Aurora Borealis to Dr. Cadle for consideration for publication in Composing Ourselves; in this paper, my student discussed her journey in changing her topic from a scientific approach to the phenomenon to a study of different cultures' perceptions of it. It was incredible. I could actually see my students "inventing" and "discovering" because they were documenting their journeys step by step. This paper was not only fun to teach, but I learned what was working with my students in terms of their passions and approaches to the writing process.

Bartholomae is right on the money when he distinguishes between "imitation" and "invention." I'm not saying that there isn't a place for the teaching of a traditional research paper, etc. but these basic essays (traditional research, position paper, critical analysis) can be enriched, deepened, and made more effective when they follow such a writing/researching journey.