Elbow discusses the issues we face when we have to decide whether to come down hard on a student or nurture and encourage them. He notes how our loyalty to students is to “be their allies and hosts as we instruct and share–to invite students to enter in and join us as members of a learning community…” My struggle with this point is that, while this works for so many, I still have students who do not want to become part of the learning community. As I try to encourage a sharing environment, some remain silent and unimpressed with the ideas presented to them. I had one student email me, telling me that we should focus on social issues affecting our world. This is a student who makes little to no attempt to engage in class, and who is doing everything in his power to avoid writing a complete paper.
What do we do then? How do we handle students who don’t accept our invitation to be working on the same team?