Dec 082015
 

Post-process theory can be enacted through community-based outreach classes. I work at the University Center for Excellence in Writing where I see this community outreach occurring on a tutoring-level. Non-FAU students or professionals work with the CCEW, an extension of the center, where they can get writing help and knowledge. I think this is vital to the community and to the act of composition because so much gets lost in grade schools, where the formula is so ridged and individual attention is rarely provided for the students, so when they go out into the professional world, they have minimal writing and communication skills.

Bringing this to the classroom would be a wonderful way to provide college students, most of whom are eighteen years old and still trapped in the ridged test-taking mentality. If they can see and understand how and why people who are not college students are using writing and communication in their personal and professional lives, then they can take those experiences and learn from them, broaden their perspectives, and try to make their writing reflect the world outside of standardized testing.

So often I see my students trying to fit all of their ideas into five paragraphs; when I would encourage them to build ideas and separate them into individual sections of the paper that can be made up by more than one paragraph, they either gave me blank stares or grew concerned and afraid to continue writing. Their writing was not reflecting their language, and their language was far more reflective of the outside world. If they can go out into the community and see how they can take the time to write about their experiences in an essay, they may be able to alter their perspectives on writing and communicating.

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