Cinnabar and Alabaster

passages
27. while there might be some truth to the theory that "women are more likely to flourish in less competitive knowledge-making environments....we need to realize that not only our male students, but also our female students, are still products of these competive models"; without being properly taught how to do it, "their experience with collaborative learning could be restricted to no more than clashing schedules, limited freedom, stubborn and competetive colleagues, and reliance on others who may or may not come through."
28. "regardless of what has been written on collaborative learning, writing and knowledge-making, teachers are often discouraged by their classroom experiences with collaboration"--it doesn't work just as a spot-measure, and it doesn't work spontaneously, for important reasons:
29. "teachers cannot assume all female students will automatically be empowered when they work in groups. although there may be many benefits to collaborative learning, teachers cannot risk throwing students in groups, demanding that they work toward a common goal. we must realize our students enter college skilled in what feminists consider the patriarchal educational system....both male and female students have internalized the values of the educational system--creativity, individuality, freedom, and self-reliance. expecting them to work together successfully and comfortably goes against the grain of these students' knowledge-making practices"; "we should start with the premise that our students need to unlearn individual competetiveness, and discover how to work in groups and depend on one another"
30-1. ann hill duin's suggested "common vocabulary" for students to use when "talking about their processes and attitudes in knowledge-making": perspective, writing processes, commitment, hidden agendas, skills and expertise, define the task, divide the labor, timetable, closure, appreciation, & procedures for resolving disputes; ede & lunsford can work together the way that can b/c they have a "long and dynamic friendship" to pull from; "when we, as teachers, create artificial environments and mandate that our students work in groups, we do our students a disservice" b/c they "come from varied backgrounds and interests; they barely know and, much less, trust each other" & often "their only motivating factor is their grade"--which they're reasonably "uneasy about depending on others for" & so they're not crazy at all to see group work as "threatening and uncomfortable"; they're also often "intimidated by the prospect of evaluating the work of their friends and/or colleagues"; "groups that value friendship tend to bury conflict" & "fail to test ideas critically, refusing to suggest negative opinions because they prefer to maintain a comfortable group dynamic"; "one way for students to unlearn competition is to let students 'practice' working together" by assigning un-graded collaborative projects.
32. other obstacles: "text control, or the percieved need to maintain ownership of one's writing"--although once students get into groups, they often become protective of group ownership & don't want to claim parts as individually owned.
33. & "some students may be prevented from entering the group"--often "a majority view will dominate group discussions. 'groupthink' subdues minority members who may refuse to express conflicting ideas for fear of criticism. furthermore, the excluded members begin to view their suggestions as less valuable; they will allow their sense of self to be effaced and submerged in the voices of others"
34. leadership always arrises, & often it's the women stepping forward (is this because these are writing classes? would men step forward in science or math--are those divides still that clear?)--& then becoming very "territorial."
35. collaborative learing & collaborative writing--at least the kind of writing we often ask for--are fundamentally at odds: "we need to be conscious of our pedagogical expectations on student collaboration. if students continue to write expository and argument papers which usually focus on the abstract, linear, logical and objective, these practices will conflict with and impede collaboraiton....by concentrating on text production, students undermine the basic assumptions of collaborative learning--knowledge is a social construct; we help each other learn" & in reality "writing is messy, recursive and hard work"