Syllabus Writing from the “Bottom-Up”
During the summer of 2020 I taught an online writing course where students learned about different genres they might encounter in their professional lives. Because the course didn’t meet in person, the diverse classroom was populated with students from Qatar to Singapore and domestically from from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles.
During the course of the semester, George Floyd was killed and the nation erupted in protest. It was difficult to teach about writing in professional contexts when there was so much upheaval occurring “offline.” An organization called #ShutDownSTEM and #ShutDownAcademia organized a day of protest on June 10, stating that “It is not enough to say that you stand in solidarity.
We need you to be accountable.
We need your actions.” Because I felt that canceling class wouldn’t be the best way of respecting student time (and money) for the shortened summer course, I chose to participate in the day of protest by using class time to talk about the issues that were happening outside of our classroom, offline and in the streets (recognizing that what happens offline, in non-virtual contexts permeates though our virtual spaces as well).
The course ended up being one that epitomized what teachers often mean when they say “I learn more from my students than they do from me!” and will be a day that continues with me for a long time as I continue my teaching career. The lesson plan and the motivation for how you might implement something similar is described below. If you make any modifications in your own course, please consider leaving a comment and letting me know how it goes!
Narrating the Process via a Problem-Solution Framework
Step 1: Understand the Problem
Start off by articulating your learning goal for the lesson. The classroom objective for the day was to discuss the context of Black Lives Matter and recognize it by inserting a policy statement in the syllabus that recognized racism as something existent and exigent. The problem was that as an authority figure, creating such a policy in my own words and placing it into the syllabus would only reify the notion that I am the one who holds the power and as the one who “speaks” for the class. The underlying notion that power and policy belong to authority figures (in this case, a white male instructor) seemed counter to some of the more important threads in democratic social justice movements. In this case, writing from the “top down” seemed to me to be the wrong direction.
Step 2: Incorporate a Solution
One possible solution is to borrow from the democratic practices of the social justice movement and share your authority, draw from each other’s collective expertise, and maximize the classroom’s creative power by taking a “bottom up” approach to writing the syllabus policy statement.
Here’s how I narrated the task to my students:
- Provide some small group discussion time for students to talk about how they are experienc(ing/ed) the protests. Then prompt them to talk about what implications socials movements may have for campus and the classroom. The idea is to move from experience →broad context (campus) →local context (classroom). A helpful reference I used to prep for the discussion section comes from the University of Michigan.
- Introduce the writing activity to students after they had a chance to talk peer:peer in small groups. An introduction might sound something like, “Today I’d like us to co-write* a short one-paragraph policy statement to be placed into the syllabus that formally addresses racism in the classroom. (*Note: at this point in the class we were learning about collaborative writing, so students were already familiar with best practices for group writing).
- Open a google.doc and share with the students. State that you will transcribe what people say, asking prompts where needed, but not offering anything wording yourself. Mention that if people don’t want to speak during the free-writing process, there will be time to comment on the doc later where they can articulate their thoughts a bit more.
- Transcribe student commentary for the statement. Bullet points are a fine place to get started. Prompt students as needed and set a goal for 50–75 words that begins by (a)naming the issue and (b) moves into what that issue means for the classroom.
- Leave the google.doc open for a week for students to comment upon. Encourage them to suggest edits, ask questions, and comment upon aspects of the wording. Follow the posts and resolve outstanding issues/questions at the start of next class.
- Do a “tactical check:” meaning, is there a way to instantiate the policy throughout the remainder of the course? Is there a stated process for students and the instructor to hold each other accountable? If not, ask students for suggestions and at this point feel free to offer your own suggestions. At this stage, relying upon your expertise and experience as a teacher can add value to the co-writing activity.
The Five Minute Rule: In my case, students weren’t sure how to implement a continued awareness (to the best of our ability) reflective of the policy statement. I suggested that we use the “ Five Minute Rule” as an option for any student who feels that a perspective or point of view is not being heard.
The “Five Minute Rule” draws from a guide provided by Vanderbilt University .
7. After a week has passed for comments to be added and wording to be revised, formally publish the shared policy statement as articulated by your students into the syllabus.
Summary and Final Notes
An important response to systemic racism is to address it. As instructors, we can do this by addressing it in our syllabi. However, using a “top-down” approach where the instructor has full control of the language may be antithetical to associated anti-racist movements. One solution is to incorporate a “bottom-up” democratic approach involving students as co-creators when writing a syllabus policy statement. Including an action step so that the policy remains “active” throughout the course can be one way we honor the charge called for within such policy statements.
