I am sure that if an Dante had been an English teacher he would have made the final circle of hell a place where you had to teach middle schoolers how to research in the library. I am using hyperbole, of course, but am partially serious. Trying to teach seventh graders how to look something up in the encyclopedia, find a book on a given topic, and write an MLA citation/works cited page never fails at being the most trying day of the year. I remember being astonished my first year of teaching when a student came to me and told me that Emily Dickinson was not in the encyclopedia. At first, I had a moment of panic until I realized that he had the E encyclopedia. Never in a million years would I have thought to explain that when looking up a person in the encyclopedia, one always looks him/her up by his/her last name. Now of course, I explain that to students before entering the library, but it never fails that I get at least three questions about why Abraham Lincoln (under A), Stonewall Jackson (under S), and Winfield Scott (under W) are not in the encyclopedia. Attempting a works cited page comes with a whole other host of issues and obvious questions.
There are simply some things that cannot be explained. I can say it, I can model it, but I cannot explain it. It is simply common sense and following instructions. In an era where every form of communication and searching is lightning fast and totally passive, research in a library becomes a foreign concept. (And I did feel like I was speaking a different language today.) Add hormones to the mix and it is just too much. I am sure Dante would agree.
Hello. I stumbled across your site while looking for a good map of Dante's Inferno.
ReplyDeleteAs a former English teacher, I can agree with just about everything you say. I can say without irony that I would rather spend an afternoon getting a root canal than teaching research again.
As far as having to explain that people are listed in the encyclopaedia by their surname, and not their first name, I have a theory: blame iTunes. iTunes organizes all of its categories first name first, last names last. When I first started using the program, I kept having fits at the way it alphabetized everything without regard to the first name/last name distinctions I grew up with. Even now, I'm slightly uneasy seeing Bob Dylan right alongside Bob Marley.
At any rate, keep fighting the good fight. If you haven't read The Curious Researcher by Bruce Ballenger, you might give it a look. There _are_ no good books about teaching research, but Ballenger is closest I ever saw.