Meta Comment: Making the Transition from school to the workplace starts in college
This thread focuses on the article “Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing,” and covers the discussion started by Anne Reznicek.
After reading the article covering the frustrations found by interns working in the “real world” for the first time, Anne argued that the problem leading to these frustrations is that students “expect to be treated the same way they are treated in the educational world.” She believes that “educators...coddle students,” helping them through assignment expectations from beginning to end. She poses a solution to this: students should be allowed more creative freedom to try to meet the assignments expectations and then provide sound reasons for why they did what they did. Anne sees the weakness in the educational system to properly prepare students for life outside of school, but she also points out how this weakness can be strengthened.
In Arrika’s query post, she begins by pointing out that “the workplace and the educational setting are not entirely different in every sense. As an employee, one still has tasks to complete and expectations to live up to.” This contrasts a little with Anne’s thoughts as she points out little that is helpful provided by the educational system. Arrika continues by pointing out a grade salary relation, leading up to the first question she poses: “wouldn’t an education be virtually meaningless if the workplace was completely and entirely different?” Arrika continues batting them down by arguing against Anne’s suggestion for change within the educational system. She asks how a professor could accurately grade assignments without borders. She also asks if it isn’t possible to be creative within the strict realm of the assignment. Arrika’s questions are helpful, from the prospective of a reader, in intensifying the discussions by adding depth to it through query.
Upon extending the discussion, Brad analyzes the works of Anne and Arrika juxtaposing them as an inter-subjective interaction on the dichotomy occurring from the pedagogical nature of rhetorical conception. In this syllogism, Brad admits to the possibility of arguing “that the successes of the classroom can be the failures of the workplace (which can certainly hold true) we have to consider many notions of subjective assessment before attributing the blame entirely to the classroom itself,” thus, extrapolating a new enthymeme from the discussion’s progress. He essentially argues that the dichotomy of the writing pedagogy is not in its own accord inter-subjectively altruistic, but a faltering and rhetorical syllogism may become self aware through the mobile process of expanding to a new realm of B-Essing in a forum posting in order to make it longer.
While Brad’s posting covered the surreptitious nature in which one must formulate an inter-subjective and verbose online persona capable of accommodating the “realistic demand for written solutions,” Jenni seeks to pose some new questions about the reading that will bring it to yet a new level: “If there is frustration and confusion about what is expected, did any of these interns ask for more input? More detail? Did they present ideas to the supervisors to see if they were at least on the right track? Why not ask for examples of previous documents so that they can get a better idea of what is expected?” I think that it’s very possible that the interns were put off to the side with no real expectations. They were probably expected to do what they can, but not relied on heavily for results. Whether they knew this or not, meekness may have been a factor in their confusion. To answer Jenni’s question, I think it’s possible that assertiveness in confrontation was not something that was cultivated in their classes.
In retrospect, I think this discussion followed a winding path, but a path through the same forest. Anne’s initial interpretation left us lacking anything positive to say about the academic pedagogy, but Arrika’s query realigned the discussion, making it more holistic. She points out the fact that academia is present; employers prefer to hire people who have been in the academic realm due to their experience in academia; therefore, academia’s characteristic as experience building, exhibited by the hiring process, proves its value. Brad’s audience minded articulation of his part of the syllogism helped the discussion while at the same time exonerated him of extensive cogitation and manipulation of his signification that the “graduating student will eventually be presented with realistic demand for written solutions and must act accordingly," thus adding to the overall amplitude of his extension. Jenni asks some great questions, thus broadening the path (this forum) down which we all are traveling.
Nick-Isocrates
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