New York City’s Alternative Schools and Programs addressed the affective nature of learning. Compassion was modeled at the beginning of each school day in Family Group. Small groups of students discussed the issues that were on their minds and other issues raised by peer writing.
Matt Hejna, the Waterways teaching artist working with incarcerated students at Rikers Island Educational Facility, met with students in the principal’s office. These students formed the editorial board of their magazine, Strictly Business, and spoke to each other about their writing. They would criticize and take the criticism. Back at their dorms they worked on their writing.
Did the written word express what the authors wanted to say? What was going on in their minds? One of Matt’s students wrote of the increased paranoia of a drug dealer in a society plagued with drugs. It was good writing. The communication took on a social relevance. Many “reluctant learners” were responding.
Strictly Business Vol. 3 No. 1
Strictly Business Vol 4 No 1
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