Response to Tobin Reading

One of the issues that I have struggled with the most as a teacher is grading student writing. I have repeatedly asked professors how it is possible to remain objective when grading essays/papers. I have always argues that it is an impossible task. There is no such thing as objectivity in a reader, perhaps especially so for English teachers. While I don't necessarily agree with Tobin that we are "co-authors" of our students writing, I do agree that our own beliefs and biases do play a large role in how we interpret their writing. I found myself scoring the essays of the students who I deemed to be more engaged in the process, and who put in a significant amount of effort, higher than those who I could tell (or so I thought at the time) were just trying to get a passing grade. My relationships with my students also played a role in how I graded their work. Our own life experiences always play a role in how we feel about what we read. If a teacher can relate to something that a student may be going through, or agree with an opinion that the student feels strongly about, chances are that student will receive better feedback and a better grade. I agree with Tobin that we need to admit our incapacity to be 100% objective when reading students work. I also agree with the psychological aspect of keeping our emotions in check when we are working with students. There is no question that the teacher or professor is the one who has the most authority in the classroom, and when teaching high school, that authority is often more necessary for classroom management than it is in a college or university setting. However, we need to keep our authority in check and make sure that we are using it constructively to help our students feel that we are creating an environment where freedom of expression and emotions will be held to the same standards of respect and confidentiality that they would get in a therapy session. Since writing has the potential to unleash the unconscious or "our other self" we need to act accordingly when students share their most personal and private thoughts. Tobin is walking on a very fine line when he says: "In my writing courses, I want to meddle with my students' emotional lives, and I want their writing to meddle with mine. Transference and counter-transference emotions are threatening because they are so powerful, but they are most destructive and inhibiting in the writing class when we fail to acknowledge and deal with them" (342). Perhaps this is such an issue with me because I've only taught high school, and the need for proper decorum when dealing with our minor students is key to our survival as teachers, less false or misinterpreted accusations begin to fly.So meddling in students lives is something that needs to be done with extreme caution, as does allowing them to meddle in yours. While I agree that forming teacher-student relationships is a key element in the growth of both the student and the instructor, I think that Tobin pushes it just a bit too far.