Last December, I witnessed an intriguing moment in my classroom when one of my students reacted strongly to Moby-Dick. While the book itself didn’t elicit this response, it was the student’s realization of a connection between the plot and the 2008 financial crisis. As a finance enthusiast, he spent weeks exploring the parallels between whaling and the exploitations of global capitalism, attempting to shape his research paper around this argument. For him, it was an arduous process that involved many hours and cups of coffee. However, just before the paper was due, I witnessed the student discovering the capabilities of ChatGPT as it effortlessly performed what had taken him a significant amount of time and effort. This moment left me simultaneously deflated and awestruck, as I grappled with the implications of the rapidly advancing world of generative AI.
As teachers, we find ourselves at the forefront of understanding the evolution of our roles in this new era. It has been a challenging year, filled with stress and feelings of helplessness as we navigate the unknown. The traditional approach to teaching English, centered around formal and polished writing, is no longer as relevant. Machines can now achieve that task within seconds. As my students embark on their future careers, they will likely have access to AI personal assistants that can complete their written work and cater to their needs and desires, all in the name of efficiency. This realization begs the question of the purpose of teaching writing skills. However, despite this uncertainty, I remain surprisingly optimistic as we enter the first full school year under the influence of AI. The paradigm of high-school English may not be ending with the rise of ChatGPT but rather experiencing a rebirth.
Even before the emergence of chatbots, my profession faced its own challenges. The decline of the English major has been evident for quite some time. In a world dominated by smartphones and constant digital stimuli, books struggle to captivate our attention. Even for those of us who remember life before smartphones, imagine the struggle faced by today’s American teenagers, who find themselves confronted with great works of literature like a grizzly inspecting a bear box. The potential within those pages may be compelling, but the path to unlocking it remains a mystery.
Yet, amidst these challenges, I have witnessed the transformative power of literature in my classroom. Students who initially deemed a book impenetrable suddenly find themselves immersed in its story. The seemingly insurmountable barrier gives way to a realm of enjoyment and engagement. Despite the availability of resources like SparkNotes and chatbots, many high-school students have proven their ability to be perceptive and engaged readers. However, fostering a similar passion for writing has proven more elusive. Not all students possess the aptitude or interest in producing exceptional fiction, poetry, or essays. It saddens me when a student becomes so fixated on the impending essay and its impact on their future college prospects that they miss out on the experience of immersing themselves in a work of art.
In the past, I followed the typical high-school approach of assessing student comprehension through written essays. These essays aimed to demonstrate their grasp of the material and achievement of learning objectives. It involved providing them with a lengthy presentation on the structure of an academic essay, emphasizing claims, evidence, explanations, transitions, and repetition. I can’t help but notice the similarities between this process and the training of large language models.
Having spent 13 years as a teacher, I have evaluated countless essays. I’ve observed how students’ writing becomes stifled by the constraints of what they believe to be the correct style. They repeat ideas endlessly, attempting to fill pages with verbose language that lacks substance. This is why much of the writing we encounter is subpar. Even many professional writers struggle to produce polished prose. Perhaps it’s time to challenge the long-standing educational tradition that compels students to progress from writing five-paragraph essays in middle school to publishing scholarly articles in academic journals, only to eventually produce monographs for prestigious universities. This outdated approach fails to align with the realities of writing in the modern world.
In my classroom this year, I plan to transform it into a book club of sorts. We will read texts and engage in discussions that embrace diverse viewpoints. The focus will shift towards spontaneous writing, rather than the polished essays students have been trained to produce. Instead of an extensive research paper on Moby-Dick, students will respond to prompts in a spiral notebook, using that writing as a basis for further exploration. While they will still receive grades, their work will not be evaluated solely based on rigid standards of academic writing. If their conclusions deviate from their introductions, that is acceptable.
This style of writing encourages students to explore their thoughts rather than conform to rigid essay structures or attempt to impress through contrived insights. The true beauty of reading lies not in dissecting the arguments with precision but in experiencing the text as a human being, connecting it with personal ideas, backgrounds, and beliefs. And here lies the revelation: every student possesses the ability to engage in this kind of writing. While not all students may fully embrace it, when they do, their thoughts are expressed clearly and effectively, akin to a conversation via text message. After all, who’s to say the average American teenager isn’t capable of profound insights and exceptional literary expression?
In conclusion, the rise of generative AI presents both challenges and opportunities in the realm of English education. While the traditional approach to teaching writing may be rendered obsolete, it opens up new possibilities for cultivating passionate and engaged readers. We must shift our focus from rigid academic structures to fostering personal connections with literature and writing. The transformative power of the classroom experience remains unparalleled, carrying the potential to ignite a love for reading and writing in students that will extend far beyond the limitations of a machine.
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