(Downloadable Handout Included) by Erin Lebacqz
If you teach in a high school or college, how ready do you feel to help your students know how to write in their first "career job"?
When I taught high school, and then again when I taught community college and university students, I didn't feel ready at all. I worried that while I felt confident preparing my students for academic next steps, I honestly wasn't sure what would be expected next for students who planned to head straight to work.
But with college enrollment trending downward, not addressing the needs of students with jobs in their sights can feel like a missed opportunity. Teacher education programs help us feel ready to guide students through academic writing — but less so professional writing, at least in my experience.
Last week, I had the personally affecting opportunity to talk about this at the 2024 NCTE Annual Convention. I've been out of the school or academic classroom for a few years — teaching now in workshops for organizations — and reconnecting with my high school and college teacher peers felt incredibly meaningful. 💜
Now that I'm teaching in organizations instead of schools, I've seen students' next steps — and the writing that's required in many of their first "career jobs." It was an honor to get to share these observations with my teaching peers, something I saw as "reporting back." Below, I'll share these observations with you.
What Surprises New Graduates in their First Jobs?
Whenever I teach in-person for companies or other organizations, I meet people in their twenties who are surprised about the type of writing they now need to do for work.
"Why didn't anyone tell us it would be so different?" they often ask. The rewards systems for writing in school or work can differ greatly. In school, we often get rewarded for description and exposition. At work, we get rewarded for brevity. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Workplace writing is also relational — a truth that's hard to prepare students for authentically.
Industry and academia don't have the best record of communicating with one another, and new grads' new supervisors don't necessarily know how to coach their new employees through the communication transition. So, I shared a few insights (below) on what I've noticed surprises new workplace writers the most.
How Can We Help Students Feel Ready for this Transition?
Most people I meet really stress about not getting anything "wrong" in their writing — either when they're writing for school or for work. But this kind of stress can make us get "in our heads." We end up focusing so much on not making mistakes, that it's hard to remember the reader's there at all.
It can feel like a shock, then, when new grads learn that professional writing is actually interactive — kind of like speaking. It's not just about getting things "right," but about making our writing work for someone else — often, someone who needs to take action.
To help students make intentional writing decisions for their reader, we can introduce them to the two simultaneous goals of strategic writing — Informational and Relational Writing Goals. The list below explains these goals more, and I walk viewers through it in this video as well.
Career Writing in the High School or College Classroom
Of course, the reality for teachers is "I need to do everything required by the core curriculum and more." It's hard to find time to bring in additional topics!
With this in mind, we talked a little about areas teachers are already teaching about — and where we might integrate concepts like those above:
The ideas above are great, but honestly (and as often happens!) one of the best suggestions came from a participant in the NCTE session: We can also apply the two goals of strategic writing to the peer editing process! (If you are the person who suggested this, please write in so I can say thank you!)
Handouts and Worksheets - Downloadable Materials
If you'd like to start integrating the two goals of intentional writing in your classroom, here are some materials! To start, check out the NCTE presentation description and handout (also linked below).
This handout provides a summary of my talk and live links to learning resources!
You can also use videos from the High-Value Writing YouTube channel to help students prepare to write in their careers.
Or, try the fun, interactive High-Value Writing Workbook! It not only explains everything about the two goals of intentional writing, but offers practice problems and reflection exercises too!
Please let me know what questions you might have about bringing ideas about career writing into your classroom! I'll be happy to respond and help with ideas, video links, and more. 😄
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Erin Lebacqz teaches strategic business writing and provides teacher education around writing for careers. Feel free to get in touch using the Contact button on this website!
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