Genre and How it Functions in Education Over the past decade genre has been a hot topic in the

study of discourse communities and it seems as if there are a few theories that most researchers would agree on, but each has their own take on or spin on things. Most of the authors agree that teaching genre writing within a classroom setting is near impossible. In fact, the only author(s) who discussed teaching genre in the classroom were Devitt, Bawarshi, and Reiff (512). Besides their example of role playing within the classroom that puts students within the specific discourse community, everyone else simply made genre writing in the classroom seem impossible. They all agree that the most important element of genre writing is being thrown directly into the discourse community. Most authors believe that once you are in the discourse community, you master it quickly. However, in Beauforts analysis of her case study, Ursula, she discovers it actually takes years in order to master the correct form, even though she has years of education behind her.(115) Beaufort states, Ursulas education-though she is a graduate of 1990s-shows no signs that she was exposed to newer trends in the composition curriculum (195). This goes along with the points that not only are we not prepared for what the discourse community is going to bring us, but also is somewhat impossible to really educate what it will be about, because genre writing is so situational. The main point that I believe all agreed on without any outliers is that the main purpose of genre writing is to achieve a goal. No matter what case or example they were studying, every genre had a goal in mind to accomplish. For example, Beaufort focuses on the business memo in Ursulas case study (115), while Dirk lists examples from a romantic letter to a resume to

emphasize the importance of goals (253). Overall, genre writing is key to working properly and efficiently in your given discourse community, as well as, having genre awareness that can be flexible in new situations. I believe this is then is the main point all the authors would agree upon in the end. After researching my discourse community of education, I have found some interesting points in regards to genre and how it functions. I have come to the conclusion that education is a unique discourse community because first, I believe if you look at it deep enough, it essentially is more than one community. For example, I am a Middle Childhood educator, which differs vastly from an Early Childhood educator. Even though some of the genres we have studied are the same format, the content and goals within them are completely different. Second, I believe genre functions differently in education than in any other discourse community because of its broadness and specific needs of every grade, child, or district requirements. This idea goes along with Dirks point of, situatedness (260). Dirk states, Learn as much as you can about the situation for which you are writing. What is the purpose? Who is the audience? (261). This idea is essential to education, because every grade level and even student is a new situation and we must be flexible enough to adjust to whatever is needed. In my research, I looked at the common lesson plan, RAFT writing (a form of writing which as an educator I will help the students write), and a proficiency test given to students called the MASI-R. I thought the lesson plan would be interesting to look at, because my experience with this genre has already showed me how much it can change within a specific discourse community. I have never written a lesson

plan that has the same requirements every time, simply because the genre is ever changing due to demands of students or specific teachers or district requirements, which is a perfect example of a varying situation. I also thought that taking a look into a genre that as an educator, I am not necessarily going to write, but help the students write would be a different perspective on genre. RAFT writing stands for, Role, Audience, Format, and Topic, which is supposed to help students think critically and analyze readings. It can be used in a broad range of topics and not just specifically to language arts. In order to teach this genre, I must of course master it and then pass on my knowledge to the students; but as I stated before, this genre (RAFT) writing is specific to grade, child, and lesson which may make mastery of it difficult. For my last genre, I chose a hot topic in the world of education today, which is testing. There is a huge presence and pressure of standardized tests, reading tests, or any type of aptitude test within my professional field right now and I thought looking at how it is written and carried out in the examination process would be an interesting take on a genre that affects so many people today; some not even in the education field. A lesson plan is something that every teacher must be familiar with, but not necessarily master prior to entering the education field. I believe that preparing education students in this genre is definitely possible, but like Devitt argued, this genre is one that is always changing. I think the lesson plan fits this theory in an interesting way, because it is changing in ways typical ways of updating standards for children to learn by or simple format changes, but at the same time, it changes from district to district, which in a way can almost become a whole new discourse

community. It would be like Ursula, from Beauforts example, learning how memos work in one office and then having to learn a completely new technique if she moved to a new business. I do not have much experience or knowledge of the business world, but I would venture a guess that memos are a standard format and do not change often. Lesson plans; on the other hand constantly change from district to district, or even often teacher to teacher. It is never the same format or content, which is why mastering this genre would be quite difficult. This then fits Beauforts argument of mastery; that it doesnt happen right away when you join the community, it often takes time. The most obvious theory that this genre agrees with is Dirks idea of genres being formed to reach goals. Dirk states, In other words, knowing what a genre is used for can help people to accomplish goals, whether that goal be getting a job by knowing how to write a stellar resume(253). The whole purpose of a lesson plan is for a teacher to organize thoughts and prepare students in order to reach the goal of knowledge gained or project created, etc. I think the lesson plan is a perfect example of why education is so unique in genre analysis due to its broadness and special requirements, which is why a conscious awareness of situation within the context of genre is necessary. RAFT writing, is a different type of educational genre that I thought Id examine, because most of the time you think of writing in a discourse community, you think of things you will be writing. That is why I believe education again, is so unique to genre, because there are so many types of writing forms that go on in the discourse community that you, as the educator, do not even write. RAFT writing is a strong example again of Dirks idea of writing for a goal, but it is almost a stepping-

stone towards a goal. The ultimate goal of RAFT writing is to be able to think critically and discover information within writing, but the actual process of writing does not guarantee that students will reach that goal. You can give students the tools to understand and organize thoughts, but that does not mean they will necessarily be able to do it on their own. So, it does fit Dirks argument, but with a few modifications. RAFT writing also supports my argument, that because of its broadness, it is difficult to consider it one specific genre. Yes, it would have the same format throughout the process, but as students progress or even go up in grade levels you do not want them to essentially be working within the same limits. You want their writing to grow and become more developed. Therefore, their style and skills will change, and with that comes change; maybe you will require a more in depth analysis or longer essay. This then fits Devitts argument that genres are always changing and it even fits her example of the science journal. The scientists were altering the journals for their own benefit, which in a way is what students are doing as they advance in RAFT writing. The MASI-R is an interesting genre, because again, as an educator I am not necessarily writing them, but I still have to understand them in order to aid my students. The MASI-R is a test used to examine a students oral reading abilities and it is administered three times a year to check students progress. Unlike the other genres I have discussed, this one does not change as frequently and has a specific grade level to test each student at. It does require a level of expertise to carry out the instructions and examination of the child, which again going off of Beauforts argument, would take a lot of time. I also think this genre brings in her other point

that in some cases, you have to think outside of your discourse community to understand the genre you currently using. For example, this reading test uses terminology that usually relates to the discourse community of either a special educator or a speech pathologist, but since as an educator you will be working with students who have these needs, you must understand them as well. I also think that Devitts argument of jargon comes into play in this genre, because there are many unfamiliar words to the untrained ear. Devitt a court situation debating over a certain word for her example and she states, The word has different weight to each party; it is material in different ways (516). In my study of the MASI-R, the word error has a very specific definition in regards to skipping a word, timing it takes to read/pronounced, and amount it is mispronounced; while normally error simply just means mistake. If an untrained individual were to give this test, understanding it would be difficult simply because of the close attention to details and vocabulary. The MASI-R again, reinforces the idea of mastery and jargon, but it is unique, because it actually already has specific form and content for grade levels, so change is not so constant. All of the studies these theorists have done over the past decade have made leaps in bounds in the discussion of genre within a discourse community, but I can truly say, I do not believe this research will ever end. Simply by looking at education, you can see that genre will never stay the same and one theory made, will be contracted by another found, and so on and so fourth. The lesson plan shows that mastery is not always necessarily possible, because it truly never stays the same. RAFT writing reinforces the theory of reaching goals in writing, but again changes

from student to student or even assignment to assignment. The MASI-R reinforces the idea of mastery and jargon, but may the exception to the constant cycling of changing, because it is already set up by grade level. Education will be an everchanging discourse community, because not only do standards change constantly, but also with new tests, methods, faculty and students coming in it is simply impossible to keep consistency across the board. However, consistency may not necessarily be the ultimate goal anyways. Based off of these authors ideas and arguments, I have come to the conclusion that flexibility and the awareness of an every changing genre is the ultimate goal for educators. In order to be the best educator we can be, not only do we have to know the genres, but we must also be prepared for the changes that will come within them.

Work Cited Beaufort, A. (1999). Writing in the real world : making the transition from school to work / Anne Beaufort ; foreword by Shirley Brice Heath. New York : Teachers College Press, c1999. Berkenkotter, C., Huckin, T., &, (1993). Rethinking genre from a sociocognitive perspective. In Written Communication (4 ed., Vol. 10, pp. 475-509). Sage Publications, Inc. Devitt, A. J., Bawarshi, A., & Reiff, M. (2003). Materiality and Genre in the Study of Discourse Communities. College English, (5), 541. doi:10.2307/3594252 Dirk, K. (2010). Navigating genres. In C. Lowe & P. Zemliansky (Eds.), Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing (Vol. 1, pp. 249-261). Parlor Press.