Sharing Stories and Experience 1

Teaching the Sharing Cultures Project within the framework of an Introduction to College Writing course is daunting. It is difficult enough to try to achieve the objectives of a basic writing course with students who are underprepared for college writing tasks. In the span of one semester, we are expected to teach them the skills to perform successfully in composition courses. In the span of one semester, our task is to somehow bring them "up to speed," fill in all the gaps in learning, and teach them how to express themselves in a language many of them do not embrace because it is not the language of their families or communities – but it is a language that they need because it is the language demanded by higher education and by the professional fields to which they aspire. These are often the students who have difficulty writing a sentence without errors in syntax, a paragraph that makes a point, or an essay that proceeds logically from a well-formed thesis through to a thoughtful conclusion. Yes, our task is daunting, but do-able.

But add to the mix the Sharing Cultures Project component, and suddenly, we're no longer just teaching basic writing skills. We are also teaching computer literacy, geography, history, political science and economics, culture, and global issues. And all of this with students who lack basic skills and who were born long after the civil rights movement and the freedom struggles in South Africa. Most of them never heard of Nelson Mandela, and their perceptions of Africa often extend no further than huts, jungles, and wild animals.

Our teaching team struggled with how to accomplish all that the Sharing Cultures Project promises. We wanted our students to gain knowledge of the many cultures of South Africa and their own, AND we wanted them to learn basic writing skills. In one semester! In two 90-minute sessions per week!