Genre and Grammar in the English Classroom

This evening I had the chance to sit around and talk with some other English teachers from my former school. We laughed about some of the foolishness that we feel embody English education--especially those who are back in the stone age of strict grammar instruction. Reflecting on our talks, it is clear that there has been a clear shift in how we teach writing instruction. Obviously those who focus on grammar aren't wrong, as a matter of fact their focusing on content that is often lost on our student. The problem (I have, at least) is when we focus on grammar without giving context of genre. 

Genre is something that I have recently turned my focus too, primarily because it was the last grad class I took. Sitting in that class was so eye-opening, and there were days that I brought in the previous night's instruction into my own classroom. Understanding genre is fundamental to reading texts, and it is also fundamental in creating texts. Students have to understand that genre determines how we write. When I sit down to write these posts I understand that I'm not writing in the same style as a I would for a formal paper--but my students never understood this. I didn't do a good job explaining that while the write essays in both history and English, the essays were parts of two different disciplines and weren't suppose to be written the same way necessarily. I was excited about genre, but my students weren't. I didn't convey that genre gives freedom. We can play with genre, mold them together, challenge them and use them to convey messages.

I think this is so daunting to me because the teachers who don't focus on genre don't seem to recognize its constantly changing nature. I'm worried that I could fall into that trap. Because we can challenge genre we can change it...and when I say we, I include our students in that. How can we punish students for bending a genre when that's what the literary masters do? How can we tell students that there are certain "rules" that they must follow (even long after they've left our classrooms), when we all know that the "rules" change (commas for lists rings a bell!)? From personal experience, I know that some professors thought my writing was fantastic, while others were probably appalled by what they were reading from me. That's how writing is though, its an art....

As I continue to read through my text and ponder my transition back to the English classroom, I want to focus on genre and genre studies. More to come on the topic as I continue to rack my brain with thoughts on how we define and use genre. 

Grammar matters...but in context. We didn't become English teachers
solely to teach rules about sentence structure. We want them to explore writing,
challenge their minds and express themselves effectively.