Thread by @jessicazeller

To those who would suggest that #Ungrading and other non-punitive policies don’t adequately prepare students for a profession/career: a thread.
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Any early-career professional will know precisely when/how to fall in line if needed because the system of education has raised them to uncritically follow rules and directives, or else be penalized. The threat alone produces the desired behavior. +

What too many young professionals are missing is the ability to *participate* in a field; to wield agency; to understand a system & decide how to engage.

(Those are the folx I want to work with—the creatives, the curious. The “difficult” who challenge oppressive systems.) +

That's what #Ungrading and other open policies do. They make space for students to learn to navigate the world as agents in/of it:

to understand the contexts/systems they’re in;
to develop a meaningful stake in the work;
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…to decide how to engage in a way that uses their abilities and supports their interests/goals;
and to critically reflect and assess so they can determine next steps.

They bring us as close to preparing students for the fields/professions (world?) as we can get.
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What can you expect?

Expect your role to change when you stop policing students.
Expect that without punitive measures, you’ll have to make the work meaningful, relevant, and accessible.
Expect some to struggle while others (most, in my experience) thrive.
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Expect you’ll struggle to reach every student. (You struggled to reach them before, but it'll mean more now.)
Expect emotions.
Expect many to hear their own voice for the first time.
Expect it to change them, and you.
Expect them to not need you—to step forward on their own.
Fin.