Redefining the Research Paper

Curious writers emerge when given the opportunity to harness what it is that makes them curious. If you are curious, you can write. With Burke’s approach to research papers as an student-interest driven inquiry as well as a variation of the multi-genre project, he touches on what he deems “psychic exhaustion.” This idea of overloading kids with one subject can be tiring, but it can also be triggering. So, how do we navigate this territory that has the power to be triggering or rewarding?Burke notes how when students are given choice in research purpose, this can help them develop their own purpose as human beings, with this freedom, there must be a certain sensitivity.

High schoolers are much more profoundly thoughtful and curious than they get credit for. This is why with research papers and all writing in general, there is a need for trauma sensitivity within the confines of our well-intentioned inquiries. Sexual assault, drug addiction, violence, the dangers of social media are not at all uncommon research paper topics for high schoolers. Research papers demand a certain amount of student stamina, but it also requires habits of mindfulness on our end.

I often think of two quotes I have written in large colored pencil in my writer’s notebook, “We have to create, it is the only thing louder than destruction” and “Even when the truth isn’t hopeful, the telling of it is.” So what does this mean for the daunting research paper? As we get our kids thinking and writing, we are having them create something. This creation oftentimes will affirm something within themselves, but also redefine their beliefs as well. This is an extremely powerful moment for a developing writer. Because writing itself is an act of discovery, meaning is revealed through the act of writing. The research paper can be a moment of redemption and reclamation for students. They are given the opportunity to share their truth, but also the opportunity to create a new one.

When students have choice in their writing, their chosen topics and personal truths begin to come together, but also come under construction. This becomes a virtuous cycle: kids write about what they are interested in → builds expertise that is empowering to their own agency → students get to prove to themselves that they know more about some things → they/we get to carry that throughout the rest of the semester as we progress through different experiences. THIS is the reason we give our kids choice in topic. This final product of togetherness in the classroom makes the tough and tiring inquiries into many meaningful and magical moments that are rooted in empowerment and empathy. The research paper then is not so daunting, but a necessary part to cultivating classroom community.