Graham’s post, Blogging Masterclass Reflections, grabbed my attention. I hear Graham’s point about “teachers being bloggers first before imposing it on their students,” because I’ve said before, and I continue to believe that teachers who want to use blogs with their students need to blog themselves.

You can say, as Graham does, “…there might something of immense value in it (blogging) for you as a professional and as a person.” I agree, but we know that people hear this kind of thing all the time and nobody listens. Advice about health and diet are a good example of good-for-you things that we all make up our own minds about. In my experience this argument appeals only to people who are already inclined to hear it.

Graham’s point that “the true power of blogs can only be experienced by being in the mix,” is a much more credible rationale for teacher-blogging because it specifically addresses an essential element of blogging that is distinct from mere technological competence. The word ‘power‘ is the difference. Blogging is not a technology. It’s a social practice. Using blogging software is trivial compared with the social and cultural understandings that are necessary to do it effectively.

As soon as you start a blog you are confronted with a series of questions that demand answers. For example:

  • “Should I blog anonymously?”
  • “What should I write about?”
  • “How much of my personal business should I reveal?”
  • “Can I say anything I want?”
  • “Who will read this stuff?”
  • “What if I get a comment I don’t like?”
  • “Why don’t I get comments?”

These are not technical problems. They are decisions about how to act.

A teacher who asks kids to keep a public blog, should be aware of what is involved. It is an issue of credibility, but not credibility with kids. It’s an issue of professional responsibility to understand the reasons why we want our students to do the things we ask them to do, and to understand the limits and benefits of our decision-making. Without any direct experience blogging, teachers hear a “blogs are good” message without knowing how or why. Blogging is more than simply writing. It’s a form of communication that enables and encourages self-discovery.

We don’t have consensus on a pedagogy for blogging. There are developmental, ethical, and practical issues that are still being negotiated because this is a new practice that is being conducted in the public sphere. I don’t believe that teachers need to become fully devoted to blogging in order to understand what it’s about. That would be like saying that only mathematicians can teach math, or that only competitive swimmers can teach swimming. I do think that teachers should at least engage the practice along with their students in order to model it and guide students in their development. Graham had it right to begin with.