Editing Out Dissonance: Wikipedia and Reconciliation Pedagogy

     Angry isn't the right word. I certainly wouldn't say I'm upset, either. Perhaps I simply feel let down. At some point in the past month of collaboratively creating a Wikipedia page for Multimodality, I became quite interested. Somewhere between the pseudocoding and the line editing, I found myself almost excited to work on this project. In all honesty, my hopes for the finished product may have been lofty, looking back; I just expected a well-written Wikipedia article that had my name and the names of my classmates in its revision history.

     At the time of writing this, only a handful of my peers have done their assigned editing task in the article. I am disappointed. My first reaction was to assume the others didn't have enough time--but then I consider my recent work and school schedule and wonder how I even managed it. Regardless, I'm not sure an extension would have helped enough, even if it were possible.

***

     Upon further contemplation, my best route for personal satisfaction, I've decided, is to accept that I am proud of my own specific copy and later edits. I feel as though I sufficiently carried the load I was asked to carry. I am more satisfied with knowing that I did my work well than I am disappointed in the overall project. Much like the elementary school students in Melinda Fine’s article, "You Can’t Just Say That The Only Ones Who Can Speak Are Those Who Agree with your Position: Political Discourse in the Classroom," much of my cognitive dissonance on the overall subject is now resolved by the feeling of self-satisfaction I've gained.

      My hope now is that the article is posted and manages to dangle by a thread, avoiding being cut from the vast web that is Wikipedia. As Cara Hood suggests in her article, Editing Out Obscenity: Wikipedia and Writing Pedagogy, Wikipedia entries get better as time goes on, thanks to the universally editable nature of the site. Perhaps a future class will be tasked with revamping the page. Perhaps "Multimodality" will pique someone's interest and s/he will edit the page. Perhaps some portion of the overall community of Wikipedia citizens will slowly shape it into what I had imagined it could be.

***

     Much to my satisfaction, in the few hours between my limited sleep and the scheduled time to put the Wikipedia page draft online for review, things changed. Somehow my classmates came together in that short time span and made the significant changes necessary. I was already feeling content with my own personal roles in the project, but now the entire piece appears to be set for publication--pending analysis.

     While still not a perfectly polished piece, this article is still plenty to be proud of. I no longer feel as though my initial desires were particularly lofty. These expectations were generally met and I am proud to be part of the process--especially alongside my peers.

Works Cited
Fine, Melinda. You Can’t Just Say That The Only Ones Who Can Speak Are Those Who Agree with your Position: Political

Discourse in the Classroom. Web. 25 Apr 2013.Hood, Carra. "Revision in Thinking." Editing Out Obscenity: Wikipedia and Writing Pedagogy. Web. 25 Apr 2013.