Finishing up Teaching Philosophy today, and about to write second one, I feel I'm lost in the world of philosophy. Actually these questions are what I've been wondering about at times through this semester. What does philosophy of composition have to do with teaching philosophy? How does that integrate into the same category? What I found interesting is it really does integrate sometimes, and I think the reason is because of the particular characteristic of composition that requires teachers to be "teacher" teacher.
I don't doubt probably someone who reads the phrase "teacher" teacher might nod. Teaching writing is definitely different from teaching literature or chemistry. There's nothing to memorize or understand content-wise. It's just a matter of what you think and what you want to talk. What you have in mind becomes your content, the topic, and everything. There would be no one who would scold you since you did not include in your writing this formula or that historical background. That's why how to teach really matters in composition, and maybe that's why we can't ever get the right answer to this question: what is a good writer?
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3 comments:
Jeong's post here makes two points: first, the relationship between writing and content and second, the relationship between being a good teacher and a good writer.
The first recalls Classical rhetorical theory and the distinction between subject "res" and content "verba." We know that some writing is so good it can draw readers in to content that they otherwise might not care about. Conversely, some content is so important we will struggle through turgid writing in order to access it. Yet, for the most part, writing and content are inseparable. Both are important, and each influences the other.
As for the second point, I would say that the biggest common area between good writing and good teaching is the ability to put yourself into the head of the reader or student. Without the ability to understand and empathize with an audience, a writer or teacher will end up in a solitary endeavor that does not connect to others. Fortunately, such solipsistic behavior is rare in teachers, although not unheard of.
As a guy who took a lot of undergraduate writing courses, I have to say that teachers who made me feel free were without doubt the best for me. Dr. Baake makes a good point in that as a writing teacher you have to get into your students' heads, but only enough to get them comfortable with themselves.
I think that the subjective nature of "writing" is what makes our task so difficult. We can teach what we know how to do, but other than trying to determine how accurate a mimetic response is that we evoke from our students, it's difficult to find that objective criteria that lets us know whether we succeed or not.
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