NO TEACHERS ALLOWED

I though Tale 86 in Comp Tales was absolutely wonderful. Though the author is poking fun at the story, as many authors do, I think the underlying point is pretty awesome. While some readers may be inclined to be shocked and perhaps even offended by this story, I believe it entails an idea of the more recent approaches to writing that is useful and ground-breaking. The title of the book "Writing Without Teachers" obviously seems to hint at the uselessness of professionals in the English field, but looked at from another point of view, it simply encourages said professionals to rethink their approach to teaching writing. If the man in this story thinks writing is "wonderful, just wonderful" and had a positive experience through a seemingly more self-taught method, there is something to be said about the role teachers play in the classroom. I think the main point is that we must rethink what "teaching" consists of, how it's approached, and what our students are getting out of our "lessons". Perhaps teaching is not simply dictating formulas for creating grammatically correct sentences; perhaps teaching should be reworded to be a guide. We should not, at least at a collegiate level, need to focus on and teach how to correct local issues such as grammar- we should guide our students to be able to explain their ideas coherently, and in an orderly fashion. While this is a problem due to the low level of some students in relation to the coherency of their writing, that should not be our main focus. Encouraging students to utilize tutors is an option, of course, but it is not OUR job to focus on their grammar.

Tale 78 tells the story of one such professor who dealt with professors in other disciplines wanting English professors to focus on issues such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I was as annoyed as the author was to be forced to listen to the complaints of Professor X as they seemed to be ignorant of what a "Teacher" does. Perhaps the task of dispelling the myth of what happens in English classes is too difficult, but perhaps if we describe ourselves as guides more so than teachers, people can start to understand and empathize with the predicament in which we constantly find ourselves. Eh?