Bravo to Bill!

Teachers not only need more precise training that is directly related to
what the writing process IS, but we also need on-going mentoring in the art
of teaching the process. In addition, any system worth its salt would
develop the program dynamically - from K to 12 (or perhaps from 3 to 12?)  -
providing support all through the program.

When you say that we (certified K-12 teachers, in particular, like myself)
are given one-shot workshops followed by NOTHING, you are hitting the nail
so squarely on the head that it sinks into the wood on the first blow!

Thanks,

Paul D.

-----Original Message-----
From: William J. McCleary


>Then there's the question of whether "process-driven composition" really
>exists today in any substantial amount. Just because everybody's talking
>about the process approach doesn't mean that everybody is doing it. I've
>observed a lot of certified teachers and supervised a lot of student
>teachers who were teaching a curriculum assigned to them. There was
>virtually no process-driven composition being done. A few THOUGHT they were
>doing the process approach because they had students write a rough draft
>one day and "revise" the draft the next day and hand it in. Revision nearly
>always mean correcting the errors. Two drafts does not make a process
>approach.
>
>The process approach is like most educational reforms. (1) The term means
>different things to different teachers. This allows all of us to say we are
>doing it while at the same time doing something very different. (2) Seldom
>do you find anyone who has worked out how to use the process approach
>successfully having the chance to teach the method to other teachers. (3)
>Typically, the administration brings in an "expert" for a one-shot
>workshop, leaving the teachers to implement the method on their own (or
>not). (4) No one bothers to define what is meant by "better writing" or to
>prove that this or that method leads to better writing.
>
>Finally, the process approach is only a METHOD of teaching. The CONTENT of
>the curriculum, rhetorical theory, is usually taken for granted. That is,
>few of us are taught what the features of the various kinds of essay should
>be. That may be the biggest mistake of all.
>
>Bill McCleary
>