English 5508 - Teaching Composition
Philosophy of Teaching
From this assignment, I removed my sample syllabus, a sample in-class assignment, a sample writing assignment, and my rationales for each.
Jason Hudson
Dr. T--
English 5505
18 November 2002
Philosophy of Teaching Freshman Composition
According to the ancient sophists, truth is a product of eloquent delivery. Although they were the first great writers of composition in the western world, their methods relied more on the art of persuasion than on communicating truth. Socrates' solution was to shun these master crafters of deceit, who merely manipulated words into powerful rhetoric and turned false arguments into "truth." Aristotle, however, believed that if a person studied the sophists' methods of persuasions, they would learn to see through faulty arguments and learn the ability to persuade, not for power, but for knowledge.
In a sense, I appreciate the trail that the sophists blazed for writers today. If a person possesses an ability to write effectively, he gains the prestigious edge that the sophists attained. I also thank Aristotle for recognizing the potential to utilize writing as a device for providing quality information to the masses. But by using writing as a tool for discovery and a means of clearer communication, a person also taps into a source of rich knowledge and delight. These beliefs have helped me to form two primary objectives for teaching composition.
First, I hope to equip students to think critically about any information they receive, not only in the university setting but also in their world. Whether from television, radio, newspaper, or table talk, all data should be digested and scrutinized carefully. If fault is present, it should be detected. Students should learn to spot the rhetoric of the modern-day sophist, whether they are on the used car lot or in the church. They should be able to read an essay and recognize social and ethical implications. Does the information follow a logical progression? How does it strike the reader emotionally? Is there sufficient evidence to validate its claims? Is it ambiguous? Reading is more than enjoying the way the words flow on the page, just as a song has a deeper meaning than its groovy beat implies. The politician in Washington may be selling something, and I want my students to be aware of it.
I refer to the two Rs, a simple tool to remind myself of what should take place in a students mind to ensure that their gray matter is indeed being exercised. When they read an essay or a short story, they should (1) react and (2) relate. It is important that a student doesn't simply read something and when asked to respond, she simply summarizes what she has read. Instead, I will encourage the student to react freely. Charles Bazerman gives three valuable exercises as a catalyst for extensive reaction: reaction annotation, journaling, and informal essays (159). Just as the freedom to react helps to stimulate thought, relating the information to prior knowledge can also be beneficial. If a student can relate a reading to an experience or some other data that he is already familiar with, he is inclined to remain mentally engaged.
My second objective is to teach my students how to communicate effectively. During their first fifteen years of development, they have absorbed vast amounts of information. The ability to communicate effectively is not something that comes natural. By the time students reach college, however, they should have a superficial grasp of how to participate in meaningful dialogue. If focused verbal interchange can be transferred to the page, the student has learned an invaluable skill.
So what does it take for students to learn the skill to communicate effectively? A proper starting point is the area of mechanics. Students should conform to certain grammatical, syntactical, and stylistic standards for the sake of the reader. I like to think of grammar as "linguistic etiquette" (Hartwell 322). And it follows that good form "build[s] up an author's credibility in the eyes of the readers (Ryder 67). Whether my freshmen realize it or not on the first day of class, they are going to want a good ethos. If a reader doesn't comprehend a paragraph because it is riddled with usage problems, the writer hasn't communicated his message. Likewise, if a reader spends more time deciphering the words between a barrage of commas and semi-colons, the writer has not met his objective. On the other hand, I am not a narrow-minded formalist who wants sterile papers to grade. Okay, maybe I do, a little.
Proper structure is also an important element of effective communication. One sentence should logically follow the next in a succession of sentences. Paragraphs should flow in the same manner. This leads us to my second objective: to teach my students how to construct a coherent paper.
Although the human thought process sometimes jumps from one topic to another and back again, a presentable paper does not. What makes a paper flow? What makes it uniform throughout? From my perspective, a continuous stream of localized instances of cohesion between sentences creates a coherent text. There are several methods of teaching students to be more cohesive. According to Martha Kolln, for instance, parallelism and repetition are tools "fairly easy to teach" (98). Her investigation of "known-new contract" in her essay "Cohesion and Coherence" has been invaluable to me personally, and I plan to implement this concept when concerned with cohesive flow in student papers.
By the time I finish my first week of teaching freshmen composition, I have little doubt that my philosophy will begin to shift somewhat. I appreciate the fact that one's philosophy does not have to be static. As I develop in my ability to teach students to be better thinkers and better communicators, I commit to joining them in the journey.