By all the evidence, high schools and middle schools are not teaching writing skills in an effective way, if they are teaching them at all. The exception seems to be Catholic schools. More than a few commentators remembered with a mixture of fondness and pain the instruction they received at the hands of severe nuns. And I have found that those students in my classes who do have a grasp of the craft of writing are graduates of parochial schools. (I note parenthetically that in many archdioceses such schools are being closed, not a good omen for those who prize writing.)
Friday, September 11, 2009
Ongoing inquiry ...
... Stanley Fish on What Should Colleges Teach? Part 3.
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Bravo, Professor Fish.
ReplyDeleteFrank, I enthusiastically agree with everything Fish says about the epidemic of problems found in the teaching of English composition in American universities. (Note: I have a front-row seat in the theater of the absurd performance that is otherwise known as American education in the 21st century. Thus, I know what I am talking about here.)
And, now, in the form of a simple declarative sentence, one question, and an imperative, I offer the following in response to the professor's critics:
Fish's critics are full of crap. Well, was that clear enough? Speak up, critics!