We’re supposed to know the difference between philosophies of composition and teaching? Dang it!
A philosophy of teaching is an individual’s ideology of how to teach. It is the methods, tactics, and/or strategies that a teacher uses to impart knowledge and skills.
A philosophy of composition is an individual’s ideology of how to create an original object. It is the methods, tactics, and/or strategies that a person uses to convey knowledge and/or ideas.
While there is overlap between the two philosophies, they have different aims. The philosophy of teaching is far broader in its scope. Its goal is to put into words the means by which a teacher will inform and develop the students’ minds. The philosophy of composition has a narrower vision. Its goal is to develop the students’ voices. To help them find their style. While both philosophies are important and many of the strategies to achieve these goals are similar, it is the end result that differs.
The strategy I would employ in my philosophy is fear. I want my students to have anxiety attacks by the mere thought of coming to my class. I want to look out over my classes and see their despondent faces. In truth, I want my classroom to be a place of inspiration. If I can evoke in even one student a passion for literature, I feel I did my job. The strategies I would utilize to achieve this goal are myriad. I think a combination of lectures, peer work groups, in-class writing assignments, many reports of varying lengths, and a tough reading schedule would form the basis of any course that I will teach. I feel that all of the activities listed are essential to the success of students regardless of the course they are taking.
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2 comments:
I think that you are absolutely right about fear being essential within the classroom. Just kidding, but your other points were good! Your curriculum might be a bit tough for a freshman composition class though, unless by report you mean written assignment. It’s good that you plan to get them to read a lot. I think that the main reason that we are all such good writers is because we read insatiably as kids into adulthood.
I like your fourth paragraph in that you narrowed in on what you believe to be the main objective of a composition class – developing student’s voices. While in other classes writing is just a byproduct of the lectures and readings, in composition class the teacher and the students are actively engaged in creating writing for the sake of writing. Unless if they have a teacher in the future who is dedicated to marking up their papers and having conferences with them on how to improve their writing, the students will not have this kind of opportunity to learn writing skills outside the composition classroom.
- Lauren
Eric,
Oh, the good ole days, when Fear was the real administrator of the classroom. I know that's a big joke, and, taken out of context, I'm sure it'd be a horrible misquiding quote from both of us. But, it is interesting that you bring it up. And, I think, we, as teachers, should talk a whole helluva lot more about it.
-Fear on the part of the students-
We forget that some students, I'd say most students, are in extreme discomfort anytime writing is mentioned, especially if they are expected to write something. I've often seen students crippled by fear. They would have extreme writer's block. They wouldn't be able to generate ideas. They wouldn't be able to even put together a complete sentence. In conferences, they would just say, "I don't know." "I can't do this." "I'm not a writer." "I'm not an English person." The list goes on. With this kind of real fear going unrecognized by us, there is no way that we can achieve our individual or collective teaching and writing goals. The philosophies, then, of both teaching and composition, but especially of composition, should be aware of students' fears of writing. And address them accordingly.
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