Creative Writing, Comp, and the New Paradigm of University Education
Just some bullet points I found in a notebook that I had forgotten about...
• Up until now the theory laden field of composition has merely been trying to reinvent the wheel so to speak…trying to feign innovation that merely serves to mask a continuation of the old paradigm of writing instruction.
• Regardless of how you package it, the majority of writing instruction still boils down to the singular act of the instructor commenting on the students writing and handing it back to them. This is nothing more than a different version of content transmission from instructor to student.
• At best, most writing classes force content and knowledge to be communally accepted, not communally created. At worst, knowledge is still seen as objective and something that simply has to be transmitted from instructor to student.
• The traditional creative writing professor represents the epitome of the old paradigm of university instruction; that is, a master of a specific subject in the ivory tower whom students learn from just by being in their presence.
• At this point in the game, we can no longer say that we simply don't know any better; we do know better. Many faculty are being forced to actively repress any innovations in teaching by junior colleagues merely to preserve their own position in the academy. Any success in this, however, will be pyrrhic.
• The current crisis of many creative writing programs in terms of funding has been mainly caused by short-sighted policies and a belief that all of their problems are caused by external factors, not by their own inability to effectively place themselves as an essential part of the university.
• Studies have shown that institutions will lose up to 80% of their funding before they realize that the paradigm has shifted and institute change themselves. We are already inside this funding decline. It is not that some do not see the paradigm shift. It is more the case that those in charge refuse to accept it. What remains to be seen, however, is if programs can rebuild after losing this much or if they must be dismantled and new programs created to replace them.
• While some may jump to the defense of the MFA by saying that it was not intended to act as a degree that would launch an academic career, that still does not explain why it continues to exist or how the MFA allows for any sort of change to come forth from within.
• In the old paradigm, educational success was measured by how much you learned. In the new paradigm, educational success will be measured by how well you have learned.
What the new writing class will look like
• There will be little traditional teaching that goes on once the semester starts. The real job of teaching happens months and even years before the semester when the course is designed.
• The primary role of the instructor will not be as a dispersal unit of information. Rather, the instructor will serve to help guide students through the course as well as continually produce critically reflective documentation on how the semester goes for future courses that have yet to be designed.
• The question students will be asked at the end of the semester will not be "what have you learned?" but will rather be "what can you learn and how?"
• Instructors will spend as much time engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning as they will in their own disciplinary field.
• Students will simultaneously be taught how to be responsible for their own quality of education as well as demand it.
• The activities engaged upon throughout the semester will be transparent to students. Students will at all points know and understand why the instructor is asking them to engage in learning activities.
• Instructors will make a commitment to treat teaching as a communal act and support their colleagues in their professional development.
• New methods of assessment will be developed to match new methods of instruction.
• Conventions of writing will not be learned through instruction, but rather the understanding of which will be earned through a process of trial and error.
• As collaborative learning will bring more resources to each group, standards for success will be raised.
• Anecdotal teaching methods will be regarded as "old fashioned"
• Teaching will not be understood as something magical, but will rather be seen as the application of decades of scholarly inquiry into the field.
• Classes that stress cross-disciplinary skills and knowledge will be the norm.
• The usage of technology in learning will define the application of instructional methods.
• Students will view each other as colleagues. Students will value the instructor as a colleague, as well.