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<p>Sorry for chopping off the rest of the quote, but it was that morsel that most resonated with me, as well as what followed. Form is a lot more important, academically, than it’s given credit for – maligned as it seems to be in modern communications. Form is the basis for argumentation, for development of a thought, for conclusion in a laboratory experiment write-up, for assessing the applicability of scientific studies, for logic in debate, and is the fuel for critically evaluating a written passage. </p>
<p>I was drenched in form, and it has paid off, professionally and personally. I try to teach it to my students now, and it’s as if they’re meeting it for the first time. I love young people (have a couple of my own! 
), but large numbers of young people – I have no way of guessing percentages (perhaps most?) trivialize form, or in many cases do not understand its signficance, never having been educated in it.</p>
<p>Almost every new generation brings its own fresh insight and/or approach to its elders, which is a good thing. In this current generation, the skill to utilize and merge many communication tools (including electronic) creatively has the potential to provide valuable perspective, and surely some of this is already apparent. However, without care to form, the message can become obliterated.</p>
<p>While most competitive private high schools in my region continue to insist on frequent writing assignments, the quality of that writing is measurably better when students have practiced since elementary school. The pattern here is that very little writing is introduced and expected until Grade 9. It is hardly ‘second-nature’ at that time, and teachers usually encounter enormous resistance, not to mention struggle, with the concept of logical thought, the precise expression of that, and the embrace of patience.</p>
<p>Like the poster, I see the fruits of this both on and off CC. It is of little benefit to call yourself a scientist if you cannot understand the value (or conversely, the limits) of a study. (Statistics or “findings” without context.) It brings little to political argument if you have no critical understanding of the implications (and limits) of “rights.” It brings little to public policy discussions if you have minimal ability to assess historical cause and effect, or understand the history of social institutions. Almost no writing is assigned in most public high school history classes in my area; memorize names, dates, events, and be done with it. Almost all of my own history classes as a student required writing as the main activity. In addition, in my private high school (and in a very few in my area), we took a separate course in Logic, which should be required, at the least, of all high school students.</p>