Stanley Fish on what should colleges teach

Parents Forum
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<p>"A few years ago, when I was grading papers for a graduate literature course, I became alarmed at the inability of my students to write a clean English sentence. They could manage for about six words and then, almost invariably, the syntax (and everything else) fell apart. I became even more alarmed when I remembered that these same students were instructors in the college’s composition program. What, I wondered, could possibly be going on in their courses?</p>

<p>I decided to find out, and asked to see the lesson plans of the 104 sections. I read them and found that only four emphasized training in the craft of writing. Although the other 100 sections fulfilled the composition requirement, instruction in composition was not their focus. Instead, the students spent much of their time discussing novels, movies, TV shows and essays on a variety of hot-button issues — racism, sexism, immigration, globalization. These artifacts and topics are surely worthy of serious study, but they should have received it in courses that bore their name, if only as a matter of truth-in-advertising.</p>

<p>As I learned more about the world of composition studies I came to the conclusion that unless writing courses focus exclusively on writing they are a sham, and I advised administrators to insist that all courses listed as courses in composition teach grammar and rhetoric and nothing else. This advice was contemptuously dismissed by the composition establishment, and I was accused of being a reactionary who knew nothing about current trends in research. Now I have received (indirect) support from a source that makes me slightly uncomfortable, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which last week issued its latest white paper, “What Will They Learn? A Report on General Education Requirements at 100 of the Nation’s Leading Colleges and Universities...."</p>

<p>I have been appalled at the poor writing that I've seen from college grads and students nearing college graduation. However, S's writing has improved a great deal because fo the writing-emphasis at his LAC.</p>

<p>What</a> Should Colleges Teach? - Stanley Fish Blog - NYTimes.com</p>

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<p>I would say some of the problem lies with elementary and middle school were students no longer read books that are enjoyable to read, but read things they would otherwise not enjoy reading. My belief is that this creates a connection between books and boringness that hurts people them later in life.</p>

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<p>I think a big part of the problem is that kids don’t read nearly as much now as they did in the past. There are too many other distractions . . . video games, et al. </p>

<p>I know that I learned to write by reading. I can’t explain many of the grammatical rules, but I know if something “sounds” wrong. That’s hard to teach.</p>