The teaching of writing concepts is a constantly changing process. Change is a core aspect of every pedagogical curriculum. In Intractable Writing Program Problems, Kairos, and Writing about Writing: A Profile of the University of Central Florida’s First-Year Composition Program by Elizabeth Wardle, we can see an entire experiment involving this reality. Wardle details a research experiment where teachers with rhetoric and composition degrees were hired. This experiment analyzed the problems with writing programs and assessed the work of students following this experiment. These teachers, being smart, enthusiastic, willing, and good, had no graduate training in rhetoric and composition. Doug Downs and Wardle argued before that only faculty with Rhetoric and Composition training could teach a writing-focused composition course. But because Wardle was faced with the impossibility of hire those kinds of teachers, she had to find another way.
The reason I bring that up is because writing teachers with the ability to improve and the experience to teach rhetoric and composition are important. The intricate systems of the writing curriculum need to evolve to accommodate good pay for the teachers and trustworthy educational resources for students. With the changes needed to revamp pedagogical curriculums, it’s more important than ever to red up on these things. The writing curriculums are meant to teach student writers the basics of writing, the different forms of writing, and also inform them of the specifics they need to practice.
Anyone can slap on random writing requirements and have students focus on that. But the focus needs to be strong. It needs to be easy to know. It needs to be simple and straightforward, straight to the point. Revamping the pedagogical curriculum takes more than just being creative. This focus cannot exist without teachers that can teach well and are given resources to succeed in educating their students.
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