Comp Quote

Unlike academics who construct their pedagogical task as passing on knowledge (that is, unlike teachers in almost every other academic discipline), composition teachers profess the development of students' abilities.


Preparing a syllabus involves making predictions about how I semesters work will be orchestrated. The obvious predictions made by a syllabus are about timing and pacing. But a teacher preparing a syllabus also makes predictions about who students are and what they want from her class, and she predicts as well how what she knows will be integrated into the class. An experienced teacher of writing knows that what she knows will be modified by the experience of teaching a composition class, and she must admit as well that the conduct of any class is affected by her desires as well as her health and her well being. All of these things can change on a daily or even an hourly basis. When she is preparing a syllabus, she has to guess about how all of this will affect her plans as the group grows or shrinks, I students work together for 15 weeks, as their desires, health, and well-being affect classroom interaction. No wonder that syllabi are difficult to write (215).


Sharon Crowley, Composition in the University (215)