Public School Writing Teachers

[Shaggy]

Although I am not currently enrolled in public school, when I was, I was extremely disappointed in the quality of writing that was taught by the teachers there. Not only was there almost NO focus on creative writing (!), but we had to learn total **** like expository writing (possibly the most USELESS technique ever taught to mankind, monkeys, and javelinas (I would say canines, too, but their habit of using urine to mark territory is just plain weird))!!!! Come on, ladies and gentlemen!!! Teach us some REAL writing!!! I wish people like Brandon Sanderson and RJ could show them a thing or two–then maybe so many trips to the bathroom during English class wouldn't be necessary!!! I once took an afternoon Creative Writing class in fourth grade (my mom forced me to go, but I came to like of my own free will (no injections were necessary that time (kidding))) and the first thing the teacher (who is an extremely talented published author) told us was to forget everything our previous writing teachers had taught us. I was ecstatic. No rules?? No regulations?? No having to begin my stories with onomatopoeia?? And (can you believe it?) no 80-year-old lady telling me that swords were inappropriate for fourth grade kids (not that I have anything against 80-year-old ladies )!!! I think more authors should do a clinic or two each year for kids who are passed expository writing and introductory paragraphs, and simply want to write!

Has anyone else had similar experiences with public school writing teachers (not that all private school teachers are great–far from it)? If so, please share….

[The Jade Knight]

As far as I'm aware, most public school teachers teach "English", not necessarily "Writing" (though that' s arguably an important component).  That said, Brandon does teach college-level English.  Go to BYU, and you can take his course.

[Shaggy]

yes, but a necessary part of english is writing, don't you agree? and in my opinion, a more broader range of types of writing should be tought…expository will only get you so far(this is, of course, just where i went)

[The Jade Knight]

I think the idea is that those who are interested in creative writing will write on their own.  Not that I think that there isn't a place for creative writing in public education: I just don't think public education will stop a writer from writing.

[Sigyn]

I think it has to do a lot with the personal preferences of the teacher. My seventh grade and ninth grade English teachers focused a lot of creative writing. The best academic writing teacher I ever had, though, was a history teacher in tenth grade. She taught us how to write good, understandable essays, a skill I was able to use all through college and back when I was working. You may find such writing useless, but there are many areas of work where it is necessary and useful. 

[42]

When I was studying education, a lot of the aspiring high school English teacher's I met said learning to write the most important thing they taught. That said. Most felt that it was the job of elementary teachers to teach writing and most I met had a strong preference for teaching literature over writing. Many had the attitude that if kids just read a lot they will learn to write on their own. It also doesn't help that teaching literature tends to be more entertaining for both the teacher and students than teaching writing.

I just find that the desired outcomes of English teaching tend to get muddled quickly.

[The Jade Knight]

It is true that kids who read more tend to write better.

[42]

Yes there is a correlation between reading a lot and writing better. However, this doesn't mean necessarily that reading more will make every person a better writer.

There are more direct ways of teaching writing. In my opinion, many English teachers could be more active in teaching writing skills.

I really didn't learn to write until college and most of what I learned about writing came from non-English classes. In fact, I often did more writing in my non-English related classes than the English classes I took.

[Shaggy]

Sigyn, I am NOT demeaning the necessity and/or value of knowing how to write essays, analytical pieces, compositions and such. I am merely expressing my feelings of how creative writing was not really teached (where I went to school for a time). And I must correct you, for I do NOT find those types of writing useless–however, creative writing is what I get the most pleasure from when writing, and I would have loved to have had more oppurtunities to show my work in school when I was younger. That is all.

I agree; it absolutely does depend on the teacher. It seems you got some good ones….

If you would rather keep this information private, that is perfectly fine, but if not…what school did you go to where you had those teachers? I'm curious….

[Sigyn]

I know a lot of the teachers have changed or retired since I went to junior high and high school, but I went to Millcreek Junior High and Bountiful HIgh School, both in Bountiful, Utah.  Both had their problems--I could complain for days about certain aspects about them--but they had good parts too.

[Shaggy]

Yes, I agree with 42. Reading a lot can enable a person to recognize many things in writing that a non-reader wouldn't. For instance, when writing a piece that is particularly emotional, involves much feeling/passion, or is set in a different world/time, certain words just ruin the atmosphere and bring the reader back into the real world. (Not saying that reading makes great writers, just that it CAN help.)

[Ruthie]

The problem is that 98% of students will not grow up to write novels. They will, however, need to know how to write letters, how to create a resume, and quite possibly how to communicate through writing to other people within their business. So persuasive and expository writing takes priority when you have very little time to teach everything anyway. Most high schools do offer creative writing classes that are separate from your standard English classes, which is great. I'm not sure if mine did.

That said, I agree with 42 that too much emphasis is placed on literature in public school English classrooms. I too majored in English teaching (but didn't student teach because I realized I sucked at the actual teaching part). I found that most of my classmates had chosen the major because they wanted to share their love of reading with their students. Well, okay, great, but what kids really need is to know how to think, write, and communicate in the real world.

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

Nearly everybody enjoys creative writing in some aspect or another.  The fact of the matter is, when compared to non-fiction writing styles, it is useless in the academic world for a grand majority of people.  Public school exists, theoretically, to prepare individuals to be intelligent, capable individuals who are capable of performing necessary skills in the post high-school academic world or in the job market.  Teaching students creative writing doesn't really do this.  This is why creative writing is often offered as an optional course, or given as a minor part of the general curriculum.  Unfortunately, there are other areas which overshadow it as far as academic importance.

There are a lot of artistic functions which are overshadowed by their "academic" counterparts for academic reasons.  Orchestral band classes, sometimes coupled with jazz and marching band classes are offered, but rock band or modern pop band classes are not.  Creative writing classes are often overlooked or mushed as a minor part of curriculum for non-fiction writing courses.  Painting, sculpting, and drawing courses (if offered) can generally only be taken at the expense of other artistic courses, and in a preset order to provide the most marketable "graphic design" skills first.  It comes down to the amount of time students spend at school, the amount of time teachers spend at school, and the amount of funding the school has for extra-academic programs.  Students who are very interested in these arts will pursue them outside of school, whereas it is difficult to see students pursuing essay writing, calculus, etc. outside of school.

It would be nice, but we need to make sure students are taking the courses which better prepare them first and foremost, and the courses which they feel they are interested in, but aren't likely to use in the future, after that.

[Shaggy]

In your lifetime, you have no doubt either said or heard someone else say this question: "Why do we have to learn all this stuff? Why would I ever need to know how sedimentary rock is formed, or why you can't divide by zero?" I, too, have wondered this. But when I was in seventh grade, my math teacher was asked the same question, and responded with something alone the lines of this: "Truly, you don't. But the point of school is training your brain to think in certain ways. The specifics of Algebra I, for example {that was what we were learning at the time}, may not be useful in real life, but you will be able to apply the basics to real problems you will face." And that really is the point of school: to train your brain to think in certain ways in order to prepare you for the rigors of life. So wouldn't learning about creative writing be, in a sense, another way to train your brain?

[The Jade Knight]

Indeed, it is pretentious to think that studying Shakespeare will somehow enable an individual to communicate in ways that learning how to write creatively will not, and the same goes for many other silly (but perhaps interesting) things we are taught in school, such as how to multiply matrices.  It is also a false dichotomy to compare creative writing with non-fiction writing:  There is also such a thing as creative non-fiction (which is quite popular in literary circles, to be honest).

It has been my experience that the school districts which foster environments where students have more options and more freedom tend to promote excellence than those which emphasize only core classes.