Leaving class today the question Shipka posed replayed in my head like an unwanted Backstreet Boys song. I've thought, been taught, and read about the institutional problems concerning teaching composition today, but never analyzed. A student's process should not continually be ignored by the institution. Understanding and implementing the process that best fits the student seems the most logical way to produce efficiency.
In class today, many students including myself, expressed the want to "beat the system." I agree with Shipka in saying that something is wrong within the current structure if students are continually looking for ways to meet the requirements without "meeting" them. All the compostion teachers I've come across say that drafts and revision are the best way to write and teach writing. But I agree with Kasandra on this point. Just because I didn't physically write down my ideas, order them on paper in complete sentences, and do grammatical/structural editing (on a draft), does not make my writing any less valid. It just means I chose not to relate the institutional norm to my process.
So, if students beating the instituation has become the norm, then yes, a change needs to happen. But do teachers/professors have the time and resources to allow student to follow their own proccesses? In the public school arena no, maybe the change can start at the college level. To relate this to the English Comm/Tech department here at UMBC, ENGL 392 would be the perfect class to begin instituting change. I think the course should be required along with Engl 301 as the first classes required of a potential English major. Even though the class requires the traditional draft and revision (which could be modified), ENGL 392 provides an excellent setting and flexibility for students to identify the process which best suits them.
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