RE: grammar

["Kuhne, David" <D.Kuhne@tcu.edu>]

I think "we" do teach when we give reinforcement--as a "community."  If,
however, the "community," be it the people on wcenter or the culture as a
whole, determines that something is not important, then you can be sure the
message will be heard. I fear we are sending a message that grammar and
correctness in prose is of little importance.  And I think this is a
mistake.  It makes it easy for "our" critics to undermind "our" mission.  
	----------
	From: 	Eric Crump[SMTP:eric@serv1.ncte.org]
	Reply To: 	wcenter@ttacs6.ttu.edu
	Sent: 	Monday, May 04, 1998 4:07 PM
	To: 	Kuhne, David; Kivikko, Mary; Marek, Margaret-Rose; Sherwood,
Steve
	Subject: 	RE: grammar

	On Mon, 4 May 1998, Kuhne, David wrote:
	->It still seems to me that if we can't teach writers to use correct
	->constructions then maybe our "community" needs to take a close
look at what
	->we "really" do.  And no, I'm not joking.  Dave Kuhne

	Great idea, Dave! We really *should* look closely at what we
*really* do
	(and we should look rather oftener than we do). And we ought to be
open to
	the possibility that our assumptions (even the most basic) are open
to
	question.

	For instance, you open up the possibility of questioning "teaching" 
	itself. Perhaps we can't teach anyone to use correct constructions. 
	Perhaps we can't teach anyone anything. Perhaps we never could and
only
	believed in a myth of our own construction and for our
self-justification.

	I've been wondering for some time whether teaching, as I was taught
to
	understand it, isn't just a name we give for a process that happens
in
	different conditions and because of different influences than we
assume.
	That is, when people learn something, it's the result of a complex
of
	attitudes, assumptions, social conditions, motivations, and
resources.
	Learning is a product of the interaction between various people,
present
	or not, and all sorts of unaccountable forces. The old model of
teacher
	giving students knowledge or access to it is such a vast
	oversimplification that it rather misses the mark entirely!

	Maybe teaching, as such, doesn't really exist!

	Whatcha think?

	--Eric Crump