Re: Writing in the workplace (long)

[Denise Rogers <dmr2899@usl.edu>]

As I was reading the thread, I began to think that most of the people that
we were talking about were managerial track folks. But you know, I have had
quite a few students go on to law school or some other para-professional
program in which they definitely needed both the grammar and critical
thinking/interpretation skills.

While I do believe in teaching to the needs of the students, I also want to
teach in a way that doesn't make assumptions about what their future lives
will be like. If I'm asked to teach a business writing course, I do a
survey of the students to find out what kinds of skills they have and what
types of skills they would like to acquire, and, since I worked in law
firms/law libraries/businesses myself, I also try to do a little
forecasting as far as what the students might need. I might even call up a
few employers and ask what they need to see in terms of their workers'
skills.

But in the university, I think we should make some effort to tackle both.
Granted, we may be more helpful in one area than another. But you know,
having been a legal secretary myself, I can truthfully say that I got more
interesting "assignments" because I could write. I also made more money
than the other secretaries, got better bonuses, etc. because of my skills.

Now, in many law firms, I would not have been given these kinds of
assignments, but at one point I worked for a small firm that didn't have
such strict secretary/para-professional lines set up.

So what I'm trying to emphasize is that I don't know that we can teach to
what we think our students' future jobs are going to be like (heck, I've
been a kindergarten teacher, a library assistant, a legal secretary, a
clerk in a bookstore, a lowly graduate student, and now an
instructor/writing center director, and I'm only 40). Who knows what they
will need? Teach them what you can when you can.

Denise Rogers
University of Southwestern Louisiana

Denise
drogers@linknet.net