Teaching Perfection

I really enjoyed reading this week’s assignment. I thought that it was insightful and enjoyed the historical perspective. For the past two weeks, we have been discussing ways (growing and cooking) which have challenged traditional educational views on writing and sought to find ways that will engage and inspire our students. This week’s reading showed the historical flaw of education: teaching only to the perfect (the Honor/ “A” Student) and how its impact is still felt today. Williams’ discussion of the history of education both directly and indirectly supports many of Elbow’s claims, especially those concerning the subject of writing as punishment and that only the talented can write. Thus, Williams and Elbow both believe that all students should be allowed to write without fear. In this blog, I will discuss how writing is not merely for the talented but for all.
For years, scholars have argued the great Literature canon is bias and exclusive. In a world, in which diversity is embraced and emphasized it is still shocking to find that many voices are left out of the classroom and the curriculum. This single minded view allows for an elitist attitude to develop in the classroom. After all, are not the canon books known as the “great texts” or “classics”? Thus, one is already being influenced by the term “classic” to believe that this text is superior to others. Williams mentions this idea several times in the chapter. For example, he writes that “it seems more likely that the goal of the Sophists was not to advocate democracy but rather to get those outside the aristocracy to embrace certain aristocratic values” (9- The italics showcase my own emphasis and are not from the text). In this brief statement, Williams is discussing how in Ancient Greece, Sophist aided their “inferiors” by making them accept the superior ideals. They did not allow them to use their own voice, but forced on them this alien voice, the voice that Athens and Ancient Greece recognized as valuable.

Williams also discusses the importance of ethos to both ancient and modern scholars. He writes that “Citations associate writers’ ideas with those of published scholars, which makes those ideas seem more credible” (22). This idea again showcases the argument of superiority. A person can only be an intellectual and author if he or she has been published so that his or her opinion can be discussed in classrooms, conferences and student papers. Thus, they are the experts and we, the students, are to fully soak in their knowledge. Students are expected to fully agree the text and not to argue or point out its weaknesses since the student is inferior to the author. This idea of superiority is also seen in student assignments. Often times, students are given their paper topics and set about fulfilling those requirements. This idea of giving students paper topics is as old as Rome. Williams writes that “Students increasingly concentrated on ‘declamations’ on set themes…” and that “what was important was style and delivery” (33). Thus, the importance of the exercise was hitting the predestined marks that the teacher had outlined. Once again, these students were to forget their own thoughts and arguments. Hence many of these exercise started to “become ‘more bizarre and artificially contrived, [and] the exercise was especially associated with the scholasticus or ‘schoolman,’ and was called a ‘scholastic theme’” (33).

My last point is that for years, education has set up a label system and operated under it. There has always been the talented vs. the talentless, the honor vs. the general and the advanced vs. the remedial student. Williams writes that “he [Isocrates] admitted that he could not provide anyone with talent. This view dominated Western schools until modern times, resulting in higher education that was primarily for the intellectual elites” (16). At the end of the chapter, Williams also talks about how the Harvard Influence affected the American educational system. Thus, one is able to see that education has for years been tailored for the talented and that the idea of writing has been elevated to a pedestal (while writing itself has been demoted) which for many students toady remains out of reach because they have been taught to fear writing (that superior trait for scholars) or because they have never really been allowed the chance to cook and grow their works.
I really enjoyed this chapter and I apologize for the larger post. I have a lot to say about this topic, especially the Harvard Influence! I am looking forward to discussing this chapter with you all on Thursday! There really is a lot of great info in this chapter!