Often times when I talk to students whether it be a high school student or even a fellow college student, I often hear “I hate writing” when I bring up that I’m an English major and writing is one of the main ways I am graded, or even “In the field, I’m going into I won’t have to do any writing anyway” For many of these students they don’t realize that it would be difficult to find a job that didn’t incorporate writing in some way, In the article “Writing in the Work World” we get a tiny glimpse at the different types of jobs that have to use writing on a daily basis. From presentations and emails to even reports, writing is something that used every single day.
So we can see that writing is a critical skill that is needed to succeed in the workplace, but how do we as teachers prepare students for the diverse amounts of different types of writing they may have to do in the world? In high school, many students only ever learn how to write during testing, the tried and true format of five paragraphs haunts many students all over the world. Because students are put into a box and told not to stray from these rules, they often feel trapped but the truly amazing craft that is writing. With this in mind perhaps teachers need to begin to vary the types of writing that they teach students, not only this but also explain to them why this type of writing could help them in the future. Perhaps if teachers can arm students with not only the proper tools to excel in all types of writing but also with the motivation to learn and continue learning about writing, we could see a whole new generation of lovers of writing regardless of the fields that they go into.
Cheese Bistro 