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Adam's avatar

Experimentation is key. However to some administrators, doubting yourself and trying new things screams incompetence.

I remember my third year of teaching when I shifted towards a writing workshop model. My administrators had several "you're in trouble" sit down style meetings. My sin? If you're experimenting, you don't know what you're doing. So do "what works." Less writing, more multiple choice, they explained. More standardization. (Teaching basic email writing? That's a *business* standard. Out of bounds! A verbal reprimand on my part.) So I quit teaching after that year, but later came back.

On a side note, I openly balk when writing is scientifically "tested" with multiple choice. Let's keep a straight face and analyze football using hockey metrics. Goodness gracious, this profession is riddled with category errors!

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Paula P's avatar

I was in grad school in the late 90s when the whole field of English studies, including the youthful composition studies, shifted to a scientific (read: quantitative) model from a more nuanced and textual (read: qualitative) model. Huge disappointment then and now for me.

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