A response to “Judging Writing, Judging Selves” by Lester Faigley
In Faigley’s article, the first concept that struck my attention was his discussion on coaching vs. judging students’ writing. Throughout my academic career, I have found the “judging” side of teaching to be problematic, because it severely discourages many students from learning and causes them to doubt their learning abilities; students who are fully capable of excelling in writing, but just need additional help, do not benefit for simply receiving continuously bad grades with no clear accompanying explanation. However, too much “coaching,” in which grades are placed on the backburner, can take away students’ motivation to improve their writing skills. As Faigley discusses,
In Faigley’s article, the first concept that struck my attention was his discussion on coaching vs. judging students’ writing. Throughout my academic career, I have found the “judging” side of teaching to be problematic, because it severely discourages many students from learning and causes them to doubt their learning abilities; students who are fully capable of excelling in writing, but just need additional help, do not benefit for simply receiving continuously bad grades with no clear accompanying explanation. However, too much “coaching,” in which grades are placed on the backburner, can take away students’ motivation to improve their writing skills. As Faigley discusses,