Off topic: educational methods (length & pontification alert)

["R. E. Stannard Jr." restannardjr@xxxxxxxx]

After a dozen years in news reporting, writing & editing, I spent 32 years
teaching university journalism and workshops for news professionals, but I sure
have no answers I'd swear by. However, I'll have a Socratic go at the
question. Could it be that you have:

-- the passive-spectator TV generation, 30-50 age range, reared with little
exposure to active discussion or logical argumentation, now risen to desk
positions? You might try giving them all phone handsets -- they grew up talking
there.

-- folk who think they've been sent to a bonehead-grammar brushup course
because they need help, rather than folk seeing it as an opportunity and reward
for talent or potential? Are they there by assignment or by choice? Makes an
attitude difference at any level. Are they mostly your age, younger or older?
Peers and elders bristle and bruise easily when their ego is at risk. Might be
worth stressing the most common errors or problems we all face, so we can all
grin ruefully together, and then focus on tricks and principles for spotting
and fixing.

-- a generation raised by and taught by enthusiasts of "communication," where
form is sacrificed to avoid discouraging self-expression? I've been immensely
grateful to have grown up in a literate, logical, argumentative family that
loved words and split hairs. I can't count how many students I've had in the
past three decades scooby-doo into my office wanting to major in journalism
because they want to "communicate" -- preferably not in writing. Doubtless many
did so, and may have now risen with the tide. They may wonder whether grammar
really matters as long as we understand each other. They may not be word
lovers, merely word "processors." They may have read and written in school only
as much as they had to. They figure any usage is good if it works. Their ilk
probably wrote the CNN slogan "Real news, REAL fast" and is baffled why you and
I wince at it. They'd vote for discussion as less-boring than lecture, but
leave it to someone else to do the discussing.

-- a classroom brimming with concealed stage fright, fear and self-loathing?
Who among us has not become tongue-tied in the face of Authority and strangers?
It helps a lot to have the Authority pose the problem or dilemma and explain
why it matters before we expose ourselves. You can't assume everybody, or even
ANYbody, understands parts of speech or the nature of syntax. Be sure every
single grammar-jargon term is wed to a self-explanatory Plain-English
paraphrase. All will be grateful. Those who understood will welcome the
reassurance and glow at knowing; the rest will be grateful their ignorance or
confusion wasn't exposed, and be better armed for discussion.

I think my own greatest weakness in teaching was a tendency toward a clinical
approach, like my doctor father. I would get preoccupied with curing all the
ailments rather than focus on explaining and encouraging good health. The
consequences can be as mind-numbing as telling someone all their organs are on
the verge of collapse. With the best of intentions, I probably put more
students into a depressed funk than I'd care to imagine.

It is wise, in my view, to distinguish between lapses or usage trends that are
irritating but innocuous and those changes that undermine the logic, clarity
and precision of language. Joke ruefully about changing fashons in language,
but pound into the dirt the undermining usages! Emphasize the reasons, not the
rules -- show WHY one form is superior to another. Use examples. USE examples
... use EXAMPLES! (I tried, but never used enough.) Use theory ONLY to
organize and clarify something already under discussion. When theory comes
first, any student will tell you, "MEGO" (my eyes glaze over).

If you are going to try competion, I suggest it be between small teams, so
those wounded have company. This is coaching, not a test or battle. Bruises are
okay, but bloodshed can wait for the real world.

Finally, forgive us all our trespasses -- especially any of mine in this post,
which is edited lightly at best.
                   Ted Stannard

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