The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook

by Gary Tate (Editor), Edward P.J. Corbett (Editor)

The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook

Genres: Teaching, Writing, Nonfiction, Grad School, Academic

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 1981

Reviews

[DWRL Library]

The title of this book is misleading. When I thought of a "sourcebook," I imagined a lot of practical help in putting together classes and activities that would help me in facilitating understanding of the writing process. This book is not at all like that.

The book, instead, is a collection of essays culled from the standard composition journals. The essays are presented in two major sections: The context of writing and the teaching of writing.

Each essay addresses aspects of teaching writing. It's greatest strength lies in helping the beginning teacher think through student needs and teaching goals. It would make a great textbook for a course on pedagogy in that it is full of things to think through before teaching your class.

Most of the essays are very personal and would be helpful to a teacher struggling with a particular aspect of the classroom. For example, there are essays on re-thinking remedial writing courses, and experiences with ESL classrooms.

The book functions more as a counselor, if you will, and less as a sourcebook. Again, a good read for before you start teaching, not so helpful once you're in the middle of the semester and looking for help.

[Brian Fitzroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Due to a lack of praxis, some essays were too tough. For readers who don't have the knowledge, it'd be a great graduate course book, if not dated. They're seemingly either anecdotal or theoretical. Essays I enjoyed are the following:
The Enabling Discipline
Embracing Contraries in the Teaching Process
Strangers in Academia
Experience in Evidence
The Study of Error
Static Abstractions and Composition

[Kelli Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Corbett, Myers, and Tate’s “The Writing Teacher’s Sourcebook” offers a compilation of essays intended to inform readers of current theory and practice from well-respected authorities in the field. I read the book as an accompaniment to a course on teaching college composition, and for this purpose, it was an excellent choice. I would also recommend the book for those researching theories of composition, but this one is not for the casual reader.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

One great essay and the rest was really dense academic theory

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rhetoric and Writing 509: Teaching of Composition - A somewhat reliable book for future teachers of any subject where writing will be involved.