To Coach (Teach) … or Not to Coach?

Educational Resource: “Writing process” (Photo credit: Ken Whytock)

This post is inspired from an article I read titled, “Use of Writing Samples on Standardized Tests: Susceptibility to Rule-Based Coaching and the Resulting Effects on Score Improvement.” Applied Measurement in Education 21.3 (2008): 227-52 by Hardison, Chaitra, and Paul Sackett. “Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

One of my first graduate professors, Lynee Gaillet, inspired me to pursue my PhD in composition and rhetoric when she said that “good writing can be taught”. I have to believe that she was right! I mean, maybe not all writers will be Nobel Prize winners, but we sure can use what we learn to become the best writers possible. That’s why we have composition classes in the first place, right?

The following quote from a 2008 essay bothered me and got me thinking as well about my own research:

“Despite the growing use of writing assessments in standardized tests, little is known about coaching effects on writing assessments in general, and there is no published research examining coaching on the specific essay tests that are now being used in admissions contexts.”

This is a great point here. I mean, “coaching” is all I do as an AP teacher (and I would venture to say that all teachers of composition would consider themselves coaches as well), but does the coaching, and quality of a teacher, mean that the student should be able to exempt English classes based on the timed writing? What if he or she were coached more effectively than someone else?

I consider myself a “coach” of the English language, of research, and of the writing process. As a teacher, I feel like it is my duty to coach my students through the arduous process of advancing from invention to completion, and that’s no easy task. At every step, I have to motivate them. I offer them writing conferences, we go through peer edits, they write drafts and outlines and formal outlines and second drafts and final outlines, etc. I require that in my AP Language research paper process my students go through every single step (even if they feel they don’t need each one) and I want to coach them through it.

I feel like these lessons are vitally important for my students, and for me! I learn from their process since I am going through my own dissertation challenges. But, the question still remains:

Can you teach a student how to write that 9 (or top-notch) paper? Is coaching helpful in that way? I know that I drill grammar into my students, but I also recognize that some of my students are going to demonstrate a unique, eloquent voice at the beginning of the semester – – without any help from me. Yes, they may learn a few “rules” from me, but the priceless “voice” that most students lack seems to show up in the strangest of places.

Is writing about teaching the process, or about the heart behind the subject? When you’ve done your best writing was the subject dictated to you or did you write for your own purpose?

I’m going to refrain from stating my opinion on my opening question because first, that’s my job – – to teach writing. Second, I want feedback and experiences. When have you written your best writing and why do you feel you did your best at that particular time?

Most importantly, do you feel that “good writing” can be determined with just one writing sample?

In my research, I have read articles and essays from the 1800’s on, and this question seems up for grabs even until today. My dissertation focuses on several aspects of writing, and I am wondering what I will discover. I’d appreciate any comments!