https://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/conversations/?p=120 Conversations about Writing in Secondary and Post-secondary Contexts Fri, 11 Apr 2014 21:49:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.7 https://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/conversations/?p=120#comment-240 Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:17:53 +0000 http://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/conversations/?p=120#comment-240 No doubt this is true for an experienced teacher. I can imagine the people who made the initial comment agreeing with your point, but also pointing out that the overall effect might not be good for all teachers in a system. But let’s assume you are right and topic-setting is not a great problem: are there other issues that we should be worried about more than this one?

]]> https://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/conversations/?p=120#comment-239 Fri, 05 Apr 2013 03:58:43 +0000 http://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/conversations/?p=120#comment-239 Speaking as a high school English teacher, I’ve found that there are always ways for students to get invested in a topic, no matter how pedestrian or (initially) uninspiring it is. That some government ministry is going to set topics for what students can write about is a) already happening to some degree on the diploma exams anyway; b) alarmist and unnecessarily provocative; c) not a problem for a creative teacher and a responsive student; d) an unavoidable situation when there is results-based evaluation. Hint: that’s not a multiple-choice question.

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