One of the most thought-provoking works we've read lately is Bad Ideas About Writing, edited by Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe.

This open-access book from the University of West Virginia examines popular myths and assumptions about the teaching and learning of writing. You’ll find brief, “opinionated encyclopedia entries and researched mini-manifestos” from experts in writing studies. These pieces will get you up-to-date on research and conversations about writing and help you reflect on your teaching practices.

Below is a sampling of “bad ideas” from the book. Do you agree or disagree with the arguments? 

Quick summary: No two writing situations are exactly alike. Expectations vary from one writing situation to the next, so it is difficult to generalize what good writing is and how to do it.

Key quotation: “[E]very new situation, audience, and purpose requires writers to learn to do and understand new possibilities and constraints for their writing.”

“But this isn’t bad news. Rather, it gives all writers permission to keep learning, to fail, and to engage in new kinds of writing in new situations.”

A better idea: Instead of teaching writing in general, show students how to adapt to new writing situations, such as studying examples and considering the purpose, audience, and context. Assure them that the messy, feeling-out process of writing is normal and not a sign of failure.

With the availability of tools like Grammarly and ChatGPT, it may be tempting to spend less time teaching grammar. Wouldn't it be more efficient to let technology detect and correct grammar issues for students, and leave it at that?

Efficient? Maybe. Effective? Not so much.

The presence of grammar checkers and chat bot assistants does not diminish the need to learn grammar, just as calculators did not eliminate the need to learn math.

Calculators did alter the way math was taught, though. The same is true of teaching grammar in the age of AI. Instead of reducing grammar instruction, let’s reflect on why and how we teach grammar.

Do your students use quotations in their writing? This common practice allows writers to engage with experts, marshal evidence, and create dialogue. But the practice also comes with potential pitfalls.

Some students overuse quotations, adding so many that their own voice gets lost in the mix. Other students drop in quotations without enough context. The quotes just hang there with no clear connection to the surrounding ideas. And then there are students who find great quotations, offer effective context, but stumble over tricky punctuation rules.

You may have heard that empathy involves “walking in someone else’s shoes.” But this tidy metaphor misses a crucial aspect of empathetic behavior: close, compassionate listening. Brené Brown addresses the missing component in her book Atlas of the Heart:

Rather than walking in your shoes, I need to learn how to listen to the story you tell about what it’s like in your shoes and believe you even when it doesn’t match my experiences.

To show empathy, then, we must learn to listen carefully, understand what was said, and withhold judgment. The last point can prove difficult, even discomforting, when our own experience does not jibe with the speaker’s.