Friday, January 29, 2010

How Do You Write?

Guest Blogger: William Donohue

This year marks my 10th anniversary in the “Writing Industry.” Since I graduated college in 2000, I have been drawing a paycheck from something I wrote. (Of course like most writers, I have had a slew of part time jobs too!) I have written for nationally published magazines and weekly, local newspapers. I have written feature articles on the “Top Ten Best Running Cities” that landed me radio interviews, and I have covered local zoning board meetings (more sleep inducing than a class after lunch).

Through it all I have developed and redeveloped my writing process. As Donald Murray asks and answers “Why do writers write? To inform, to persuade, to entertain, to explain, but most of all to discover what they have to say” (3). (Spell-check says that is a fragment sentence, but breaking grammar rules just might another reason that writer’s write.)

When someone asks me what I am writing now, I know they are looking for an exciting answer. Have I written a memoir about my 1,165 mile, month-long bicycle/camping trip from Philly to Boston and back? Maybe I started that “Great American Novel,” or finished the screenplay about teenage angst.

“No,” I disappoint them. “Most of my writing is ‘Academic’ now,” which allows me to sneak away to refill my drink as they divert their eyes to the floor, both of us feeling inadequate—them because of an incorrect assumption of their intellectual inferiority and me because of my intellectual inferiority. But what is it that I do spend my time writing? And more importantly, how does what I write inform my teaching as a writing teacher?

When pressed about my “Academic Writing,” I bring up the latest paper submission to a conference or periodical. This year I have both. (Commence shameless plug.) A soon-to-be-published book series and Creative Commons shareware entity entitled “Writing Spaces: Readings on Writings” (http://writingspaces.org/) has accepted a paper jointly written by myself and Lincoln University colleague and creative writer David Amadio. The essay entitled “The Voices in My Head: An Experimental Essay with Multiple Authors and Voices,” was also accepted at the College English Association Conference (http://www2.widener.edu/~cea/conference2010.htm) fittingly themed “Voices.” I learned more about writing from that experience than any single writing event in my life. Of course, it helps to when all I had to do was take notes as David sounded off on voice in creative writing then fill in some spaces as the representative “academic voice” in the essay. Here come the insecurities again. Luckily, David is a brilliant editor too, which says much about his popularity among the students.

Beyond that, most of my day-to-day writing is classroom related, specially writing comments on student essays. I joke and perhaps how I rationalize my procrastination to start that novel or finish that screenplay is because my writing is so bad because all I do is read bad writing. This week, I am in the middle of grading and, more to the point, commenting on 50 narrative essays. I have 25 more narrative essays coming in on Monday. Then, next Thursday, assuming every one of my students turns in the essay on time, I will have 107 essays to grade. Every single essay is a teachable moment, but what is my process for writing those comments? How can I solve such problems as indicating a poorly written sentence while not shattering a student’s confidence? How can I teach that student to develop a personal writing process, while not over-steering the writing to the “correct answer” (the way that would earn the student a better grade).

Murray breaks the writing process into three stages: prewriting, writing, and rewriting. Students are often amazed at the time breakdown Murray assigns these three stags. Prewriting, everything before the first draft, “takes about 85% of the writer’s time” (15). Writing the first draft is a mere 1%, which leaves 14% of the time for rewriting. Next Thursday 107 essays that are handed to me will hopefully have gone through this process in close approximation to Murray’s breakdown, or at least in a way that works for each individual student. The very last step in the rewriting phase that all 107 of those essays will share is a reflection paper.

They will reflect on the writing process. They will list the steps that they took, and they will comment on those steps.

“This is the corpse pose in Yoga practice,” I will try to entice them. “It locks in the practice.” This is my way of tempting the students to “know thyself.”

During my “prewriting” this week, I read Dr. Dade’s essay “Forwarding the Legacy of Horace Mann Bond” asking the faculty to reflect on the curriculum and “know thyself.” As a composition teacher at Lincoln University during a time when the subject of student writing is often discussed and there is a movement to take writing “Across the Curriculum,” I welcome your own “reflection comments.” As Murray suggests in an essay written in 1970, “more scholars, using information from the social sciences and the sciences, should be encouraged to contribute to the study of the writing process” (7). Do you write along with your students as my narrative essay/blog posting has allowed me to do this week? How do you approach writing instruction in your classroom? How do you write?

Works Cited
Murray, Donald. Learning by Teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Boyton/Cook, 1982.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Teaching at an HBCU: How Do/Should We Do It?

Linda Stine, Guest Blogger

In the Teaching Matters blog this week, I hope we can continue some of the discussion raised in Dr. Dade’s recent letter to the faculty “Forwarding the Legacy of Horace Mann Bond.” Lennell points out that master teachers help their students to understand themselves while simultaneously understanding the subject matter of the course, and she questions whether we are doing this adequately at Lincoln, asking “"to what degree has African culture and history been placed as the center or at least given a strong presence in what we teach our students?" Her suggestions are that all of us educate ourselves on Lincoln’s and Black cultural history, consider what changes we should make within our curriculum and courses, and reinstitute a Black Studies major.

I thought it would be both interesting and educational to hear if you feel that you teach different content or that you teach content differently because you are teaching at an HBCU. As a white teacher educated in majority institutions from K through Ph.D, I must admit that this issue is one about which I can pretend no expertise, and I look forward to learning from the rest of you.

Here’s one small example I can offer. In my basic writing classes, I approach grammar teaching from the context of “Standard Written English” as presented in their grammar handbooks being simply one dialect among many, no more “right” than the others but currently the “power dialect” (definition: the one spoken by those in control of the country’s major institutions) and the one used in most academic and professional settings. We discuss how grammar changes over time, along with the importance of learning the current grammatical conventions of that dialect so that they have the choice to use it as they want.


Friday, January 15, 2010

The Power of Economic Analysis: The Theory of Rational Self-interest and the Theory of moral Sentiments

Guest Blogger: William Kwame Dadson


Through out my years of teaching economics, I have developed what I consider to be the most effective way of preparing students and developing their economic and business leadership skills through the theory of rational self-interest and the theory of moral sentiments. Incorporating these two theories in my economic lectures, has improved the students’ understanding of “the power of economic analysis.” The power of economic analysis is a framework that enables a person to understand and seek solutions to economic problems. (Miller, 2010). It helps students to decide whether to study or not study; to buy a book for a class or spend the money on something else. In all these decisions, the student must accept the consequences of their decisions in terms of their impact on their grades, and graduation. The power of economic analysis teaches the students the economic way of thinking. It enables an individual to make informed decisions or judgments and prepares them for the dynamic global economy. You may ask: "What is the theory of rational self-interest?" or "What is the theory of moral sentiments?" Here, below, is an explanation of the two theories.


The Theory of Self-Interest or Self-Love


In the minds of economists, an individual’s actions are motivated by self-interest. In other words, an individual is a rational economic person whose actions are driven by incentives or rewards which should not leave them worse off in the end. This idea was developed by Adam Smith in his 1776 book, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” Through his observations of human nature and individual self-interest, Adam smith concluded “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regards to their own interests” (Becker,1976i). In other words, individuals are rational beings driven by monetary gains, power and other incentives that help to realize their self-actualization. This is the driving force behind capitalism and the success of western economies. Under capitalism, individuals pursue their own entrepreneurial interests, which eventually become public interest. Examples are Graham Bell, Madam J C Walker, Bill Gates, and Steve Job. To follow the footsteps of these great entrepreneurs the student must master the “The Power of Economic Analysis." Even if the student wants to be an intrapreneur or work for somebody else, it is important that he master the concept of the power of economic analysis. I want to make it clear that whether you become an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur, you must be able to make use of available information in making sound judgments or decisions. Either way there is no free lunch. There is a price for every action we take.


The power of economic analysis helps us to understand that every action results in two consequences, positive and negative externalities. The positive externalities can be the monetary rewards received from a business transaction and the negative externalities may be a defective product or service, causing an injury to the consumer or the society in general. There is nothing wrong with becoming wealthy through an entrepreneurship venture. However, it is important to understand that in pursuing a self-interest endeavor, you and your activities become public interest. You must become familiar with the rules and regulations governing the modus operandi of the industry. What role does ‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’ play in the ‘Power of Economic Analysis?


Theory of Moral Sentiment


The other issue I have been driving home to my students is that "the power of economic analysis" is incomplete without the understanding the “theory of moral sentiments.” This theory was also developed by Adam Smith in 1759. For Adam Smith, the market system is beneficial to the society as a whole; the individual self-love that drives the market system is instrumentally valuable to the society as a whole. In the modern translation, the pursuit of self-interest or individual self-love cannot ignore the moral responsibility in the process. Society’s interest must be given due consideration at all times. When self-interest eventually becomes public interest, a social contract has been established between the individual and the society. For example, AT&T was broken up in 1980, because it was deemed a monopoly and a threat to competition. Martha Steward went to jail for insider trading. Enron went out of business , its executives were tried and some jailed for financial fraud. It is important that every student any aspiring entrepreneur , individuals and companies learn from these mistakes.


The theory of moral sentiment is an important part of the power of economic analysis. It reminds us of our moral responsibility towards the society. Adam Smith believed that self-interest or self-love is a necessary condition for unleashing humankind’s productive energy and creativity. He stressed that this was not sufficient and warned that an unfettered freedom to pursue self-interest could undermine constructive liberal society. In other words, if laws and regulations are not put in place or enforced to curb excessive market abusive practices, there will be dire consequences for the society. Detrimental consequences such as individual or national economic disaster can lead to a degrading society or "a rent seeking society” may result. (Krueger, 1974; Evensky, 2005i).


Is it possible to apply the theories of rational self-interest and moral sentiments to the role the banking industry played in the current economic conditions in the United States? The answer is yes.


In "The Theory of Moral Sentiments," Adam Smith stressed the need for law and order in the free society. He Wrote:


The sine qua non for successful liberal

system, of free people and free markets

are security. For all participants. Society

cannot subsist among those who are at

all times ready to hurt and injure one

another. (Becker, 1976ii).


He believed that the source of this security must be a system of justice that establishes and enforces the principles of interpersonal behavior that insure individuals’ security. (Evensky, 2005ii)


There is nothing wrong with making money. I am a capitalist to the core. I assure the students that there is nothing wrong with being a capitalist and pursuing self-interest ventures to become wealthy. If citizens of a nation become wealthy, the nation prospers. However, the interest and the security of the society cannot be ignored in the pursuit of self-interest. The legal systems must be in place to protect individual liberty and the society as a whole. I believe that teachers of economic can benefit from this approach and equip their students with knowledge required for successful self-interest venture pursuits. It should be emphasized that teachers who adopt this approach must live by examples.

References:

Becker, Gary, 1976i.The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. University of Chicago Press. Page 27

Becker, Gary, 1976ii.The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. University of Chicago Press. Page 86

Evensky, Jerry. 2005i and 2005ii. "Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments: On Morals and why they matter to a Liberal Society of Free People and Free Markets." Page 111

Krueger, Ann O. 1974. "The Political Economy of the Rent seeking Society” American Economic Review. 64:3, pages 291-303.

Miller, Roger LeRoy.2010. Economics Today, the Macro View, and the Micro View. Page 2