What I *do* mean is a basic philosophical approach to teaching writing that assumes that declarative and procedural knowledge about writing cannot be separated in a useful way in a writing class. I do mean a basic belief that we as a field have studied writing and thus have declarative knowledge that can help writers of all kinds if we share that knowledge explicitly, and encourage students to explore their own questions and concerns about writing as active, empowered rhetors.

[…]

At base, all of us who are making an argument that “there is declarative knowledge about writing that should inform writing classes” are  really just saying that we are a discipline and we know useful things that can help our students (and colleagues and policy makers). HOW you use that declarative knowledge, what you do with it in your particular context, varies so, so widely–as it should.

The methods and curricula and textbooks are not the philosophy. They are all simply ways to try to enact the philosophy, and we’ll be forever trying to figure out more effective and creative ways.

Either we are a discipline or we aren’t. And if we are, let’s act like it.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Wardle
Professor & Department Chair
Department of Writing & Rhetoric
University of Central Florida