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A Creative Writing Education: The Battle of the Teaching Methods

Published 1 year ago

Intro by Rachel Marsh

Teaching methods are as different as the students on which they are applied. Some prefer to be part of a group and work as a team, while others favour a class that inspires them to work independently. Problematically, a student will not know how the class will be lead before taking (and often paying for) the course. Therefore, it is up to the instructor to bring a method that best suits the largest common denominator. However, each teacher will feel that his/her favourite exercises and lesson plans are best practice.

It is exactly this topic, preferred teaching methods, we will be debating on this week's 'A Creative Writing Education'. In fact, this is the topic that actually got the 'A Creative Writing Education' series started in the first place.

Months ago I wrote a blog post about, what I feel to be, lazy teaching methods. However, worried that I may offend, I showed the piece to my very good friend Kathleen Gray. Kathleen's written a few pieces for us on Shortbread, but more importantly she is a teacher I dearly respect. She's a patient and intuitive writing instructor, and she's worked with various levels of creative writers on a broad range of genres. And, in addition to her experience as a creative writing facilitator, she's been teaching English language for longer than she'd like me to quote in print.

Kathleen disagreed with my blog post, so I asked her to write a rebuttal. I think she's made a very good case; however, I stand by my original statement, and it is this environment of healthy debate that we like to encourage on ShortbreadStories. Read our posts below, or give us your opinion on the 'A Creative Writing Education' forum.

Rachel Marsh: Prompt/Write/Read = Lazy Teaching

Kathleen Gray: Prompt/Write/Read: A Counter Argument

Fancy taking a creative writing course? Join Shortbread in the Scottish Highlands or in Spain.

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