Rigor and Relevance

I joined the fascinating conversation that Steve Hargadon is facilitating on the Future of Education. I often find myself encouraging people to pursue their passions and learn what they love and then I feel this reality tug. What about the stuff that you hate to learn, but when you finally get it, it changes your life? I’ve also talked about this as the tension between creativity and craft.

I am a professional writer. I love words, long sentences, complex arguments, articles that go on for pages, and reading books that draw me through hundreds of pages of prose. Becoming a writer and developing my craft took time and daily practice. It means leaving your ego at the door and listening to your readers and critics to see how you can make your language clearer, more persuasive, and more compelling. It means learning grammar and learning form. Those standards give your reader something to grab onto and hold onto through what you write.

There is an important role for teachers and schools. It probably isn’t as much to unleash the creative spirit, that’s there if we are willing to engage it, but to give us rigor with relevance to help us achieve our potential. If I didn’t know grammar (thank you Frau Galer, high school German teacher for 4 years), if I didn’t understand forms (thank you Molly Ringwald, Tom McBride and Clint McCowen, Beloit College English Professors), if I didn’t receive critical feedback (thank you David Hamilton, Carol de Saint Victor, and fellow students at the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program), I would not be the writer I am today, both creatively and professionally.