Randall Popken’s case study of Edwin M. Hopkins makes me wonder why anyone would become a college writing teacher. I hope the conditions for Composition faculty are better now than they were in the early twentieth century.
It is certainly true that reading and marking student compositions takes a lot of time. It is also true that it is worth doing. Anyone who desires to improve his or her craft needs feedback – the more, the better. There is nothing I dislike more than getting a letter grade and no comments, even if the grade is an A.
I have the luxury of working individually with high school students on their writing, in a tutoring or mentoring capacity. I find them very receptive to discussion, but less attentive to written comments. I usually mark papers sparingly, just so I remember where improvement is needed. Our school requires a B or better on all assignments, and anything that is not up to the standard is returned for further work. As the student and I go over the assignment, I encourage him or her to make notes that will assist in revision and correction. This process has been very successful for our students.
Apparently Hopkins had a similar idea for his pedagogy. He urged that, “each student should receive as an individual the attention of the instructor.” He imagined small groups of students with instructors, not lecture halls with 25, 50, or 200 (remember Freshman Comp?) students. Were Hopkins’ ideas ahead of his time, or were they hearkening back to an era when scholars became educated under the guidance of tutors?
The tale of Hopkins is both sad and hopeful; perhaps the summation of the life of any Composition teacher. The work is clearly too arduous unless one feels called to it.
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I cannot tell you how jealous I am that you have the opportunity to conference with each student on each assignment. I am in complete agreement that verbalizing my suggestions to students would be far more successful than writing them on an essay and praying the student cares enough to read them, and then if I am really lucky, apply the advice on the next assignment. Though as you say, my experience, like many other teachers of writing is similar to Hopkins. We know that we need the direct attention, but there simply is no time, nor are those with the power to help all that interested in what I am sure sound like beggars asking for more than their due.
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