Winds of Change-Hairston

When it comes to the writing process many teachers and students rely on the paradigm of current-traditionalism. Teachers tell students to organize their essays into the five paragraph theme and students use that process as a general safety net. In the education system, writing has always been taught as a strict process leaving little grey areas when it comes to form. Many teachers only focus on what is wrong with the paper rather than why it is wrong. In The Winds of Change, Maxine Hairston discusses how the writing process is turning over a new leaf and many teachers are trying to incorporate more flexible ways to write. One of the main problems with the current-traditionalism process is that it does not allow students to understand the concepts of writing. It merely shows them the steps to organize it. With the new change of writing that Hairston talks about, teachers are going to focus more on the content of the writing rather than the process itself.

I think it is important for students to understand why they are required to do things certain ways. As I have gotten older, I have realized in the educational system that high school writing and college writing are extremely different. In high school, my essays were graded more on how I organized my paper and in college it was based more on content. I feel that in high school I always taught to have the perfect product but in college I was taught to have the right information. I believe that in order to fix your mistakes you need to know why it is a mistake in the first place. By teaching students how to fix their problems instead of just reprimanding them for it, they will become better writers and know not to make the same mistake again. I think a new way of teaching writing is definitely needed in the education system.