Teaching, Writing, and Developing

Abstract

In the impressive growth of literature and programs on faculty development during the last decade, there has been a conspicuous neglect of the role that liberal arts faculty's writing and publishing about their teaching might have in such efforts.1 I recognize that the omission is not mere oversight, and the purpose of this essay is to argue that analytical essays by teaching faculty, dealing with substantive and pedagogical issues arising directly out of the classroom and other instructional settings, is a genre that ought to be expanded and more fully developed. I believe that the subjects especially needing to be addressed by such articles are the purposes, central questions, and themes around which liberal arts courses and programs of study are or should be organized; essays on specific pedagogical strategies that support clear educational goals are also important. Critical comparisons of textbooks is another kind of article with considerable promise, because such articles can encompass the range from substance to technique. Textbooks define and justify fundamental categories of knowledge; engage or avoid key questions; establish epistomological rules; and contain decisions about empha-