Abstract:
Library shelves are filled with books and journals about teaching. I often scan the shelves and find that the contents are like a river system with a mysterious source and a myriad of tributaries that meander and perhaps conjoin before emptying into the sea. My first response is to be heartened by the volume of material though when I reflect on what is written I am soon depressed. Who reads it all? What purposes does it serve? Are we better for it? Why is there so much writing if it amounts to so little? I even allow myself to toy with the idea that the teaching profession might be better served by less writing if what were written were different and much more widely read, not only by academics and teachers but by the community at large. What kind of writing about teaching might find its way onto the best seller lists ? Is teaching such a hum-drum, tedious occupation that only sensationalist writing is likely to produce handsome book sales? Are the canons of academic writing inimical to wide readership? The paper explores these questions with reference to current academic and popular writing about teaching.