On Writing,Reading,and Teaching

Though Professor Blatt died this past January, he provided me with a number of dialectic pieces which I shall utilize throughout this year. In forwarding this particular piece, Blatt wrote, “I'm trying to avoid getting too deeply into the writing of a new book—always the hardest part of writing (as you know). So I've been writing book reviews, professor stories, and polemics of one sort or another.” It is this writing of last fall that I shall print in the dialectic column thoughout 1985.

He continued, “Enclosed is something I just finished which may be a suitable candidate for Dialectic. Everybody reads journals such as the Journal of Learning Disabilities, and everybody knows that there have to be people to write those articles and books. But I don't think we try to understand sufficiently the connections between reading and writing, as well as how those activities relate to the art of teaching. Hence this paper.”

Do read this piece carefully, for there is much to learn; first about your motive as the reader, second how as teacher/writer you change your relationship to the printed word, and ultimately how you resolve these two perspectives. In this resolution is potentially much self-understanding, if only you'll give it a thought.—G.M.S.