Welch's "Ideology and Freshmen Textbook Production"

Kathleen Ethel Welch’s “Ideology and Freshmen Textbook Production: The Place of Theory in Writing Pedagogy”

(Pages 759-71)

Vickie Conner

First, I have always found it a mystery as to why many textbook editors who have never taught or have taught minimally are the sole creators of curriculum. Welch mentions on page 764 of the Composition Theory text that some students are becoming involved, in collaboration with the instructors, in developing college texts, and I am excited about this. As students learn, they know how they learn and what makes sense in a composition text. Welch states that fact that texts are written to educate the instructor? Does this make sense? Yes, the instructor could use some ideas to introduce the text; however, the student needs to make sense of how the text is aiding him or her in learning to develop the skill and knowledge of writing.

The second concern that derives from this essay is the fact that excerpts are added to textbooks and taken out of context of why and in what context these pieces were written. Students need, as Welch argues, to learn how writing is done in context for many authors and how everyday experiences bring on new topics for writing. In other words, the rhetorical situation needs to be evident in reading and understanding the invention of each of these cannon excerpts. This is why I agree that formalists cannot take out authorship entirely. When reading and construing text, it is wise to consider the entire context of why something was written, yet when editors simply include a section of a classic piece without any background is a false portrayal of how discourse is many times invented.