composition worth teaching

as i prepare myself for yet another round of intensive dental work (for which my new insurance plan covers a good portion but in the end not nearly enough), i find myself again wondering if, following geoff’s suggestion, the invention and perfection of new processes, the discovery of new materials, and the desire for radically new products are (really) the only things that “perhaps” make composition worth teaching. as a grad student i was certainly grateful for (and learned a lot about the potentials of composing from) students whose work would “send” me, and/or that would provide me with something i was “not used to.” sure, the stinky chicken in a box debacle pushed me a bit over the edge for a couple months back in 2003 but when that same composer managed to orchestrate and then deliver, along with the assistance of 7 or 8 other improv dancers (none of whom were enrolled in the course) a live, in-class, dance-based re-performance of an earlier class session, even that semester ended up ending on a pretty positive note. then again, even as a grad student, i was dealing with pretty significant dental issues and i felt strongly that i’d be better in class, digging this work and these potentials for composing still more, etc. if dental insurance happened to be thrown in to the mix. oh yeah. and better health insurance. oh yeah. and tenure. all these things would definitely, to my mind, “make composition [even more] worth teaching, perhaps.”

flash forward: the insurance is there. not great, but there. but here’s my question/concern. is it at all the case, again following geoff’s wonderings, that what students want, hope for, etc., from a comp class [or any other class] is the potential or opportunity to “make the world see the world their way”? if so—who and/or who many do? as it is constructed here, the choices are set up in terms of working toward that potential or else to continue insisting that “they [students] be made to show the world the way we [instructors, professors, people with bad teeth or good teeth, tenured or not], think it’s supposed to be seen.” don’t get me wrong—i’m still a fan of pedagogy as dare, still committed in my own no-more-composing-with-chicken way to a show-me-what’s-possible approach to learning and making, but i’m hard pressed to account for how, when, why or even if this works (well or even at all) when it comes up against an in-a-rush-so-just-tell-me-how-to-get-an-a approach to communicative practice. i mean, is it then just another instance of teaching, composing, learning, whatever, at cross-purposes in the academy?