the listening eye: reflections on the writing conference

" The writing teacher, because he is an English teacher, is usually considered to have a subject matter as do teachers of history and physics and mathematics and literature. He does not. He must learn from those who teach music and art and shop, for he does not have a vast amount of knowledge or information to communicate to the students. He does not have many concepts to develop. He has a few basic skills which he must communicate to the students repetitively, over and over and over and over again. . .The great danger is that the repetition of the same rule. . .may become boring both for the student and for the teacher. The writing teacher must develop many ways of saying the same thing."

--Donald Murray, A Writer Teaches Writing, 1968