Teacher, Writer, Rebel: A Parallel Jour

Ancient stories confirm that some of humankind’s earliest attempts at writing were based on representations of the gods (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1996). In essence, writing was intended from the onset to make visible that which was invisible, to actualize that which had previously only been suggested, and to give divine properties to a human act. From primitive ideograms and sacred carvings to the most complex and nuances of languages, the written word has historically been interpretive, defying the literalism it has come to most often represent in schools. In a concerted and continual effort to teach writing in its most technical, informational, and prescribed forms, schools and the society they represent have continually lost sight of the potential words have to join together the mind, body and spirit to new meaning. Instead of being taught to use words to attain a larger sense of self and the world, most lessons in writing strip students of all personal authority and serve only to propagate institutionally approved knowledge and rules rather than invent new ways of seeing. We have, it seems, almost entirely forsaken the sacred roots of composition.