ABSTRACT
David Bartholomae’s work articulates a clear pedagogical role for the composition classroom: to prepare students to do academic work—a stance that contrasts with the expressivists’ idea of a hands-off teacher allowing students to find their voice through writing groups. Bartholomae’s response to the expressivist pedagogy is best articulated in “Writing With Teachers: A Conversation with Peter Elbow” (1995), where he argues that to ignore the academic power structure is dangerously idealistic and that teachers must take an active role assisting students as they struggle in the process of acquiring the authoritative voice of academic discourse. By taking such a role in the classroom, teachers make visible the power structure in and outside of the university, which students can then critically analyze through their reading of academic texts and their writing assignments about those readings.
