ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the theory and research available on the process-based approach to writing instruction. Writers learn best when teachers center them and practice humility. Nutritive workshops feed writers well because the strategies employed there are rooted in soil that’s loamy from the work of humble questioners. Humble teachers know that they will get it wrong—whatever it is—and they look forward to noticing when that happens. Humble teachers count their students among the giants whose shoulders they stand upon, trusting they are capable of knowing and naming their strengths, their interests, and their needs better than any other expert might. Mindful teachers know that their perceptions are informed by their own single stories that may not be meaningful or relevant to the writers they serve. Bhasin’s journey stirred her interest in the human condition—especially as it concerned authenticity. She realized that her inability to be authentic only intensified her personal pain.
