Schneider, Pat. "Growing As A Writer." Writing Alone and With Others. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

This chapter points out the importance of finding a teacher who will encourage your writing and help to shape it, rather than creating clones of themselves. Schneider believes some of the characteristics of a good teacher include:

1. one who helps you find your own voice;
2. one who points out your strengths as a writer, as well as some of the weaknesses you could improve upon;
3. one that acknowledges that his/her judgment or assessment of your writing is subjective;
4. one who is able to let a student go, when the time comes (107).

The true test of a "good" writing teacher is one who leaves you inspired to write (108).

This is an important part of my pedagogy. I know other instructors who feel that the writing student must suffer for their craft, but I think that beginning writers should be mostly encouraged, with gentle prodding towards better works. I also know that not all genres of writing are to my liking, but i consider the craft of the work and what is working in terms of characterization, or details/development, or organization -- something is probably going well in a student work.