Ben Reynolds writes:I don't think admins help instructors so much as hinder them. That's why we work to get out of the way and let the mentors do things teacher-to-teacher. What admins can do for students is hire the right instructors. Not just tech-savvy, rhet/comp-experienced folks, but people who don't want to be the sage on the stage.
When I was hiring for our summer programs, I asked a series of ego-threatening questions of teaching applicants. Stuff like, "What do you do if a kid is staring out the window?" followed by "What do you do if a kid is staring out the window and following the discussion?" The answers let you know whether the students will get a workshop or an oration.
For our distance ed writing tutorials, applicants critique a student essay. There's plenty to say for a compositionist, but the content also discusses how teachers can become the enemies of gifted kids. I think just reading that essay makes most of sage-on-the-stage types select themselves out. Those who persist reveal their agendas in their critiques.
The other wonderful aspect of reading a critique is filtering out teachers with more subtle student-damaging agendas. These are folks who write, "Try to come up with more details," but who mean, "Try and fail because you're a student and I'm the teacher." Any time I see "try," and it doesn't mean "play with" or "use," an alarm sounds. Same with comments like "Think about your thesis" that aren't immediately followed by suggestions about _how_ to think about your thesis.
I'm big on how and why and really frown on what. How and why are about doing writing. What is about regurgitating "facts," which are usually really an authority's opinions.
I don't care what theory a teacher spouts. If I can see three levels of specificity in the teacher's critique and no fragile ego, students are going to learn.
As for what to do with lousy teachers (we do occasionally hire them), we are in the lucky position of rehiring everyone every year. That allows us to spend just a bit less than a year trying to help a sage on the stage turn into a guide on the side. If there's been no improvement, we just don't hire that person again.