The Editors' Weekly
Official blog of Canada's national editorial association
The Editors' Weekly
Navigation
  • About the Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Articles en français
  • editors.ca
  • reviseurs.ca
You are here: Home › Tracey Anderson › Why Do So Many Teachers Become Editors?
← Learning Baby Talk
Wasted Words: Salvaging a Thesis →

Why Do So Many Teachers Become Editors?

March 13, 2018 | Filed under: Tracey Anderson and tagged with: editing, editors, learning, queries, teachers, teaching, Tracey Anderson, tracking changes

Copyright: iconicbestiary / 123RF Stock Photo

Someone recently asked me that question at a networking event. As an editor who came to this profession via a teaching career, I’d pondered this before, and wondered if and how my experience as a teacher shapes my approach as an editor.

The Connection

My teaching approach centred around two key beliefs, which I still value despite the years since I last taught a class.

  1. Learning is an important part of existing and co-existing in this world.
  2. We should always strive to learn, because it keeps our brains and minds flexible and open.

Those beliefs were essential to my teaching because they’re part of who I am. For that reason, they’re also essential to my editing. I believe my role as an editor extends beyond the edges of the pages of texts I work with; I believe I can — and should — share my language expertise with the writer in a way that will enable him or her to learn from it and, hopefully, improve his or her overall writing skills. (It is, of course, the writer’s choice whether to channel my changes and feedback into an opportunity to learn.)

The Tools

I teach through editing in three ways. Tracking changes allows me to teach by modelling; showing the original text with the correction allows the writer to identify the error more easily, notice how it was corrected and incorporate that understanding in the future.

Comments are also great teaching tools. Along with queries for clarification, I explain my changes for major, unusual or repeated errors, or where it’s clear that the writer doesn’t know a particular grammar rule or doesn’t understand a particular usage. Sometimes, I pose leading questions to help the writer reach a conclusion and make the changes, which may be more likely to lead to learning.

Finally, as I did with students in the classroom, I establish a respectful relationship with the writer so that he or she feels comfortable asking me to explain my changes. That way, I can support learning by providing exactly what the writer needs to know. For example, I may include a simple statement in my editorial note when I send the text back: “Please let me know if you need any further explanations of my changes.

The Answer

So back to my colleague’s question: “Why do so many teachers become editors?” I think it’s because the two careers have shared values and are a natural fit. Learning is at the core of both professions, and each provides us ongoing opportunities to share our expertise with others so that they might learn from it.

Do you think that you teach when you edit? If yes, how do you approach that? If no, why not?

___

Previous post from Tracey Anderson: Editing Technical Instructional Material: Do You Need to Be an Expert?

The Editors’ Weekly is the official blog of Editors Canada. Contact us.

Did you like this article? Share it with your friends!

Tweet

Written by Tracey Anderson

Tracey Anderson is a writer, editor and instructional designer based in Edmonton. She previously taught in Canada, China, Macedonia, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. She follows her curiosity and loves to use words to inform, inquire, and inspire. You can connect with Tracey via her business website: IdeasIntoWords.ca.

Follow me on Twitter
← Learning Baby Talk
Wasted Words: Salvaging a Thesis →

2 Responses to "Why Do So Many Teachers Become Editors?"

  1. Margaret F Sadler says:
    March 13, 2018 at 8:07 am

    Me, too, Tracey. I particularly like your comment, “my role as an editor extends beyond the edges of the pages of texts I work with.” Teacher-trained, I work much the way you do. And I appreciate that as editor, I work one to one, rather than one to classroom.

  2. Tracey Anderson says:
    March 13, 2018 at 9:05 am

    I enjoy the individual engagement of editing, too. My work can be more directed and individualized. Before I started editing, I thought it would be so different from teaching, but I find the professions are more alike than different.

Comments are closed.

What we’re talking about

Aaron Dalton author-editor relationship authors book editors book publishing communication copy editing editing editing tools editor editor's role editor advice editorial skills editors editors at work Editors Canada conference français freelance editing freelance editors freelancing French grammar interview James Harbeck language letter from the editor linguistics Linguistics Frankly Marianne Grier marketing networking plain language professional development proofreading publishing Rosemary Shipton révision style translation usage Wasted Words Wilf Popoff word choice writers writing

Email subscriptions

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,055 other subscribers

Most recent posts

  • Editing Indigenous Writing: A Nuanced Partnership
  • Encouraging Coworkers to See the Benefits of Editing
  • Meeting “In Real Life”: Conference 2023
  • The Editors’ Weekly en français
  • Editing for Authors on a Budget

Archives by month

By author

Follow Us Online

Facebook  Twitter  Flickr  RSS Feed

www.editors.ca

The Editors' Weekly is the blog of Editors Canada.

Report an error or a typo

Email us at blog [at] editors.ca

© 2023 The Editors' Weekly

Powered by One Designs