Despite current process theories of composition, many teachers of writing still adopt traditional pedagogical approaches in the classroom. Under the "old pedagogy," correctness is valued over content, revision is approached as cosmetic change, formulaic rhetorical modes are taught before students set pen to paper, and the lecture is still the favorite instructional method. When teachers base their composition courses on what students will have to know to graduate or to enter other courses, they are saying that composition amounts to a university service course, that it is a primer for correctness. Instead of seeing student errors as a natural step in the process of learning to write, these teachers equate mistakes with lack of progress and, moreover, they fail to come to terms with the unsettled, transitory nature of language and writing. Composition teachers who view their discipline as a grammar or service course allow the curriculum to be set by members of other departments. On the other hand, composition teachers who create an environment in which students can write and respond to each other's writing, serve their students well. Consideration of cognitive development when determining composition curriculum is also within the student's best interest. The criteria the new rhetoricians have for effective student writing are different from those of past generations and, by challenging that past, process-oriented composition, teachers can make their own new, pertinent, and powerful history. (NKA)