open-mindedness” (30), “whole-heartedness” (31), “responsibility” (32),
and “curiosity” (36–40). As Dewey notes, these habits of mind foster a
persistent “readiness to consider in a thoughtful way the subjects that do
come within the range of experience—a readiness that contrasts strongly
with the disposition to pass judgment on the basis of mere custom,
tradition, prejudice, etc., and thus shun the task of thinking” (34). For
Dewey, such a readiness allows academics to approach learning experiences
and their research from a position of critical engagement that
moves beyond rote memorization of events or uncritical reproduction
of information to the active and diligent consideration of the material,
topic, and writing situation at hand. The habits of mind and the disposition
of critical readiness that they engender are “equipment for living,”
to borrow an often-quoted phrase from Kenneth Burke, because they
prepare professional writers for the unique challenges of each writing
task and situation, enabling them to discern rhetorical choices that are
both appropriate and possible given the circumstances, genre conventions,
audiences, editorial expectations, and purposes influencing what,
when, and where they write (