WSP U OF M 2014 COURSE RATIONALE

07/19/2014



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WSP U of M 2014
Pedagogical Approach and Course Rationale
Rationale of Goals
Our course begins with the basic assumption that all of our students are writers. We believe that
each student brings their own unique experiences and strengths with them into the writing
classroom. Because we consider our students to be writers, our course focuses on providing them
with foundational tools, strategies, and resources that they can use to adapt their writing to new
and challenging academic contexts. At the end of the week, our students will have a cornerstone
of academic writing knowledge that they will build on throughout their academic careers.

Our specific goals are to:

Validate the writing students are already engaged in
Encourage each student to develop their own writing process
Explore and practice three new genres of writing relevant to college contexts
Think critically about the rhetorical situation of writing assignments
Present students with a variety of tools for each stage of the writing process
including: understanding the assignment, brainstorming, prewriting activities,
drafting, revision, and peer review
Model peer review and constructive criticism best practices

By focusing on these goals, we intend to provide a series of pragmatic lessons that students can
benefit from and draw on, regardless of their future academic plans. We certainly do not intend
for students to become experts at college-level writing in one week; on the contrary, we will
convey the idea that writers are never truly experts, that writing is always a process, and can
always be improved. Instead of focusing on perfection, therefore, we instead aim to demystify
academic writing by illustrating effective writing processes and highlighting resources such as
librarians, writing centers, textbooks, and websites that will be available to them on virtually any
college campus.







WSP U OF M 2014 COURSE RATIONALE
07/19/2014



2


Pedagogical Framework

Our pedagogical approach for this course relies heavily on process pedagogy; however, we are
incorporating a blend of ideas drawn from multiple theoretical lenses including feminist and
rhetorical pedagogies.

Most clearly, we are employing Lad Tobins idea that students are writers when they come to
the classroom and that the writing classroom should be a workshop (Tobin 7). With this in
mind, we have integrated writing lectures and workshops; each 20-30 minute lesson will be
followed by a writing workshop to allow students to practice new material. This focus also
privileges the development of a writing process over the final products; specifically, process
pedagogues stress that writing is never truly finished, but is always in process.

Not only are we engaging in process practices by incorporating workshops, we are also
employing elements of feminist pedagogy by considering students to be sources of knowledge
(Jarratt 115). Though our course will not focus specifically on gender, by analyzing the rhetorical
situations of individual texts, students will be challenged to consider the social implications of
those texts. In addition, we encourage multiple viewpoints, and challenge students to think
rhetorically about the world around them. Our classroom is a safe space for the respectful
consideration, development, and expression of ideas.

In addition to these approaches, we are drawing from rhetorical pedagogy with our emphasis on
rhetorical situations and appeals. Understanding rhetorical situations will help students identify
the proper conventions and expectations for specific writing assignments, and is fitting with
rhetorical pedagogys focus on the skills and contingencies that attend a variety of situations
and circumstances (Covino 37). Being able to think rhetorically will prepare students to
critically evaluate and analyze not only their own writing, but also the texts they will read in their
college classes. As a part of this approach, we will encourage students to carefully select
evidence and construct arguments that will most effectively achieve their purpose.


Bibliography
Covino, William A. "Rhetorical Pedagogy." A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Ed. Gary Tate,
Amy Rupiper, and Kurt Schick. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. 36-53. Print.
Jarratt, Susan C. "Feminist Pedagogy." A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Ed. Gary Tate,
Amy Rupiper, and Kurt Schick. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. 113-31. Print.
Tobin, Lad. "Process Pedagogy." A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Ed. Gary Tate, Amy
Rupiper, and Kurt Schick. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. 1-18. Print.