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This week we read about position and outcomes statements for the teaching of writing. These position statements help define our expectations and ideas surrounding the teaching of writing. We also read about professional associations in our field of study: CCCC (Conference on College Composition and Communication, and WPA (Writing Program Administrators).

As a communications freelancer, I have had the opportunity to work as a resource development contractor curating grant opportunities for nonprofits addressing early literacy issues. I’ve always been aware that the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) is devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts, offering grant programs funding research related to underrepresented populations, equity pedagogies, curriculum changes, and the effect these changes have on students, changes in teaching methods, student interaction and learning, community literacy, and other relevant subjects (PND, February).

It’s fascinating to learn about the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) and the many other resources the NCTE offers in our field of study.

“The CCCC advocates for broad and evolving definitions of literacy, communication, rhetoric, and writing (including multimodal discourse, digital communication, and diverse language practices) that emphasize these activities’ value to empower individuals and communities” (n.d.).

The CCCC is committed to supporting diverse communicators inside and outside of postsecondary classrooms. “To this end, among other things, the CCCC and its members develop evidence- and practice-based position statements for those invested in language, literacy, communication, rhetoric, and writing at the postsecondary level” (n.d.).

Some of the position statements I will prioritize in my classroom are:

Literacy in a Digital Age

I will advocate for equitable access to and accessibility of texts, tools, and information by seeking out free high-quality digital course materials in my classroom. I would hate for the cost of a book or some other learning resource to create a boundary for any students.

Principles for Assessment

Building on Students’ Right to Their Own Language, I will pay close attention to my assessment practices, prioritizing authentic rhetorical choices over grammatical and stylistic errors or linguistic differences. I agree with, Principles for Assessment in those assessments that are keyed closely to an American cultural context may disadvantage second language writers and students whose home dialect is not the dominant dialect.

Grammar

I will not be a stickler for grammar. I will avoid a grammar practice that hinders the development of students’ oral and written language, focuses my teaching methodology on the Principles of Sound Writing Instruction, emphasizing the rhetorical nature of writing.

The position statements provided by the CCCC are perfect for offsetting the potential for “expert blind spots.”

Authors Mitchell J. Nathan and Anthony Petrosino define the ‘expert blind spot’ hypothesis as the claim that educators with advanced subject-matter knowledge of a scholarly discipline tend to use the powerful organizing principles, formalisms, and methods of analysis that serve as the foundation of that discipline as guiding principles for the students’ conceptual development and instruction, rather than being guided by knowledge of the learning needs and developmental profiles of novices.” Do you believe in the ‘expert bling spot’ hypothesis?

Works Cited

“Definition of Literacy in a Digital Age.” National Council of Teachers of English, NCTE, 7 Nov. 2019, ncte.org/statement/nctes-definition-literacy-digital-age/.

“NCTE – Home Page.” NCTE, ncte.org/.

“Principles for the Postsecondary Teaching of Writing.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, 21 July 2018, cccc.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/postsecondarywriting#principle5.

“Resolution on Grammar Exercises to Teach Speaking and Writing.” National Council of Teachers of English, 30 Nov. 1985, ncte.org/statement/grammarexercises/.

“Welcome to the CCCC Website!” Conference on College Composition and Communication, cccc.ncte.org/.

Popular conceptions of what it means to write assume that knowledge of a subject is enough to produce a successfully written report on that subject or that knowledge of the rules of language, grammar, and mechanics is sufficient to create an effective piece of written communication (Tinburg, 76). If only it were that simple.

While the acquisition and application of writing knowledge are important, cognition alone can not guarantee success (Tinburg, 76). Let’s ponder writer’s block, temporary writer’s paralysis, and anxiety for a moment.

Threshold Concept four teaches us that all writers have more to learn. Threshold Concept five reminds us that our success can not hinge solely on our students’ abilities to produce well-written essays. We also want our students to demonstrate consciousness of the process that will enable them to reproduce success (Tinburg, 75).

The effective accomplishment of writing tasks over time requires metacognition, or the ability to perceive the very steps by which success occurs and to articulate the various qualities and components that contribute in significant ways to effective writing production (Tinburg, 76).

Metacognition refers to using a reflective thinking process to increase the awareness of one’s strengths and learning styles to improve the conscious control of learning and the ability to plan, monitor, and change own learning behaviors. In short, knowing what to learn and how to go about learning it (Cognitive Learning Strategies, n.d.).

Given the challenges of writing across disciplines, for varied audiences, and in diverse genres, metacognition is important because it allows writers to assess which skill and knowledge sets apply when one finds him/her/they self required to work in unfamiliar contexts or with forms with which they are unfamiliar.

Howard Tinburg

Metacognition must accompany cognition (Tinburg, 76).

Constructive metacognition involves “reflection across writing tasks and contexts, using writing and rhetorical concepts to explain choices and evaluations and to construct a writerly identity” (Gorzelsky et al.). Gorzelsky et al.’s concept of constructive metacognition is useful in that it points to the importance of reflection and the use of writing/rhetorical concepts—specifically genre, rhetorical situation, and writing process—within metacognitive moves (VanKooten, 3)

Reflection allows writers to recognize what they are doing in that particular moment (cognition), as well as to consider why they made the rhetorical choices they did (metacognition) (Takzac, 78).

How have you seen metacognition taught in your classes? How was it attached to a measurable learning outcome?

Citations

Center for Teaching and Learning at The University of Texas at Austin. (2012, Feb. 17). Brief Intro to Metacognition [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVE21QhY-lI&feature=youtu.be

Cognitive Learning Strategies. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://wit.edu/about/lit/engage/learning-strategies

Gorzelsky, Gwen et al. Metacognitive Moves in Learning to Write: Results from the Writing Transfer Project. Critical Transitions: Writing and the Question of Transfer. Ed. Jessie Moore and Chris M. Anson. Parlor Press/WAC Clearinghouse. Forthcoming. Print.

VanKooten, C. (2016). Identifying Components of Meta-Awareness about Composition: Toward a Theory and Methodology for Writing Studies.

Tinberg, Howard. “Metacognition is not Cognition.” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, edited by Linda Adler-Kasner and Elizabeth A. Wardle, Utah State University Press, 2016, pp. 75.

At some point, I think we have all been convinced that there is some study path, which leads to a final destination of being an expert writer. I love that threshold concept four dispels this myth and plainly states, All Writers Have More to Learn.

One of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, is quoted several times in this week’s Naming What We Know Threshold Concepts of Writing Skills reading. I love Anne’s work because she allows herself space and freedom to write vulnerably, honestly, and in simple, digestible terms. One of my mentors shared this quote with me many years ago (see below).

I love this quote because it’s a nod to self-acceptance and a reminder of the dangers of perfectionism and procrastination, all of which are highly applicable to writing.

Transparency is important. Learners need to know that even the best, most critically acclaimed writers struggle to figure out what they want to say and how to say it (Rose, 2016, pp. 59). What techniques will you use if you find any of your students struggling to produce the first draft? When ever I felt stuck, I remember one of my teachers telling me to just write. She said, “good and done is better than perfect and pending.”

I want my ensure I provide my students with a classroom environment where what Lamott describes as “shitty first drafts” are not only expected but encouraged as a way of treating failure as something all writers work through, rather than as a symptom of inadequacy or stupidity ( Brooke and Carr, 2016, pp 63).

I think we should cancel the saying, practice makes perfect, and replace it with something like the road to comfort is paved with practice. In section 4.3 of this week’s reading, Yancey writes, practice is the key: engaging in the different kinds of practices to acquire fluency, to focus on techniques, and strategies and to engage with other humans–is the way for all human beings to develop into competent writers (Yancey, 2016, pp. 65).

In the TED Talk Live segment below, Lamott talks about the creative process and provides 13 writing tips. Tip number five is, Find a couple of critics you love; stood out the most for me. “Everybody needs two people who respect them and love their work and will give you the gifts of honesty and help.” (Lamott, 2017).

_{13 writing tips, from beloved teacher Anne Lamott, posted Sep 5, 2017}

In the Sommer’s reading, Responding to Student Writing, we learn that we comment on student writing because we believe that it is necessary for us to offer assistance to student writers when they are in the process of composing a text rather than after the text has been completed (Sommers, 1982, pp. 149). Comments create the motive for doing something different in the next draft; thoughtful comments create the motive for revising. Without teacher comments or comments from their peers, student writers will revise in a consistently narrow and predictable way (Sommers, 1982, pp. 148). Without comments from readers, students assume that their meaning and perceive no need for revising (Sommers, 1982, pp. 149).

Thus, we comment on student writing to dramatize the presence of a reader, to help our students to become that questioning reader themselves, because, ultimately, we believe that becoming such a reader will help them to evaluate what they have written and develop control over their writing (Sommers, 1982, pp. 148).

Our goal in commenting on early drafts should be to engage students with the issues they are considering and help them clarify their purposes and reasons in writing their specific text (Sommers, 1982, pp. 155). I hope to provide my students with a review/feedback process that serves as a lifelong reminder of the importance of a good critic and the personal and professional growth one can experience as a result of good feedback, deliberate introspection, and a willingness to fail.

Our students must have the opportunity to try, to fail, and to learn from those failures as a means of intellectual growth (Brooke and Carr, 2016, pp. 63). How can we set our students up to gain confidence from failure? Which of Sommer’s commenting techniques will you implement in your classroom?

Citations

Brooke, Collin, and Carr, Allison. “Failure Can Be an Important Part of Writing Development.” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth A. Wardle, Utah State University Press, 2016, pp. 62–64.

Lamott, A. (2017, September). Anne Lamott: 13 writing tips [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking

Rose, Shirley. “All Writers Have More to Learn.” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth A. Wardle, Utah State University Press, 2016, pp. 59–61.

Sommers, Nancy. “Responding to Student Writing.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 33, no. 2, May 1982, pp. 148–156.

Yancey, Kathleen B. “Learning to Write Effectively RequiresDifferentKinds of Practice, Time, and Effort” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth A. Wardle, Utah State University Press, 2016, pp. 64–65.

3.0 WRITING ENACTS AND CREATES IDENTITIES AND IDEOLOGIES

In this week’s reading I could relate to Tony Scott attributing writing challenges to issues with community engagement. I taught proposal writing to executive directors and development professionals for several years; and I found that the writing challenges participants labored over were never tied to literacy or education. The disconnect almost always stemmed from the writer’s limited knowledge of the philanthropic community.