This week, we’re building on some topics we’ve discussed a bit throughout this quarter, namely considering the role of writing centers in relation to issues of social justice and anti-racist activism. As you should all be thinking about and working on your research papers (especially the annotated bibliographies and lit reviews), I thought it would be helpful to frame this discussion in terms of the kinds of research that has been done about writing centers and racial justice.
The only reading this week is a type of literature review and annotated bibliography (similar to the ones you’ll be completing soon). In other words, this is going to be an extremely helpful resource for everyone – not only in terms of the content, but also the genre and approach itself, as it is doing exactly what you should be doing for your research paper: looking at an area of research/discipline (racial justice) and drawing connections to writing center scholarship.
With all of this in mind, I have limited the material for the week to the International Writing Centers Association’s “Readings for Social Justice” and a short video offering perspectives from tutors in writing centers about the same topic. I really encourage you to go in depth with this in your groups – both in terms of how it approaches the annotated bibliography and literature review, but also in terms of the content. In other words, do a deep dive into these two materials for the week.
Here are the tasks for this first week group discussion (follow the links for a more detailed explanation):
- Talk about the material
- Complete the Questions Activity
- Discuss Annotated Bibliography Progress
- Check in on any Additional Work Options Progress
1. Talk about the material (readings & videos)
So, as I mention above, in addition to the short video I provided, there is only one (“required”) reading this week, and I really want you to take your time with it. Your annotated bibliography and literature review are due relatively soon (Monday, November 17th), so this should also give you a good sense of how you can approach it. The only difference is that your literature review will be shorter and your annotations should be a bit longer than those provided here (about twice as long), as you’ll also be explaining how each source connects and contributes to your overall conversation.
With all of this in mind, in your groups, you should spend some significant time talking about both the content of the paper, as well as how everything in the paper is structured, discussed, complicated, and approached in general. Additionally, spend some time talking about the perspectives offered in the video. For those who may have read any of the optional readings, you can also explore those in the conversation to follow.
Possible Topics for Reading Discussion
- Content:
- What stands out to you about the way that racial justice is discussed in writing center scholarship? Why?
- How do you think the stories offered in the video align with the concepts discussed in the research?
- Do you see any areas that could use further attention with regard to social justice and writing center work? What? Why/how?
- Does anything strike you as potentially (or explicitly) problematic in the readings and/or literature review? What? How?
- How do you see these issues reflected in larger systems of education and institutional approaches?
- How do you see the connections between racial justice and writing center work being made? Are they effective?
- Approach/structure:
- What work does the literature review (the beginning 10 pages) accomplish? How does it set up the resources and annotations that follow? What questions did you have? How does it incorporate sources?
- How do the annotations work? What is included? How are the articles introduced and summarized? How might you use this as you craft your own annotated bibliography and/or literature review?
2. Complete the Questions Activity
For this activity, read through the paragraph below (an introduction paragraph of a draft, written in response to the prompt included at the bottom), and talk about it. Ultimately, as a group, you should identify an area or areas for revision/improvement and come up with/write down three questions (or series of questions) that you could use to guide the student in the process of revision.
Once you have your group’s questions written, go ahead and copy/paste them here.
Introduction Paragraph:
Technology has been rapidly advancing and in order to be up to date one must adapt to these new tools. The students I will be having for the majority of my career will have grown up in an era where they are exposed to technology. These students will be growing up in a world where technology is prevalent and it is everywhere. They will not have known a world without technology. That being said these students will still need proper instruction on how to use the technology available to them in an educational way. As a future teacher, I want to be able to include the technology the kids are used to as well as push them past their comfort zones. I know students my age are familiar with social media websites and some even blog. Forecasting that into the future, I’m sure even more students will be familiar with those types of sites. I want to properly incorporate the technology they are already used to into my lessons and assessments.
Prompt:
| For this assignment, you will write a digital teaching philosophy that details your core beliefs and practices about the role of new media in the classroom.A Typical Teaching Philosophy typically achieves the following:Clearly outlines the core philosophical beliefs that inform your teaching.Gives concrete examples of how your philosophy guides your teaching practice (e.g. activities, assignments, ways of interacting with students)Offers a sense of what makes you unique as a teacher (while also demonstrating your familiarity with recognized practices of pedagogy).At least one single-spaced page (and no more than two)A digital teaching philosophy, for the purposes of this class, does all of this with regard to how you envision new media being incorporated into the space of the classroom. |
3. Discuss Annotated Bibliography and Lit Review Progress
Again, I also want to make some space for you group to discuss the Annotated Bibliography and Literature Reviews again this week. Use this space to make sure everyone is feeling on track and good about the process. Share what you have so far, ask questions, help one another, and as always, email me any questions that still remain for your group (if any questions do, in fact, still remain).
4. Check-in on any Additional Work Options Progress
Given that Week 8 will be bring with it a lot of due dates, I also want to make sure everyone is feeling okay about the progress of any additional work options they are planning on doing. The Annotated Bib. & Lit Review is due at the beginning of Week 8. The CLAS tutorial & reflection, the CLAS Writing Tutor Interview & Reflection, and the Consultation #3 are all due at the end of Week 8. Remember, you need to complete 3 of the 5 Additional Work Options in order to earn a grade higher than a B+ in the course.
Talk about progress, concerns, and questions with one another… and, as always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns you might have.