First-Year Composition Instructor

I discovered my love for teaching as an academic librarian. One of my duties was to coordinate with instructors to deliver one-off courses on information literacy, use of research tools, and general library-use information as required by each instructor’s instructional needs.

I have now completed the required coursework for the Graduate Certificate in Online Writing Instruction as part of the Professional and Technical Writing Master of Arts program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. This certificate program focuses on the unique needs of teaching writing skills in a purely online environment including accessibility issues.

As the capstone of this certificate program, I taught two Composition I courses during the Fall 2022 semester and a Composition II course during the Spring 2023 semester. Though my focus has been on teaching online, I taught these courses in-person. I loved the experience and hope to always be able to teach a course or two each semester.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe my job as a teacher is to be a guide for my students on their journey to becoming the people they want to be. As a composition instructor, I believe the best way to serve this purpose is to help students see themselves as writers. To accomplish this, I want to show students that they belong in my classroom; I want them to see that they are part of a larger community of writers; and I want them to understand the power their writing possesses to affect change in their larger communities. 

You Belong Here 

My approach to helping students see that they are already writers is most firmly grounded in feminist pedagogy epecially as approached by the theorist bell hooks. I want each of my students to see that they have been a writer their entire life and they do not need to change or hide who they are to be a “good” writer. I want them to see that their concept of “good” writing is likely based on arbitrary rhetorical choices made long ago by a group of people who could not fit comfortably in today’s world. Times have changed, the world has changed, people have changed, and “good” writing should change too. I want my students to see that they can be who they are and represent their view of the world without having to mutilate and distort their voices to fit into a box that was built to serve a completely different worldview from a completely different time period. At the same time, I want to give them the tools to be able to shift their writing in order to fit into that box when required because, realistically, there will be times they have to mask themselves to fit into the required context. 

We Are Here for You 

Writing is generally seen as a solitary activity. I want my students to learn that good writing is accomplished only through collaboration. Writing is communication which requires at least a writer and a reader. I want students to understand and feel comfortable with the idea that they are part of a larger writing community and that we are all in this together. They should learn to trust their fellow writers and to listen to their perspectives and to think critically about how those perspectives can be used to write more completely, effectively, and inclusively. 

You Can Change the World 

The written word is powerful. It can and should be used to change the world. However, writing students must learn how to use this power ethically. Informational, ethical, and social literacies are essential to first-year writing courses. Writing instructors have a unique and difficult responsibility to incorporate these literacies into their practice because not all students will take a philosophy course, but all students will take a writing course. 

Bringing It All Together 

Though I rely on feminist pedagogy to color my class, I frame everything within a pedagogy of process. My view on process is most strongly influenced by the work of Peter Elbow. Students are usually taught to focus on the product in their early education careers. I believe this instills a fear and dislike of writing in students because no writer is ever happy with their final product. Being judged solely on a single product with little or no consideration given to the process behind it and no opportunity for revision instills a lack of confidence in one’s writing ability. I believe that composition instructors need to un-teach students by focusing on the iterative process. Students need to learn instead that good writing is never created in one session, that asking for help is not cheating, and that all writers have to revise. Through the iterative process, students can become more comfortable trying new ideas and using their authentic voices without the fear that they will fail the course. I believe that through a focus on process, students can learn to relax and feel more confident in their writing abilities and to truly connect with language and their own power to communicate. 

In spite of the daunting responsibility inherent in the profession, I believe being a writing teacher is a privilege.  We have a unique opportunity to get to know our students in a way that most instructors will never experience because writing is such a uniquely personal act.  The foundations we help to form through our work will follow our students into every classroom they enter, every job they choose to pursue.  It is not our job to tell them what to believe, only to give them the tools and voice to share their own beliefs with their chosen communities.  I happily accept the responsibility of being a writing teacher in hopes that I can help guide my students into the lives they want to lead. 

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