My teaching philosophies are grounded in Composition Pedagogy. I can't help but let my undergraduate degree in Social Work give a unique perspective to my Rhetoric and Composition teaching philosophies. Student conferencing, writing to influence communities and policies, and teaching to reach marginalized and non-traditional students all originate from Social Systems, Person-in-the-Environment, and counseling theories. I am currently studying the connections between authentic mindfulness and composition.
Composition and Student Empowerment
Stacie Weatbrook 2018
Each student is composing a story about how they belong
Each student has a unique story to tell. Stories, as we're taught, have a beginning, a middle, and an ending. As an adjunct English instructor at Salt Lake Community College, I see the middle of hundreds of amazing stories played out year after year: Students enter with little or no college experience and the hope of a better life.
Each semester when I look over the list of names for my classes, I feel a new sense of optimism for my new students. Are they a first generation college student who will teach their younger brothers and sisters by example? An ESL student who has worked his way through English 990 and terrified of what’s required for English 1010? A father wanting to increase his earnings? A student fresh out of high school and looking to transfer to the U? A refugee or immigrant determined to make a fresh start? A gamer allowed to live in her parents basement on condition she goes to school? A single mom looking for a better life for her children? A returning student who is convinced he was ‘never very good at English?’
Each student, I know, has a story and I am grateful to be part of their story. I am passionate about the mission of community colleges and the opportunity they give for students, especially students of underrepresented populations. I am committed to working with all students to help demystify academic endeavors and expectations and them feel they, too, can understand, be included, in and contribute to academic discourse.
Along with understanding the backgrounds of students, comes helping students learn the conventions of academic discourse. I teach my students to, in the words of Barthomae and Petrosky, to “refuse to be alienated” from a text. it is putting in the right kind of work to understand the conversation about an issue and then add to the conversation. When a student realizes they can lend their voice to an academic conversation, another system—another concentric circle of experience and confidence previously unavailable—opens up to them. I consider myself a practical person and I try to point out to students how concepts discussed in class will help them not only in their understanding of composition but also in academics in general and their personal lives.
The writing process begins to make social systems less rigid and less exclusive as students from all backgrounds realize they can become part of the academic discussion and even part of a learning community as they choose to advance their education and experience. One of the reasons I am passionate about teaching composition is being able to see students participate in the deep and sometimes convoluted process of composing, thinking, and writing and emerge with confidence in the process they experienced and the product they created.
Composition can turn the key to student empowerment
My studies in Composition and Rhetoric help me to be loyal to the process and product of writing, using research-based methodologies and theory. My training is specific to Composition Studies and I take my training with me to every class I teach. I feel fortunate to have been taught by several professors who gave me the foundation to be an effective composition teacher and an effective writer, especially my original thesis committee: Keith Grant-Davie, author of “Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents,” which has been republished in several composition textbooks. From his classes, and my subsequent study over the years, I’ve gained a deep understanding of rhetorical strategies. I’ve been armed with intensive instruction and feedback for teaching composition by Lynn Langer Meeks, author of Literacy in the Secondary English Classroom: Strategies for Teaching the Way Kids Learn (2002). She mentored and coached me when I was a graduate instructor. Though pancreatic cancer took her in 2006, I still take the concepts of composition instruction she instilled in my teaching theory and practice. The late Ken Brewer, Utah’s former Poet Laureate, guided me in my personal writing. It’s his voice I hear sometimes in the back of my mind when I’m revising my own writing.
In short, my graduate work outfitted me to be an effective teacher and writer.
It’s never good enough: Continuous improvement in classroom teaching and Online Plus conferencing
Like many writing instructors, I am passionate about teaching, about finding just the right active learning strategy to facilitate class discussion, about helping students critically analyze a text and make their own observations, and about creating a learning environment where every student regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, age, or background can learn.
In 2014, I joined the English 1010 Online Plus program here at SLCC. It’s a student-centered composition class offering weekly conferences with students while they do the work of the class at their own pace. I’ve been so happy working with professionals who are just as insane as I am about continuous improvement of curriculum, strategy, retention, and student needs. Online instruction has allowed me to hone skills of being a “guide on the side” rather than the “sage on the stage.”
I take every opportunity I can to build my skills and understanding of effective composition teaching. I am always looking for new skills to add to my repertoire. I participate in trainings to update my skills. The Adjunct Faculty Academy, for instance, was an amazing experience where I could focus on adding to my repertoire of teaching and learning strategies. Likewise, in my freelance content writing, I strive to be a Subject Matter Expert on SEO and content writing. Today on the internet, information is the new swag, and I help businesses use content to show their expertise in their fields. I use my real world experience to give my students real examples of composition and rhetoric in action.
I also set goals for my teaching. This semester, one of my goals to provide more positive feedback about learning behaviors students engage in. For example, when a student emails me about a question, I comment on how pleased I am that they are so conscientious about the course, or when a student admits they don’t understand a concept, I say I’m thrilled they said that, because that’s how learning happens. I want to reinforce learning behaviors that will benefit the students throughout their college careers and lives.
Teaching as Social Work?
Serving underrepresented populations in the classroom
My experience in social work, business, and as an SLCC English Adjunct Instructor has uniquely prepared me to help work with underrepresented populations. As a social worker, I understand how to help underserved populations access community resources. In business capacities, I’ve proven successful in networking and motivation. As an adjunct instructor here at SLCC, I understand students’ perspective and help them see their potential. I’ve worked with thousands of students to help them see success in accomplishing difficult tasks.
Much of my way of seeing situations comes from a social work perspective of social systems theory. Understanding that each student is involved in their own set of systems leads me to use a variety of strategies to reach different learning strategies and comfort levels. In-class freewrites allow students to write to an audience of only themselves while seeing how the writing process can begin. “Pair share” allows students to talk out an assignment or concept without feeling the spotlight is on them. Small group discussions, activities, and assignments allow students to work together in a group setting while still being expected to participate because the group is so small people notice if they don't talk.These practices are especially important for students who don’t speak English as their first language. In pairs or small groups they can practice their English better. In the Online Plus lab, weekly conferences are especially helpful for students to work at their own pace on questions specific to their learning.
I’ve always had an ulterior motive in teaching college Composition: to empower students. I am passionate about teaching at the community college level because I know this is the place where people get a chance to feel like they are on the inside of education and the track to a better life. I am passionate about helping disenfranchised populations gain access to resources to help them become engaged, included, and able to meet their needs. I know that last sentence might sound like a canned line from the college’s action plan, but it’s a mantra to me. Despite my in-depth focus on composition studies, I can’t abandon the social worker values.
When my husband was working on his BA at Utah State, I was a case manager in community mental health. I decided to go back to get my MA. However, at the time, USU didn’t have a MSW program and online classes--let alone degrees--were a few years away. So I chose what I thought was the next best degree: English Composition studies. Being able to read, write, speak, and listen effectively creates a powerful ability to effect change. I reasoned that being able to teach people to be good communicators was the most powerful social work I could think of. And almost 20 years later, I know I was right.
Stacie Weatbrook 2018
Each student is composing a story about how they belong
Each student has a unique story to tell. Stories, as we're taught, have a beginning, a middle, and an ending. As an adjunct English instructor at Salt Lake Community College, I see the middle of hundreds of amazing stories played out year after year: Students enter with little or no college experience and the hope of a better life.
Each semester when I look over the list of names for my classes, I feel a new sense of optimism for my new students. Are they a first generation college student who will teach their younger brothers and sisters by example? An ESL student who has worked his way through English 990 and terrified of what’s required for English 1010? A father wanting to increase his earnings? A student fresh out of high school and looking to transfer to the U? A refugee or immigrant determined to make a fresh start? A gamer allowed to live in her parents basement on condition she goes to school? A single mom looking for a better life for her children? A returning student who is convinced he was ‘never very good at English?’
Each student, I know, has a story and I am grateful to be part of their story. I am passionate about the mission of community colleges and the opportunity they give for students, especially students of underrepresented populations. I am committed to working with all students to help demystify academic endeavors and expectations and them feel they, too, can understand, be included, in and contribute to academic discourse.
Along with understanding the backgrounds of students, comes helping students learn the conventions of academic discourse. I teach my students to, in the words of Barthomae and Petrosky, to “refuse to be alienated” from a text. it is putting in the right kind of work to understand the conversation about an issue and then add to the conversation. When a student realizes they can lend their voice to an academic conversation, another system—another concentric circle of experience and confidence previously unavailable—opens up to them. I consider myself a practical person and I try to point out to students how concepts discussed in class will help them not only in their understanding of composition but also in academics in general and their personal lives.
The writing process begins to make social systems less rigid and less exclusive as students from all backgrounds realize they can become part of the academic discussion and even part of a learning community as they choose to advance their education and experience. One of the reasons I am passionate about teaching composition is being able to see students participate in the deep and sometimes convoluted process of composing, thinking, and writing and emerge with confidence in the process they experienced and the product they created.
Composition can turn the key to student empowerment
My studies in Composition and Rhetoric help me to be loyal to the process and product of writing, using research-based methodologies and theory. My training is specific to Composition Studies and I take my training with me to every class I teach. I feel fortunate to have been taught by several professors who gave me the foundation to be an effective composition teacher and an effective writer, especially my original thesis committee: Keith Grant-Davie, author of “Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents,” which has been republished in several composition textbooks. From his classes, and my subsequent study over the years, I’ve gained a deep understanding of rhetorical strategies. I’ve been armed with intensive instruction and feedback for teaching composition by Lynn Langer Meeks, author of Literacy in the Secondary English Classroom: Strategies for Teaching the Way Kids Learn (2002). She mentored and coached me when I was a graduate instructor. Though pancreatic cancer took her in 2006, I still take the concepts of composition instruction she instilled in my teaching theory and practice. The late Ken Brewer, Utah’s former Poet Laureate, guided me in my personal writing. It’s his voice I hear sometimes in the back of my mind when I’m revising my own writing.
In short, my graduate work outfitted me to be an effective teacher and writer.
It’s never good enough: Continuous improvement in classroom teaching and Online Plus conferencing
Like many writing instructors, I am passionate about teaching, about finding just the right active learning strategy to facilitate class discussion, about helping students critically analyze a text and make their own observations, and about creating a learning environment where every student regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, age, or background can learn.
In 2014, I joined the English 1010 Online Plus program here at SLCC. It’s a student-centered composition class offering weekly conferences with students while they do the work of the class at their own pace. I’ve been so happy working with professionals who are just as insane as I am about continuous improvement of curriculum, strategy, retention, and student needs. Online instruction has allowed me to hone skills of being a “guide on the side” rather than the “sage on the stage.”
I take every opportunity I can to build my skills and understanding of effective composition teaching. I am always looking for new skills to add to my repertoire. I participate in trainings to update my skills. The Adjunct Faculty Academy, for instance, was an amazing experience where I could focus on adding to my repertoire of teaching and learning strategies. Likewise, in my freelance content writing, I strive to be a Subject Matter Expert on SEO and content writing. Today on the internet, information is the new swag, and I help businesses use content to show their expertise in their fields. I use my real world experience to give my students real examples of composition and rhetoric in action.
I also set goals for my teaching. This semester, one of my goals to provide more positive feedback about learning behaviors students engage in. For example, when a student emails me about a question, I comment on how pleased I am that they are so conscientious about the course, or when a student admits they don’t understand a concept, I say I’m thrilled they said that, because that’s how learning happens. I want to reinforce learning behaviors that will benefit the students throughout their college careers and lives.
Teaching as Social Work?
Serving underrepresented populations in the classroom
My experience in social work, business, and as an SLCC English Adjunct Instructor has uniquely prepared me to help work with underrepresented populations. As a social worker, I understand how to help underserved populations access community resources. In business capacities, I’ve proven successful in networking and motivation. As an adjunct instructor here at SLCC, I understand students’ perspective and help them see their potential. I’ve worked with thousands of students to help them see success in accomplishing difficult tasks.
Much of my way of seeing situations comes from a social work perspective of social systems theory. Understanding that each student is involved in their own set of systems leads me to use a variety of strategies to reach different learning strategies and comfort levels. In-class freewrites allow students to write to an audience of only themselves while seeing how the writing process can begin. “Pair share” allows students to talk out an assignment or concept without feeling the spotlight is on them. Small group discussions, activities, and assignments allow students to work together in a group setting while still being expected to participate because the group is so small people notice if they don't talk.These practices are especially important for students who don’t speak English as their first language. In pairs or small groups they can practice their English better. In the Online Plus lab, weekly conferences are especially helpful for students to work at their own pace on questions specific to their learning.
I’ve always had an ulterior motive in teaching college Composition: to empower students. I am passionate about teaching at the community college level because I know this is the place where people get a chance to feel like they are on the inside of education and the track to a better life. I am passionate about helping disenfranchised populations gain access to resources to help them become engaged, included, and able to meet their needs. I know that last sentence might sound like a canned line from the college’s action plan, but it’s a mantra to me. Despite my in-depth focus on composition studies, I can’t abandon the social worker values.
When my husband was working on his BA at Utah State, I was a case manager in community mental health. I decided to go back to get my MA. However, at the time, USU didn’t have a MSW program and online classes--let alone degrees--were a few years away. So I chose what I thought was the next best degree: English Composition studies. Being able to read, write, speak, and listen effectively creates a powerful ability to effect change. I reasoned that being able to teach people to be good communicators was the most powerful social work I could think of. And almost 20 years later, I know I was right.
Teaching Philosophy Statement:
Composition Instruction and Social Systems Theory
Stacie Draper Weatbrook 2014
Like many writing instructors, I am passionate about teaching, about finding just the right active learning strategy to facilitate class discussion, about helping students critically analyze a text and make their own observations, and about creating a learning environment where every student regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, age, or background can learn. I am different, however, from most English Instructors in that I have a BA and practical experience in Social Work. Because I recognized the principles of Social Work relate to principles of composition instruction and education, I chose to pursue an MA in English Rhetoric and Composition.
Social Systems Theory and the Student
A guiding principle in the field of Social Work is Social Systems Theory which aims to understand the “person-in-the-environment.” Every person exists in several social systems. I think of those systems as concentric circles around the individual: nuclear family, ethnicity, gender, religion, friends and peers, neighborhood, schools, community, education and training, employment and workplace, state or province, nationality, etc. I also see social systems to be cultural phenomena in which a person is involved such as being a follower of a certain movie, band, or even sports team.
A change in one of these systems, states Social Systems Theory, will bring about changes in other systems unless the other systems can help the individual achieve homeostasis. When understanding how the systems relate, social workers understand the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For example, a student may have a difficult time in school but is able to stay in school due to a supportive family system. Or, a student's home life may be dysfunctional but the goal to achieve education provides an anchor of stability. Systems Theory seeks to help social workers understand the person-in-the-environment and how to achieve homeostasis.
The understanding of Systems Theory is applicable to teaching Rhetoric and Composition in several ways. First, Social Systems Theory helps give understanding to not only students in their several unique circumstances but also to every attempted act of communication. Each student is a person-in-the-environment surrounded their varied concentric circles of beliefs, values, and agendas—all influenced either consciously or unconsciously by the various levels of the systems in which they find themselves or systems to which they chose to belong. Every time a person interacts with another, or a person interacts with a text, these concentric circles can form a barrier of understanding between people.
Each time an instructor gives an assignment and every time a student tries to interpret that assignment and turn it in, a rhetorical exchange both spoken and unspoken is happening. An understanding of the influence of a student's social systems upon their life allows for a better understanding of how to plan courses and interact with students and allows instructors to strive to understand the student's situation as a person-in-the-environment. Mike Rose understands the assumptions made between academic and vocational systems. In his 2009 American Scholar article “Blue Collar Brilliance,” Rose observes, “...we employ social biases pertaining to a person's place on the occupation ladder. The distinctions among blue, pink, and white collars carry with them attributions of character, motivation, and intelligence.” Charles Murray also reflects concern about how the perceived importance of social systems can effectively shut out individuals. Murray writes in and article which appeared in The American in 2008 of “the increasingly worrisome role of the BA as a source of class division.”
One of the reasons I love teaching on the community college level is being able to work with the diverse student population Salt Lake Community College serves. I embrace the mission of community colleges to give a variety of educational options for both traditional and non-traditional students.
The traditional college experience is sometimes entrenched in traditional assumptions about intelligence and achievement. As an example of looking at a topic from various angles to be able to unpack the values and assumptions behind the issue, I like to assign students to read selections from Mike Rose and Charles Murray. Both Rose and Murray identify and value social systems of learning outside of traditional academia. Being able to show discuss the value of differing social systems in which students themselves are involved is often liberating for students because they are able to reflect upon their own position within these social systems.
Refusal to be Alienated.
Along with understanding the backgrounds of students, comes helping students learn the conventions of academic discourse. While a 12-week composition course isn't exactly therapy, it can be empowering.
Academic reading and writing is intimidating at first. I teach my students to, in the words of Barthomae and Petrosky, “refuse to be alienated” from a text. The current text I use, They Say, I Say, fits my teaching philosophy in that it helps students see there is no mystery to understanding and then creating academic text. Rather, it is putting in the right kind of work to understand the conversation about an issue and then add to the conversation. When a student realizes they can lend their voice to an academic conversation, another system—another concentric circle previously unavailable—opens up to them. At this point an exciting event happens: the writing process begins to make social systems less rigid and less exclusive as students realize they can become part of the academic discussion and even part of a learning community as they choose to advance their education and experience. One of the reasons I am passionate about teaching composition is being able to see students participate in the deep and sometimes convoluted process of composing, thinking, and writing and emerge with confidence in the process they experienced and the product they created.
Rhetorical Situation
Another way Systems Theory is helpful is it gives insight into the concept of rhetorical situation. When two sets of concentric systems collide as they do whenever two people attempt to exchange ideas, it can become a messy process to try to unpack the systems behind each side. Social Systems Theory is useful in that it allows for a schema to analyze the rhetorical situation of rhetor, audience, exigence, and constraints and allows for the identification and discussion of the assumptions.
Rhetoricians can relate to social systems in terms of discourse communities. While there may be more overlap between discourse communities than between particular social systems, the idea of various situations with a set of norms and expectations or outcomes is similar. An understanding of the language of a particular community, for example, an academic community, a peer group, a business association, or an online community, helps solidify the idea of audience as well as constraints. As students understand the rhetorical situations of communicating within different discourse communities, they are also introduced to the concept that they can become empowered to interact within a system where they may have previously thought they had no voice.
Using Systems Theory to Construct Classroom Interaction
Social Systems Theory can inform the practice of composition instruction is through balancing class time to assist varied learning styles. Understanding that each student is involved in their own set of systems leads me to use a variety of teaching strategies to reach different learning strategies and comfort levels. In-class freewrites allow students to write to an audience of only themselves while seeing how the writing process can begin. “Pair share” allows students to talk out an assignment or concept without feeling the spotlight is on them. Small group discussions, activities, and assignments allow students to work together in a group setting while still being expected to participate because the group is so small people notice if they don't talk. Class discussions allow the class to share ideas with each other. Several credit/no credit assignments allow students to practice writing without fear of being judged. Individual meetings I hold each semester with every student give students a chance to discuss goals and individual papers. Assignments graded according to a rubric give students feedback of their progress according to the English Department and Salt Lake Community College's outcomes and goals. Written reflections throughout the semester let me evaluate a student's self-described learning free of a rubric but creating a rhetorical situation where students aim to show me—and themselves—what they have learned. Using technology in composition such as infographic and website design programs and Canvas allows student to become a producer rather than consumer in the system with which many students are familiar: the internet.
Teaching Composition and the Art of Behavior Modification
While not a specific aspect of Systems Theory, principles of behavior modification are skills I used in Social Work which have translated into my practice of teaching. The late Ken Brewer, Utah's former Poet Laureate and my graduate school advisor, told me once that all teaching really is behavior modification. It was that moment when my education and experience as a social worker connected with teaching rhetoric and composition.
I have built my syllabus—especially English 1010—upon the behavior modification concept of chaining. For the first several weeks of the semester, one feature of good summary writing is introduced and students are given a credit/no credit assignment to practice the accumulating summary tips. After a few weeks, most students have gained competence in summary writing and we add the critical thinking elements of analysis, synthesis, evaluating, and responding as we write a formal summary/response essay. Finally we put everything together in an academic synthesis research paper where both summary and original analysis mix.
A well-written summary is at the heart of the writing process because it involves understanding a writing and its situation before being able to write it down. I believe a well-written summary is basis for critical thinking and writing. And even more basic, the summary is the core of effective writing and communication. Having my 1010 students focus on summary writing the first weeks of the semester has its roots in traditional Rogerian therapy, the influence behind Rogerian Argument. Summary writing involves the need to read, understand, and then repeat back. Understanding the various sides of an issue is essential to articulating an opinion and argument about the issue.
Application, Exigence, and Reflection
Some social systems can't change. You can't change what home you grew up in, your race or ethnicity, or the schools you went to as a child. But you can widen your circles and add to your systems. It is exciting to help students understand the concepts of purpose, audience, and genre, as well as rhetorical situations' constituents. Rhetorical knowledge and an understanding of the composing process empowers students to expand their circles and join conversations. I see reflection as the process of being able to have a glimpse of how what we do in class connects to the students' experience. In many instances, my students' reflection essays show the emergence of a entrance into the social system of academic writing.
Reflection is the key to learning. I tell my students the purpose of each assignment, and that in the end, they choose what they will take away from my class and their college experience. My task as their guide is to help them recognize the value as they learn and practice and to help them collect knowledge and skills that they can call their own.
It is exciting for me to see students' understanding of writing unfold from an attitude of “I'm just not a good writer” or “English isn't my subject” to the realization that “I can make specific choices and moves in my writing to be effective.” Demystifying writing is gratifying to me because it allows to students to realize they have the power to speak their minds and make an influence through their writing.
Composition is a tool for learning, knowing, and gaining greater understanding. It is a field of study and a process unto itself. At the same time, it is impossible to separate composition and rhetoric with other classes and all other facets of life. The concept of understanding purpose, audience, and genre and applying them to the situations in which we find ourselves seems so simple, yet it is the key to effective communication and allows for volumes of study. As a freelance content strategist and marketing writer, I find many business owners' copy can be changed to great effect. Being able to apply knowledge and make connections is the mark of a successful education.
In helping students to find real world applications, I have English 2010 students experiment with purpose, audience, and genre as they create their own websites. As students see applications for composition in other subjects and systems of their lives, the exigence for improving their writing increases.
My purpose in teaching rhetoric and composition is to help students feel confident in making rhetorical decisions as they write. As they do so, they gain the tools to open other systems to them. Their education forms a system of empowering them to better understand, relate to, and even change their world.
Composition Instruction and Social Systems Theory
Stacie Draper Weatbrook 2014
Like many writing instructors, I am passionate about teaching, about finding just the right active learning strategy to facilitate class discussion, about helping students critically analyze a text and make their own observations, and about creating a learning environment where every student regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, age, or background can learn. I am different, however, from most English Instructors in that I have a BA and practical experience in Social Work. Because I recognized the principles of Social Work relate to principles of composition instruction and education, I chose to pursue an MA in English Rhetoric and Composition.
Social Systems Theory and the Student
A guiding principle in the field of Social Work is Social Systems Theory which aims to understand the “person-in-the-environment.” Every person exists in several social systems. I think of those systems as concentric circles around the individual: nuclear family, ethnicity, gender, religion, friends and peers, neighborhood, schools, community, education and training, employment and workplace, state or province, nationality, etc. I also see social systems to be cultural phenomena in which a person is involved such as being a follower of a certain movie, band, or even sports team.
A change in one of these systems, states Social Systems Theory, will bring about changes in other systems unless the other systems can help the individual achieve homeostasis. When understanding how the systems relate, social workers understand the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For example, a student may have a difficult time in school but is able to stay in school due to a supportive family system. Or, a student's home life may be dysfunctional but the goal to achieve education provides an anchor of stability. Systems Theory seeks to help social workers understand the person-in-the-environment and how to achieve homeostasis.
The understanding of Systems Theory is applicable to teaching Rhetoric and Composition in several ways. First, Social Systems Theory helps give understanding to not only students in their several unique circumstances but also to every attempted act of communication. Each student is a person-in-the-environment surrounded their varied concentric circles of beliefs, values, and agendas—all influenced either consciously or unconsciously by the various levels of the systems in which they find themselves or systems to which they chose to belong. Every time a person interacts with another, or a person interacts with a text, these concentric circles can form a barrier of understanding between people.
Each time an instructor gives an assignment and every time a student tries to interpret that assignment and turn it in, a rhetorical exchange both spoken and unspoken is happening. An understanding of the influence of a student's social systems upon their life allows for a better understanding of how to plan courses and interact with students and allows instructors to strive to understand the student's situation as a person-in-the-environment. Mike Rose understands the assumptions made between academic and vocational systems. In his 2009 American Scholar article “Blue Collar Brilliance,” Rose observes, “...we employ social biases pertaining to a person's place on the occupation ladder. The distinctions among blue, pink, and white collars carry with them attributions of character, motivation, and intelligence.” Charles Murray also reflects concern about how the perceived importance of social systems can effectively shut out individuals. Murray writes in and article which appeared in The American in 2008 of “the increasingly worrisome role of the BA as a source of class division.”
One of the reasons I love teaching on the community college level is being able to work with the diverse student population Salt Lake Community College serves. I embrace the mission of community colleges to give a variety of educational options for both traditional and non-traditional students.
The traditional college experience is sometimes entrenched in traditional assumptions about intelligence and achievement. As an example of looking at a topic from various angles to be able to unpack the values and assumptions behind the issue, I like to assign students to read selections from Mike Rose and Charles Murray. Both Rose and Murray identify and value social systems of learning outside of traditional academia. Being able to show discuss the value of differing social systems in which students themselves are involved is often liberating for students because they are able to reflect upon their own position within these social systems.
Refusal to be Alienated.
Along with understanding the backgrounds of students, comes helping students learn the conventions of academic discourse. While a 12-week composition course isn't exactly therapy, it can be empowering.
Academic reading and writing is intimidating at first. I teach my students to, in the words of Barthomae and Petrosky, “refuse to be alienated” from a text. The current text I use, They Say, I Say, fits my teaching philosophy in that it helps students see there is no mystery to understanding and then creating academic text. Rather, it is putting in the right kind of work to understand the conversation about an issue and then add to the conversation. When a student realizes they can lend their voice to an academic conversation, another system—another concentric circle previously unavailable—opens up to them. At this point an exciting event happens: the writing process begins to make social systems less rigid and less exclusive as students realize they can become part of the academic discussion and even part of a learning community as they choose to advance their education and experience. One of the reasons I am passionate about teaching composition is being able to see students participate in the deep and sometimes convoluted process of composing, thinking, and writing and emerge with confidence in the process they experienced and the product they created.
Rhetorical Situation
Another way Systems Theory is helpful is it gives insight into the concept of rhetorical situation. When two sets of concentric systems collide as they do whenever two people attempt to exchange ideas, it can become a messy process to try to unpack the systems behind each side. Social Systems Theory is useful in that it allows for a schema to analyze the rhetorical situation of rhetor, audience, exigence, and constraints and allows for the identification and discussion of the assumptions.
Rhetoricians can relate to social systems in terms of discourse communities. While there may be more overlap between discourse communities than between particular social systems, the idea of various situations with a set of norms and expectations or outcomes is similar. An understanding of the language of a particular community, for example, an academic community, a peer group, a business association, or an online community, helps solidify the idea of audience as well as constraints. As students understand the rhetorical situations of communicating within different discourse communities, they are also introduced to the concept that they can become empowered to interact within a system where they may have previously thought they had no voice.
Using Systems Theory to Construct Classroom Interaction
Social Systems Theory can inform the practice of composition instruction is through balancing class time to assist varied learning styles. Understanding that each student is involved in their own set of systems leads me to use a variety of teaching strategies to reach different learning strategies and comfort levels. In-class freewrites allow students to write to an audience of only themselves while seeing how the writing process can begin. “Pair share” allows students to talk out an assignment or concept without feeling the spotlight is on them. Small group discussions, activities, and assignments allow students to work together in a group setting while still being expected to participate because the group is so small people notice if they don't talk. Class discussions allow the class to share ideas with each other. Several credit/no credit assignments allow students to practice writing without fear of being judged. Individual meetings I hold each semester with every student give students a chance to discuss goals and individual papers. Assignments graded according to a rubric give students feedback of their progress according to the English Department and Salt Lake Community College's outcomes and goals. Written reflections throughout the semester let me evaluate a student's self-described learning free of a rubric but creating a rhetorical situation where students aim to show me—and themselves—what they have learned. Using technology in composition such as infographic and website design programs and Canvas allows student to become a producer rather than consumer in the system with which many students are familiar: the internet.
Teaching Composition and the Art of Behavior Modification
While not a specific aspect of Systems Theory, principles of behavior modification are skills I used in Social Work which have translated into my practice of teaching. The late Ken Brewer, Utah's former Poet Laureate and my graduate school advisor, told me once that all teaching really is behavior modification. It was that moment when my education and experience as a social worker connected with teaching rhetoric and composition.
I have built my syllabus—especially English 1010—upon the behavior modification concept of chaining. For the first several weeks of the semester, one feature of good summary writing is introduced and students are given a credit/no credit assignment to practice the accumulating summary tips. After a few weeks, most students have gained competence in summary writing and we add the critical thinking elements of analysis, synthesis, evaluating, and responding as we write a formal summary/response essay. Finally we put everything together in an academic synthesis research paper where both summary and original analysis mix.
A well-written summary is at the heart of the writing process because it involves understanding a writing and its situation before being able to write it down. I believe a well-written summary is basis for critical thinking and writing. And even more basic, the summary is the core of effective writing and communication. Having my 1010 students focus on summary writing the first weeks of the semester has its roots in traditional Rogerian therapy, the influence behind Rogerian Argument. Summary writing involves the need to read, understand, and then repeat back. Understanding the various sides of an issue is essential to articulating an opinion and argument about the issue.
Application, Exigence, and Reflection
Some social systems can't change. You can't change what home you grew up in, your race or ethnicity, or the schools you went to as a child. But you can widen your circles and add to your systems. It is exciting to help students understand the concepts of purpose, audience, and genre, as well as rhetorical situations' constituents. Rhetorical knowledge and an understanding of the composing process empowers students to expand their circles and join conversations. I see reflection as the process of being able to have a glimpse of how what we do in class connects to the students' experience. In many instances, my students' reflection essays show the emergence of a entrance into the social system of academic writing.
Reflection is the key to learning. I tell my students the purpose of each assignment, and that in the end, they choose what they will take away from my class and their college experience. My task as their guide is to help them recognize the value as they learn and practice and to help them collect knowledge and skills that they can call their own.
It is exciting for me to see students' understanding of writing unfold from an attitude of “I'm just not a good writer” or “English isn't my subject” to the realization that “I can make specific choices and moves in my writing to be effective.” Demystifying writing is gratifying to me because it allows to students to realize they have the power to speak their minds and make an influence through their writing.
Composition is a tool for learning, knowing, and gaining greater understanding. It is a field of study and a process unto itself. At the same time, it is impossible to separate composition and rhetoric with other classes and all other facets of life. The concept of understanding purpose, audience, and genre and applying them to the situations in which we find ourselves seems so simple, yet it is the key to effective communication and allows for volumes of study. As a freelance content strategist and marketing writer, I find many business owners' copy can be changed to great effect. Being able to apply knowledge and make connections is the mark of a successful education.
In helping students to find real world applications, I have English 2010 students experiment with purpose, audience, and genre as they create their own websites. As students see applications for composition in other subjects and systems of their lives, the exigence for improving their writing increases.
My purpose in teaching rhetoric and composition is to help students feel confident in making rhetorical decisions as they write. As they do so, they gain the tools to open other systems to them. Their education forms a system of empowering them to better understand, relate to, and even change their world.