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last.updated 2.13.13

Modern Literacy Education

Purpose

Just as there are many theories about what literacy is, there are, understandably many theories as of how to teach literacy. Of course, literacy education is context dependent. Today we will examine the teaching of reading and writing in different contexts and discuss their applicability to the teaching we will do/ will be doing in English Studies.

Tool Review Presentations

Beth and Matthew will present on their pedagogical tools.

Lecture – Graduate Writing as the Burkean Parlor

The instructor will present Graduate Writing as the Burkean Parlor to explain the expectations for your writing throughout the course (and your graduate career).

Discussion – Literacy Education in Context (like English Studies)

This week we read how literacy is addressed in different contexts related–in various degrees–to the academy. We will discuss the following:

• What questions, comments, or concerns do you have about this selection?
• What are the author's respective arguments? What are they pushing against?
• What is Gee's definition of literacy? How do you think Dewey would respond to it? Wysocki and Johnson-Eilola? What does his approach to literacy buy those of us teaching in English Studies? How does it limit our work?
• According to Bartholomae, what does it mean to "invent the university"? In addition to "inventing the university," how do we specifically help students to "invent English Studies"?
• As English Studies instructors, how can we use lower-division English Studies requirements, like the composition course or the literature survey, to help prepare students like Eliza for the future literacy practices of their majors? Conversely, what can we learn from Haas' study that can shape the ways we design upper-division English Studies courses?
• How does the practice that McBride describes speak to the arguments that that the other authors we have read this week, as well as Dewey and Olson?