My personal teaching philosophy centers on the idea of creating a way to democratize a discourse community by empowering each member with the tool of language. My pedagogical beliefs rest with this critical power of composition writing that accounts for a historical shift in understanding the rhetorical elements.
Philosophy of composition is closely allied with the rhetorical elements of language act in its very conception. The rhetorical aspect of language act can be defined as comprising speaker/author; listener/reader; text; context. Theorists and scholars, however, have explicated these basic level concepts to theory level discussions. Hence, we see Richard Fulkerson’s expressive, mimetic, rhetorical and formalist applications of composition; and, James Berlin’s constructs of Classicist, Expressionist, Current Traditionalist and New Rhetoric. The philosophy is a combined voice that not only affirms that truth is not proprietary, but also that its existence is collaboratively created by the author, the audience, the language, and the reality.
I view composition as a discourse in progress enacted through writing. In composing, we deal with words that are semantically manipulative in terms of contexts: cultural, social, and political. Similarly, syntax and diction play a key role in influencing the act of composing a (written) text. So the composition for piece of historical drama would receive different varied interpretations based on the genre in which the composition is made. In view of these major epistemological constructs, the philosophy of composition can emerge as a function of one or more dominant elements of language act. For me, the starting point of shaping my own teaching philosophy is the notion of liberatory pedagogy. It aims at a collaborative approach to meaning making process. Under this notion, the teacher can serve as enabler of “socially constructed” knowledge, rather than acting as constraining force.
In closing, I would like to respond to the question of three important concepts that play key roles in my teaching—
“growth” (as an evolving nature of the act of composing); “process” (distinct from the recursive aspect, but more as a tool of inquiry into a context/subject matter); and “tone” (as creating a unique content in writing through an informed act of selecting and ordering diction and information).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am incredibly impressed with your teaching philosophy. I agree that as teachers of writing, one of our focuses should be acting as an “enabler of knowledge” rather than as a constraining and judgmental force. I also wanted to comment on your message that truth is not proprietary, because I couldn’t agree more. So much of what we’ve been reading talks about the element of truth in writing, almost as though we seek enlightenment and knowledge solely through someone else’s representation of the world as opposed to through continued collaboration.
ReplyDeleteWell articulated and well written. I think you may be a little off in your understanding of "liberatory pedagogy," so that is something to look into a bit more. Writing gives people their own sense of knowledge and confidence in their own point of view, and that is why we emphasize it so. But a "liberatory pedagogy" seeks a stronger role in encouraging power dynamics than many would find comfortable. On the other hand, as you say, confidence and skill in writing is always an empowering combination. You show good understanding of what your instructors are trying to get across so early in the course.
ReplyDelete