WRIT5531

This course explores the nexus of theory and practice in terms of writing instruction and of technical writing and communication to help students identify their pedagogical positions and concrete practices. Designed as a collaborative, exploratory space for a community of teacher-scholars, it approaches the teaching of writing as a process that is both practiced and studied, is aided by reflection with others, and requires ongoing revision. Course texts address the scholarship of Composition, Rhetoric, and Technical Writing. Students put these texts in dialog, including with the “texts” of their classrooms, to examine and reflect on their teaching practices.

The course centers acts of engagement and reflection and emphasizes pedagogical inquiry. Students learn to: place a range of theories on writing instruction in conversation with their teaching; reflect on classroom practices and pedagogical theories; articulate individual philosophies of teaching; explore pedagogical issues of personal interest; foster pedagogical “habits of mind” that serve students in classrooms at the UMN and beyond; and contribute to an active, supportive, and collaborative teaching community.

prereq: Grad student

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