Contemporary Issues in English Language Arts

In this course, we examine contemporary discourse and practice around writing instruction in the secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. School-based composition is often framed and assessed as a specific set of discrete skills that can be developed through decontextualized “best practices.” We will interrogate the assumptions about writing and literacy that sustain these practices and contextualize them within larger (settler) colonial projects. Ultimately, we will develop our own writing philosophies and associated curricular innovations and pedagogical moves.

035069