Six Composition and TESOL doctoral students and faculty members collaborated on a presentation at this year’s Conference on College Composition and Communication in San Francisco March 11–14, 2009.
Their panel was titled “Mapping Programmatic Composition Waters: Does Having a Teaching Vision Matter?” and was chaired by Dr. Kathy Sohn, a C&T distinguished alumnus.
Three C&T doctoral students teamed up with their faculty mentors in C&T’s Teaching Associate Program to report on the development of a teaching vision over the past two years. The student-faculty pairs were
- Dawn Fels and Ben Rafoth
- Mahmoud Amer and Gian Pagnucci
- Whitney Tudor and Sharon Deckert
The session opened with a theoretical framework and review of literature, followed by a description of how the vision was developed and implemented. The panelists also described the stengths and limitations of the vision and their goals for the future of the C&T Teaching Associate Program.
Teaching associates in the C&T Program are typically fiinished with doctoral course work and are working on their dissertations. The TA-ship offers them an opportunity to teach two or three classes during the year and to develop their teaching skills under the guidance of a head mentor, Dr. Sharon Deckert, and other faculty mentors.
The teaching vision for the program is based on three key values and practices: Community-oriented, Learner-centered, and Reflection-driven, or CLeaR.
