Susan, I want to join everyone else in thanking you for drafting this
piece. I think the tone is excellent. I was wondering if it would
make sense to have not just CASLL/Inkshed members signing it, but
CATTW as well? (there's so much overlap between the two--and it gives
us a chance, as Anthony mentioned, of highlighting the professional
organizations that exist in the field). I'm not sure of the
logistics involved in signing such a piece, but I'd certainly be
honored to have my name associated with it, as a member of either organization.
If you're still working on a revision, I thought perhaps Tosh's point
of agreement with Marche ("Greater TA training and support are
needed") might be worth highlighting. And also you might emphasize
what you mentioned in your earlier email about WHIIPS--that "Write
Here in Plain Sight is Sunny Marche's response to his observation
that much learning is tacit . . . ." Because so much of the rich
resevoir of knowledge faculty have about writing in their own
disciplines is tacit, TAs are not the only ones who need some
training and help figuring out how to integrate more writing
productively into upper-level courses. As Shurli mentioned, scholars
in Writing Studies research disciplinary discourses and thus can help
other faculty come to more explicit understandings about what it is
they do when they write in their own fields--which in turn helps them
make their tacit expectations clearer to students (it's hard for
students to learn all they need to know about writing in a particular
field through observation alone--for one thing, since Marche is one
of the few faculty to compose in public, students won't get many
chances to observe writing in progress!).
I like the tact of your piece as it stands now, but I'm also
remembering how Wendy S. described working with faculty at SFU--what
she described seemed like the best sort of collaboration between
colleagues who shared their different areas of expertise to mutual
advantage (the faculty in other disciplines would show her samples of
what they considered excellent work in the field, from senior
scholars as well as from novices/students, and together she and the
faculty member would do a discourse analysis that would help them
articulate for students what the defining characteristics of
excellence were in that community of discourse and what was expected
for particular assignments).
Sorry--I know all of this is obvious to Inkshed and CATTW folks--I'm
just trying to think here of a way to acknowledge the expertise
Shurli brought up while also acknowledging how much those of us in
Writing Studies need (and need constantly to acknowledge) the
expertise of faculty in other fields in order to help WAC initiatives
work well. Unlike Shurli, I don't have specific words to suggest--but
maybe there's a way to use Marche's own idea about the tacit to
strike this balance (that is, even with training TAs who will be
assigned to WAC courses, it's often a matter of helping them make
explicit moves they already make tacitly in their own disciplinary writing).
Thanks again for taking this on. Best, Betsy
At 09:53 AM 3/22/2008, you wrote:
>Thanks everyone for the comments so far and for the wiki editing.
>I wanted to get some feedback before I tried to finish it, and this
>has been very helpful. Let me absorb and get back to you.
>
>Cheers (and to those to whom it applies, Happy Easter!)
>
>Susan
>
>
>Susan Drain, PhD
>Department of English
>Mount Saint Vincent University
>Halifax, NS Canada B3M 2J6
>902 457 6220
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>This communication, including any attached documentation, is
>intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed, and
>may contain confidential, personal, and/or privileged information.
>Any unauthorized disclosure, copying, or taking action on the
>contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message
>in error, please contact us immediately so we may correct our records.
>Please then delete or destroy the original transmission and any
>subsequent reply.
>Thank you.
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
> [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
> write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
>
>For the list archives and information about the organization,
> its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
> http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
[log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|