The selections below are just a sampling of the robust body of composition research that seeks to ameliorate existing racist pedagogies. In selecting these articles, we've attempted to introduce some variety; topics range from AAVE, to translingualism, to grading contracts and beyond. Yet all address in some fashion the field's changing attitudes toward student work and how we evaluate it. It's our hope that today's reading will spark greater interest among our teachers to further engage these topics. (See the sidebar to the right for a list we've compiled for getting started.)

READING HOUR INSTRUCTIONS

Before you begin reading, take a few minutes to fill out Form A. 

Then, select and read one of the articles below (Please note that many of these articles will prompt you to enter your UConn account information). As you read, note the following:

• • Select a quote you’d like to share with the group. 
  • Come up with two  questions the article prompted you to consider about your own teaching, either with respect to theory or practice, and consider how you might generalize those questions for others in your group.
  • Record your quote and your questions using Form B.

Be prepared to discuss your quote and your questions when your group reconvenes after lunch.

READINGS

1. Inoue, Asao B., Classroom Writing Assessment as an Antiracist Practice: Confronting White Supremacy in the Judgments of Language, Pedagogy, 2019.
2. Canagarajah, Suresh. Introduction: Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations, Taylor & Francis, 2013.
3. Young, Vershawn Ashanti. Should Writers Use They Own English? Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, 2010.
4. Condon, Frankie and Vershawn Ashanti Young. Introduction: Performing Antiracist Pedagogy in Rhetoric, Writing, and Communication, WAC Clearinghouse/UP of Colorado, 2017.
5. Condon, Frankie, & Green, Neisha-Ann S. Letters on Moving from Ally to Accomplice: Anti-Racism and the Teaching of Writing. In Diverse Approaches to Teaching, Learning, and Writing Across the Curriculum: IWAC at 25. WAC Clearinghouse/UP of Colorado, 2020.
6. Inoue, Asao B. Introduction: Laboring Towards Grading Contracts and the Inner Dikes, In Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom. Asao ed. WAC Clearinghouse/UP of Colorado, 2019.
7. Banks, Adam. Ain't No Walls behind the Sky, Baby! Funk, Flight, Freedom, CCC vol. 67.2, 2015. (watch video)

 

 

 

Additional Anti-Racist Scholarship and Resources

Building on a tremendous list built by a graduate student group focused on antiracism, we've compiled a bibliography of full-text materials to support your and your students' ongoing exploration of antiracist pedagogy and assessment. These texts are easily accessible with your UConn NetID and password, and many, such as the books from the WAC Clearinghouse, are freely available to anyone. Take a look around.