Teaching Belief Statement

This semester has broken down a lot of beliefs that I held about teaching writing, most

notably what teaching writing looks like. I never took a freshman writing course; instead I took a

freshman English class that was focused on teaching us how to properly cite in different formats,

so to see for the first time how much writing encompasses, and how diversity and inclusion plays

such a key role in successfully teaching writing has bene elucidating and challenging. In some

ways, I feel, as bell hooks said in “Toward a Revolutionary Feminist Pedagogy,” “it is important

to make it clear to students that we are prepared and that the willingness to be open and honest

about what we do not know is a gesture of respect for them” (6) has become my mantra. I think

that I am prepared, although I frequently have doubts as I look back over the semester and over

all the things that I still do not understand. But as long as I’m prepared when I walk into class

each day, and as long as I can prove that to my students, my next goal is to decentralize the

power as feminist pedagogy recommends.

Diversity and inclusion is a pedagogical practice that I think is similar, and equally

essential, to feminist pedagogy. I strive to bring this into the classroom every single day, and to

be inclusive in every assignment that I create. Linked to this idea is translingualism, a notion that

I feel responsible to bring into the classroom as Appalachian State is so homogenous in its

student body. These students might meet very few ESL (for lack of a better term) speakers, so I

feel responsible for teaching them that these people do exist, and in no way are they lesser for

their differing dialects. In fact, I would like to even broaden what an ESL speaker might be with

the notion of Standard Academic English, something I anticipate very few students will have

mastered. By assigning them readings that are written in different dialects, and by encouraging

them to use their own voice in their writing as much as possible, I hope to inspire in them a
respect for non-SAE, as well as an educated understanding about language and how it is so much

more than what they previously thought. This mission will tie in with diversity/inclusion because

not only will all voices be equally accepted in my classroom (as long as they are not oppressive),

my students will learn to be more inclusive going forward.

Finally, in creating an environment that is inclusive and by decentralizing the power, I

think it will be fruitful to have a highly collaborative classroom. Each major project will have

both a workshop and peer review, with guidelines set up by the students. Workshopping will be a

space for brainstorming among a group, while peer review will be designed for them to receive

more intimate feedback. This will give everyone a chance to speak and be heard, as well as being

able to utilize the powerful resource they have in each other. Collaboration will yield a strong

sense of community among the class and show them how writing is not an individual task, but

one with lots of back and forth feedback.

These practices are reflected in my syllabus in a myriad of ways. One choice that I’ve

made is to put my diversity and inclusion statement at the beginning of the syllabus, right after

the course goals. That way, they know immediately what the department’s goals are, and then

what my primary expectations are. Having a respectful learning environment is essential to

invoking all the other pedagogies. I also put my attendance policy relatively close to the top

because I know students worry about attendance policies a lot, and I don’t want them to have to

search through the whole syllabus to find it. I also tried to be really upfront about my

expectations for their behavior and participation, as well as what they can expect from me in

terms of communication and accommodations. Creating expectations for myself is important for

me because it communicates that respect goes both ways, and I will respect them if they respect
me. I made this choice to decentralize the power of the classroom and to make sure everyone

feels included.

The format of my syllabus is generic and straight-forward so that they know what to

expect from the course and from me without having to sort through something hard to read

because of excessive graphics or weird spacing. Due dates are in red, but I may end up changing

that because it could be hard for a color-blind student to read. However, I will provide them with

an online syllabus so they can format it in different ways if it is hard for them to read. The other

advantage of having it online is that I can include links for more information about university

policy.

The schedule I created is largely just my unit plan, but I do have a few more things

planned out. For example, I want to have a multimodal research project to use New Media

pedagogy, and I want to take the class to the library one day so that librarians can show them the

resources available to them. At the end of the semester, I would like to present their projects

because that way everyone can give each other feedback and interact as a large group one last

time before the end of the semester, since a foundation of my pedagogy is that collaboration is

extremely valuable.

Overall, I seek to create a learning environment that is inclusive and safe for everyone. I

want to establish that, at the end of the day, I’m the one doing the grading, but they have the

power to influence the grade that they will get, and the ability to improve their writing

throughout the semester. I want my students to be mindful and thoughtful, and able to spend the

rest of their time at Appalachian advocating for better representation and more equal

opportunities for themselves and their peers.