Content and the Composition Curriculum.
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| Title: | Content and the Composition Curriculum. |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Seitz, James E. |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 7 |
| Publication Date: | 2002 |
| Document Type: | Opinion Papers Speeches/Meeting Papers |
| Descriptors: | Course Content, Curriculum Problems, Higher Education, Inquiry, Intellectual Disciplines, Writing Instruction |
| Abstract: | Because of its association with the first-year writing course and with what is presumed to be a practical rather than an intellectual function, the composition curriculum has long been regarded as devoid of "content." The result of this emphasis on practice and process is a curriculum in which subject matter has been deemed largely irrelevant. Today, however, in many respects composition looks more and more like other disciplines, particularly in the realm of curriculum. The first-year course remains that place in the curriculum where composition endures without a subject--or rather, with any subject the teacher or student provides--and for that reason, is still the most intriguing site for imagining alternative conceptions of "content." For example, most sections of the first-year composition course at the University of Pittsburgh have no preassigned subject matter, and hence the reading materials in different sections of the course vary greatly during any given semester. Perhaps a term to be used may be "inquiry"--where writing is inquiry, and inquiry the dynamic, critical process that generates recognition, insight, and understanding. (NKA) |
| Entry Date: | 2003 |
| Accession Number: | ED467656 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Because of its association with the first-year writing course and with what is presumed to be a practical rather than an intellectual function, the composition curriculum has long been regarded as devoid of "content." The result of this emphasis on practice and process is a curriculum in which subject matter has been deemed largely irrelevant. Today, however, in many respects composition looks more and more like other disciplines, particularly in the realm of curriculum. The first-year course remains that place in the curriculum where composition endures without a subject--or rather, with any subject the teacher or student provides--and for that reason, is still the most intriguing site for imagining alternative conceptions of "content." For example, most sections of the first-year composition course at the University of Pittsburgh have no preassigned subject matter, and hence the reading materials in different sections of the course vary greatly during any given semester. Perhaps a term to be used may be "inquiry"--where writing is inquiry, and inquiry the dynamic, critical process that generates recognition, insight, and understanding. (NKA) |
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