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bringing lived cultures and experience to the wac classroom PDF

362 Pages·2008·18.27 MB·English
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UNIVEF<SIT'( or: H/\VVI\I'I LI[3J'?,/Jr:,:,y BRINGING LIVED CULTURES AND EXPERIENCE TO THE WAC CLASSROOM: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF SELECTED NONTRADITIONAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH MAY 2005 By Kathleen J. Cassity Dissertation Committee: LaRene Despain, Chairperson Jeff Carroll Daphne Desser Todd Sammons Helen Slaughter © Copyright 2005 by Kathleen J. Cassity 111 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Mahalo nui loa to the nontraditional students who participated in this study, who must remain anonymous, but without whose voices and generous cooperation this work could not exist. You all know who you are, and I hope you know how much I appreciated your contribution. I hope my work is, in turn, a contribution to all ofyou. My own journey as a nontraditional student, from freshman to Ph.D., was exceptionally long, arduous, and scattered with occasional minefields. I would not have made it to completion without the help of those mentioned below. To LaRene Despain, dissertation director extraordinaire: Without you, this project wouldn't exist. Its very existence is testimony to your patience, encouragement, and unwavering belief that I could cross the finish line. Words aren't enough. To JeffCarroll, Daphne Desser, Todd Sammons, and Helen Slaughter: I appreciated your careful reading, helpful suggestions, and supportive exchange of ideas. The collegiality of the committee is what made it possible for me to finish. To fellow grad students Tia Berger and Jill Dahlman: Thanks for sharing information you discovered in her your own research with me. Onward and upward! To Dauri/ Alden, Nell Altizer, Scott Anderson, Cristina Bacchi/ega, Bill Burgwinkle, Bruce Bruschi, Paul Chandler, JeffDym, Peter Elbow, Monica Ghosh, Craig Howes, Suzie Jacobs, Kristen and Matt Lau, Joy Logan, Glenn Man, Kristin McAndrews, Stephen Page, Kathy Phillips, John Rieder, Connie Sherak. Diana Solomon, Linda Walters-Page, and Roger Whitlock: Few things are as powerful as the combination ofprofessional support and personal friendship. When I encountered the minefields, you were the ones who helped me navigate. For that, you have my deepest gratitude. To my close friends outside academia: Tom and Jackie Bartunek; Veronica Cooper; Mary and Bob Lauch; Maxine Levaren; Kevin 0 'Connor and Julie Paulsen; Lionel Smith; Dave and Rosie Wikstrom; Gayle Yoshikawa and Eric Humphries. Thanks for the enthusiastic support, and for helping me keep it real. (Apologies to anyone I inadvertently omitted.) To the memory of my lifelong friend, Cindy Wikstrom Nishiyama: Her crazy, fearless, carpe diem approach to life encouraged me to follow my own dreams. When some thought I was nuts to return to college as a nontraditional student in my thirties, Cindy said, "Go for it!" Then, while I was in the midst of studying for my Ph.D. exams, she left this earth, far too soon. Cindy, your spirit still keeps me going. iv To my late parents, Terry and Muriel Browne: I'm glad you lived long enough to see me start college, and wish you could have seen me finish. Thanks for teaching me so much. You're both really still here. To my sister Darlene Malvaney and brother Randall Browne, and to all my extended family, both Brownes and Smiths: Thanks for the encouragement, support, ever- present wicked sense of humor, and for giving me a world view that's truly one of a kind. Finally, the deepest thanks ofall go to the two brightest lights in my life. I would have achieved nothing without my favorite nontraditional student ofall, my husband, Brian Cassity. Nothing I can say here can do justice to all you've given me. Part of the reason my educational journey has been so lengthy is due to my son, Liam Cassity, who made his appearance in the world between my comps and my dissertation. But far from being a disruption, you are what makes all of it all worthwhile. * * * v ABSTRACT This dissertation addresses the increasing presence of nontraditional students in college classrooms today, focusing on how nontraditional students draw upon lived experience when writing across the curriculum-in Henry Giroux's terms, connecting the "discourse of lived cultures" with the "discourse of textual analysis." I discuss various definitions of"nontraditional student," present statistical information concerning the increasing number of such students across the country, and consider how they are represented in the media. After reviewing pertinent literature in adult education and composition, I discuss my qualitative teacher-research methodology, which included classroom observation, field notes, interviews, writing samples, and questionnaires. I recruited nine nontraditiop.al students, gathered data from six participants, and developed case studies on three. The questions focusing my inquiry address how nontraditional student presence should shape our professional discussion and teaching practice; the degree to which my participants experienced writing-related anxiety, and the strategies they used to work through it; and how they drew upon lived ~ultures and experiences when writing across the curriculum in order to negotiate their emerging academic identities. My findings demonstrate that the study participants used their experiences critically and reflectively in their academic writing-in Paulo Freire's words, "bring[ing] subjectivity and objectivity into constant dialectical relationship." Finally, I connect my findings with conversations in the field concerning the use ofper~onalwriting in academic contexts, using frameworks offered by Candace Spigelman, Jane E. Hindman, and Barbara Kamler. I discuss the theories of two adult VI educators-Malcolm Knowles' concept of"andragogy" and Timothy Quinnan's articulation of the nontraditional student as postmodern phenomenon-with process, post- process, and feminist composition theory, as well as with the critical theories of Paulo Freire, Henry Giroux, and bell hooks. After discussing the relationship between infantilization and oppression, I argue for abolishing the term "pedagogy" from college contexts and suggest that we adopt Freire's concept of"praxis" as a more inclusive term. I conclude by calling for a reflexive and dialogic approach to composition and WAC which pays heed to the voices ofour students, traditional and nontraditional alike. Vll TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IV ABSTRACT VI LIST OF FIGURES Xl PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xu Purpose of Dissertation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. xu Situating the Study Xlll Overview of Methodology ............•......................... XIV Chapter Outlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. xvi CHAPTER ONE: DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFTS IN STUDENT POPULAnON 1 Introduction 1 Defining Nontraditional Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Where They Are: Distribution . . . . . 9 Resources for Nontraditional Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Nontraditional Student as Questing Hero: Media Representations and Their Limitations 17 Accommodating the Nontraditional Student: Where We Are Currently . . .. 23 Nontraditional Students and Composition Studies 24 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEWING THE LITERATURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Adult Education: Recent Scholarship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 27 Malcolm Knowles' Concept of Andragogy '" . . .. . . . .. 33 Timothy Quinnan: Andragogy and Critical Theory 40 Robert Sommer: Andragogy Meets Composition . . . . . . . . . .. 49 The Process Movement and "Expressivism". . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 55 Feminist Composition Studies and the Personal Narrative. . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Putting the Pieces Together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 82 Writing Across the Curriculum: Its Relationship to Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 86 Composition Scholarship Regarding Nontraditional Students 94 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 111 Overview of Qualitative Methodology ,. 111 Teacher Research: Goals. Challenges. and Ethics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 113 Safeguards Taken to Preserve Integrity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 119 Vlll Definine Feminist MethodololD' 122 Study Design and Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 123 About the Course: Institutional Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 126 Syllabus and Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 126 Writing Assignments and Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 128 Classroom Demographics 129 Recruitment Procedure " 133 Permissions and Informed Consent 135 Research Questions and Their Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 136 Sources of Data 139 Situatine Myself as Researcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 142 Limitations of Study and Possible Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 146 CHAPTER FOUR: OVERVIEW OF FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 151 Data Gathering, Codine, and Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 151 Introducine the Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 157 Findines: First Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 161 Discussion: Grouped Responses to Questionnaire #1 161 Findines: Second Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 166 Findines: Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 182 Research Question: Writine Apprehension and Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . .. 197 Interpretation: Solutions to Writing Apprehension 203 Research Question: Neeotiating Academic Identities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 206 Making Connections: A Trip To the Liehthouse 208 Research Question: Nontraditional Student Voices in the Academic Conversation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 219 Case Studies: Rationale for Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 222 Interpretive Framework: Knowles' Model ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 225 CHAPTER FIVE: "YOUR CULTURAL PRACTICES DETERMINE YOUR QUEST FOR PEACE" 231 A Case Study of Carolyn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 231 CHAPTER SIX: "FORESHADOWING TREMENDOUS TRANSFORMATION" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 252 A Case Study of Amber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 252 CHAPTER SEVEN: "WHAT ARE YOU?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 272 A Case Study of Christina 272 Summary: Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 287 IX CHAPTER EIGHT: THE END OF PEDAGOGY .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 289 In Conversation: Adult Education and Composition Studies 289 Process? Post-Process?: Varieties of Nontraditional Student-Friendly Teachine Practices 297 Authority, The Ethic of Care, "Andraeoer," and Feminism " .. 300 The End of Pedaeoer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 302 Beyond Terminoloer: Toward a Non-Infantilizine "Border Praxis" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 306 DialoKical Teachina= 309 APPENDICES....................................... . . 313 I: Informed Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 313 II: Interview Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 316 III: Invitation to Participate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 318 IV: First Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 320 V: Second Questionnaire 323 WORKS CONSULTED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 327 x LIST OF FIGURES PAGE: 1. Student Enrollment, Beginning of F2003 Semester: Section 1 131 2. Student Enrollment, End ofF2003 Semester: Section 1 131 3. Student Enrollment, Entire F2003 Semester: Section 2 131 4. Grouped Responses to Questionnaire #1 162 5. Responses to Questionnaire #2: Comfort Level and Challenges 167 6. Attributes of Discomfort and Sources of Challenge 169 7. Questionnaire #2: Perceptions ofNeeds, Attributes and Challenges 174 8. Self-perceptions ofNontraditional Student Strengths 175 9. Educational Backgrounds ofRespondents' Parents 176 10. Self-described Class Backgrounds of Participants 177 11. Participants' Perceptions of Personal Writing in College 179 Xl

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