[CBW_Exec] draft of CBW Social Justice Policy

Tue Apr 29 09:22:47 CDT 2008

Thanks, everyone!  In regard to Hannah's comments, I'll take another
look at Valerie F. Kinloch's 2005 article "Revisiting the promise of
Students' Right to Their Own Language: Pedagogical strategies" in
College Composition and Communication 57.1: 83-113. "Students' Right"
is also from 1974 and evolves from many similar concerns of that era.
Kinloch makes the very persuasive case that those concerns remain
relevant for the 21st century.

I've also copied Bill's comments below.  I need to add that I disagree
with Bill on this point, based on my current research and more than 20
years in the field-- especially the last five years working with
inner-city youth in open-access BW college programs.

BILL'S COMMENTS:
Susan, I like it. I would however change a line that says "Basic Writing
 > courses serve as a mirror to reflect injustice [etc.]"--could be construed
 > to suggest that Basic Writing helps to further that injustice...or that BW
 > by its existence is part of the injustice, and although it's true that if
 > all students were provided equitable and strong prep, sufficient economic
 > support at the pre-college level, and a social context conducive to the best
 > education possible, prior to college, BW arguably wouldn't exist, I think we
 > want to make sure we focus on BW as a positive force and not as a barometer
 > of injustice... Therefore, maybe a change of wording would be good. How
 > about something like "Basic Writing courses often serve a community of
 > students who have been previously subjected to social and educational
 > injustice..."? Just a thought... Bill

On 4/28/08, Shannon Carter <Shannon_Carter at tamu-commerce.edu> wrote:
> Ah, great point. What can we make of/do with that 34 year gap between the
> original statement and today's call? Rhetorically? Politically? Practically?
>
> Shannon Carter
> Associate Professor of English
> Texas A&M-Commerce
> shannon_carter at tamu-commerce.edu
> http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/scarter/
> 903-886-5492
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ashley, Hannah [mailto:HAshley at wcupa.edu]
> Sent: Mon 4/28/2008 7:20 AM
> To: Shannon Carter; Susan Bernstein
> Cc: sanchezdeborah at yahoo.com; cbw_exec at tamu-commerce.edu
> Subject: RE: [CBW_Exec] draft of CBW Social Justice Policy
>
> I too approve of the spirit and the general rhetorical drift of this
> resolution.  Nice work!  I would want to "do" something with the fact that
> what we are doing is calling on a 1974 resolution.  That is, what does it
> mean in 2008 to be reaffirming that statement?
>
> Hannah
>
> Hannah Ashley, Ph. D.
> Associate Professor, Composition and Rhetoric Program, Department of English
> Director, Writing Zones 12.5 (www.wcupa.edu/writingzones)
> 551 Main Hall, West Chester University
> 610-738-0499, hashley at wcupa.edu
> "If you're not terrified when you are writing, you're writing about the
> wrong things."  --Dorothy Alison--
>
> __

>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Susan Bernstein [mailto:susan.naomi at gmail.com]
> Sent: Fri 4/25/2008 12:55 PM
> To: Shannon Carter
> Cc: cbw_exec at tamu-commerce.edu; sanchezdeborah at yahoo.com
> Subject: draft of CBW Social Justice Policy
>
> Greetings eveyone,
>
> Attached and below please find a very *rough* draft of a CBW Social
> Justice Policy.  As you'll see, NCTE presented a 1974 Position
> Statement that dovetails with much of what we discussed at our
> Executive Board meeting at CCCC.  By coincidence, the NCTE Statement
> was presented in New Orleans.  Many thanks to my U of Cincinnati
> graduate student Deborah Sanchez for directing me to this statement.
>
> Since this draft is rough and percolating at once, I look forward to
> our discussion about it on the list.  Please contribute any and all
> revisions, questions, comments, concerns.  Given current material
> conditions for students enrolled in Basic Writing courses, I advocate
> for the urgency of our work-- and the open discussion that will lead
> to addressing the widest audience possible for our concerns.
>
> Warm regards and good wishes for the weekend,
>
> Susan
>
> Susan Naomi Bernstein
> LaGuardia Community College
>
> Toward Social Justice for Students Enrolled in Basic Writing Courses:
> A Conference on Basic Writing Policy Statement
>
>
>  We of the Executive Board of the Conference on Basic Writing have
> duly noted the disparities in educational conditions for our students
> enrolled in our Basic Writing courses across the United States.  These
> conditions point to lack of adequate and sufficient access to
> resources that would aid full matriculation to college, including but
> not limited to:
> ? Insufficient access to preparation for college-level courses based
> on systemic educational inequities in public schools
> ? Insufficient access to financial aid counseling
> ? Insufficient access to academic advising and personal counseling
> Insufficient access to disability services
> ? Insufficient access to academic and fine arts courses that foster
> and sustain students? growth in areas related to progress in basic
> writing and
>
> Further, we would suggest that students enrolled in honors programs
> and other more privileged educational venues enjoy routine access to
> such resources.  Equally important we must point out that those
> students enrolled in Basic Writing courses often come from
> underrepresented and underserved groups in higher education and
> include African American, Latino, poor, working class, documented and
> undocumented immigrants, and students with disabilities.
>
> Basic Writing courses serve as a mirror to reflect systemic injustice
> throughout US society. Indeed, the increased reliance on standardized
> tests to track, measure, and reward ?academic progress? negatively
> impacts students enrolled in Basic Writing courses. Such tests create
> rigid categories of achievement that impede students? educational
> progress.
>
> As longitudinal research has demonstrated, higher education provides
> sustainable long-term benefits for achieving individual economic and
> intellectual goals, which positively impacts US society as a whole
> (Attewill and Lavin; Sternglass).  With these issues in mind, we
> advocate that educators for Basic Writing and administrators involved
> with student success initiatives actively support and implement the
> NCTE Position Statement ?On Support for Motivated but Inadequately
> Prepared College Students? as suggested below.
>
> On Support for Motivated but Inadequately Prepared College Students
> 1974
> NCTE Annual Business Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana
> Background
>
> We believe that all colleges and universities, by the act of admitting
> students, become responsible for creating conditions that will permit
> those students to exercise their own right to learn.
>
> Clearly, some students who are admitted and who desire to learn lack
> adequate educational backgrounds to progress satisfactorily in
> traditional learning situations, and many institutions of higher
> learning are making little or no effort to help them. Be it therefore
>
> Resolution
>
> Resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English encourage
> college and university administrations, and legislative bodies, to
> allocate sufficient funds to provide individualized and supportive
> programs for students who are motivated but inadequately prepared for
> success in colleges and universities to which they are being admitted.
>
> http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/curr/107455.htm

______________________________
>
> From: cbw_exec-bounces at tamu-commerce.edu on behalf of Shannon Carter
> Sent: Sun 4/27/2008 2:46 AM
> To: Susan Bernstein
> Cc: sanchezdeborah at yahoo.com; cbw_exec at tamu-commerce.edu
> Subject: Re: [CBW_Exec] draft of CBW Social Justice Policy
>
>
>
> Wow! I can't think of anything to add and I agree: this work is indeed
> crucial. The revision Sonya has created of the CCCC/CBW Fellowship call for
> apps really foregrounds advocacy in ways this policy articulates. At least I
> think it does.
>
> And I look forward to our discussion and, eventually (perhaps following
> revision suggestions), approval of this important policy statement. I also
> look forward to including such statements on our website.
>
> What do you guys think? How do we feel about the wording, the spirit, and
> the goals of this draft and project?
>
> Thanks,
> Shannon
>
> Shannon Carter
> Associate Professor of English
> Texas A&M-Commerce
> shannon_carter at tamu-commerce.edu
> http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/scarter/
> 903-886-5492
>
>

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