Professor Anna Lee McKennon, M. A.: Teaching Philosophy

In American colleges, the demographics of the average classroom are increasingly multicultural, reflecting a wide range of English language literacy levels. Students come from a mixed cultural/ethnic background, giving our classrooms a richness and diversity which truly defines our American culture.  Reading and responding critically to a variety of texts that represent diverse American ethnic and cultural groups, as well as relevant sociopolitical issues, can help students in our classrooms build a bridge of understanding between the groups that make up our expanding global community.  If students are encouraged to explore relevant social and cultural issues from a personal cross-cultural perspective, they will be more inclined to write responses that are stimulated by open dialogue.

The following definition of higher education, published in 1995 by the National Council of English Teachers, reflects greater emphasis on the needs of a culturally and linguistically diverse student population:

                        A view of education that envisions and encourages a curriculum reflective

                        of the society and the world in which we live.  It embraces and accepts the

interdependence of the many cultural ethnic groups within our society and the world. It recognizes that individuals do not divest themselves of their heritage, and values similarities and differences in all persons.

Teachers of writing often find themselves in the uncomfortable position of balancing between holding students accountable to a specific set of American rhetorical rules and structure, while still allowing them to express a personal creative and critical thinking process, stimulated by their own cultural modes of written expression.  As a teacher of college composition, I try to integrate new teaching strategies into my curriculum, while incorporating more choice regarding multi-cultural texts and rhetorical approaches in composition assignments – making composition classrooms both student-centered and student-directed.                      

Strategies for teaching writing need to stimulate students to seek understanding and learn to communicate within a multi-cultural environment, while incorporating their own ideas about social and cultural issues in their individual writing.  The diversity of a true multi-cultural classroom should be a positive stimulant for the writing process. All students should feel welcome and empowered in this type of classroom, regardless of socioeconomic or cultural background level.  Members of a true multicultural class possess equal value, without power divisions between “us” and “them.”

Students are able to progress to a more mature level of writing when they are taught in student-centered classrooms where they are able to participate more openly in smaller peer groups.  This can be accomplished when teaching online, as well, by use of discussion applications, currently available and used in my current classes. These include Blackboard and Canvas, which I currently use to maintain daily student connection to the student learning outcomes and goals of the specific class. I recently was a reviewer for the new Achieve supplemental teaching program, published by Bedford/St. Martin.  It is important for online students to be supported and informed on a consistent basis as to their individual participation and accomplishments in relation to the goals and learning objectives of the class. This is accomplished by consistent and clear response and review of their work.

I seek to understand the rhetorical obstacles faced by both native and non-native speakers of English, while developing strategies and activities that will engage and validate all students in stimulating interaction, as well as bridge communication styles and patterns, rather than emphasize differences.  Teaching American academic structure can be a positive experience, as long as educators recognize that it is not the only model for academic excellence.  Non-native language groups, such as our many Asian and Hispanic college students, face many challenges in the English classroom, including rhetorical and grammar differences.  They should not have to face the added stress of feeling that they are the inferior "other" cultural groups, especially in relation to a dominant Eurocentric tradition.