E N D
ENGL 2900-01 The Process Pedagogy
The Process Pedagogy • The process pedagogy is a pedagogy that believes students should be treated like real writers, and so a course designed with process pedagogy is centered around the production of student texts, emphasizing in-class workshops, conferencing, peer review, invention and revision techniques, and reading that supports these goals.
The Process Pedagogy • The process pedagogy concerns itself not only with “what” a student writes but also “how” a student writes. • The process pedagogy gained prominence in the 1960s
The Process Pedagogy • The process pedagogy argued for student choice of topics, authenticity of voice, writing as an “organic-process”, individual growth, and personal expression. • The process pedagogy essentially challenged the rules of institutionalized instruction and questioned the practices of academic writing
The Process Pedagogy • Process teachers did not hate all written products; they only hated the kind of written products they claimed the traditional process inevitably produced (lifeless, dull, formulaic writing).
The Process Pedagogy • How to achieve “process writing”? • Believe that students have something original to say • Give them the freedom to choose their own material • Show them you are interested in what they have to say • Help them gain access to their “real” or “authentic” voice and perspective
The Process Pedagogy • Process teachers don’t identify where writers have gone wrong; rather, they help writers see what they accomplished and where the essay might be in its next draft.
The Process Pedagogy • The process pedagogy worked on the assumption that all students could write if the curriculum were designed on a pedagogy that built on the skills, strengths, and interests students already possessed.
The Process Pedagogy • Critics against the process approach: • Argued that the pedagogy was not new or revolutionary but simply another “step” in the traditional pedagogy • Suggested that the idea lacked consistency and structure • Claimed that proponents of the process pedagogy were simply looking at “shock” value • Believed that the process pedagogy was irresponsible because it failed to teach basic and necessary skills and conventions
Counterarguments: • Process writing has never ignored standards or skills. These issues are addressed as they appear as opposed to a “scheduled” part of the lesson plan. • No one true model of pedagogy will work for every child. The process pedagogy allows for the inclusion and adaptation of multiple pedagogies
The Process Pedagogy • Proponents of the process pedagogy have developed proven writing strategies of : • Freewriting • Voice • Personal Narrative • Writing as a form of discovery