With Hope: A Student-Centered Model of Critical Pedagogy for First-Year Writing

While critical pedagogy, as introduced by Paulo Freire (1970), carries an extensive legacy of theoretical interpretation for rhetoric and composition praxis, this study argues that there is a lack of implementable models of practice in the context of first-year writing, particularly for new instructors and graduate teaching assistants. This study uses a three-part methodology. First, relevant scholarship is synthesized in four parts: critical pedagogy as theory, critical pedagogy as design for instructor accompliceship, critical pedagogy as method for students, and relevant critiques. Then, the project summarizes a gloss analysis of institutional climate, including a list of theory-informed, self-reflective instructor pre-work questions. Finally, the central model-building is conducted through a theory-informed coding of the Virginia Tech University Writing Program blueprint Literacy Narrative and Worknets projects. The result of this approach is a proposed implementable model (Miller, 2014) of critical pedagogy in practice for English 1105 at Virginia Tech, including invitational language, scaffolding exercises, and supportive assignments to affirm student agency, engage in instructor accompliceship, and create a climate of love and care in the writing classroom. This model is designed to transform critical pedagogy from unapproachable methodology to workable method that empowers and encourages instructors to try alternative approaches to the classroom. Implications of this work include furthering of diverse, inclusive methods of pedagogy that interrogate power boundaries, honor student/instructor identities, and complicate institutional power structures for WPAs and instructors.