Drouin, Renee Ann Teaching Philosophy
In teaching, I strive to cultivate an environment that supports engagement and equity. In this space, both my physical classroom and my writing centers, students recognize and develop their agency as the writer, as they are the experts of their own lived experiences. To create a classroom that invites agency and equity, I rely heavily on digital tools and diversity of perspectives.
Our students are surrounded by digital creations. I embrace their understanding of technology, from their social media to their games to the chat programs I have never heard of. These are the spaces our students know. In my classrooms, I rely on assignments and readings that connect to what students know, such as the diversity of online spaces and how contexts shape them. Yet, I also challenge them to explore new digital methods of writing. To do so, I work tirelessly so my students feel exploration is possible. I create how-to-guides for and with students, inspired by their questions and my history as a writing tutor who felt she tutored the technology, not the assignment. I dedicate time to classroom examples, and I am always open to talk. While accessibility and understanding are constants of my pedagogy, such practices also ensure students who dislike technology are not left behind. It also encourages risk taking in a welcoming space.
I join scholars such as Eodice, Geller, and Lerner (The Meaningful Writing Project, 2016) in advocating for student interest, prior knowledge, and technological advancements as key to ensuring students can work in all genres and contexts, especially their professional writing. I have taught a course that used video games to teach genre, rhetoric, and, to an extent, professionalized writing in new contexts. The crux of this course, however, was teaching through transfer, using prior knowledge and potential interest in games to facilitate their professional skills in other disciplines. Evaluations located preliminary success. One student believed, “I think this course did a great job of integrating a rather conventional English course on Rhetoric and Genre into something unique and interesting through the use of video games as a medium.” Another student followed with describing writing and rhetoric as, “This is not the only thing I have learned in this class, but I think it is the one thing that will be most useful to my future career. My future career involves research and continuing education credits which may involve me reading current scholarly sources and other types of articles. It will be important for me to be able to detect, who is the speaker, what is their purpose, and who is the intended audience.” I am passionate and excited for a future in which I can use atypical materials, such as video games, to foster transfer and professional writing in students. I want both my classroom and my future teaching agenda to embody diversifying the tools we use to teach professional writing and transfer, especially when linked to digital games.
In exploring digital spaces outside the classroom, students have likely encountered hostility. While they may not be the subjects of abuse, I prioritize their safety above all else. I spend class time showing them how to remove personal data offline and from collection websites. We rhetorically analyze different resources and investigate who the target audiences are. We also reflect on our environments and privileges. These readings challenge those unaware while simultaneously recognizing victims as members of a community. Engaging with such narratives is one means of promoting diversity in the classroom, but it is hardly the primary method.
Instead, inclusion is fostered through discussion and class activities. While I encourage all to speak and do my best to prevent students from interrupting or invalidating others, I create multiple opportunities for all to contribute, such as in crowdsourcing activities where students add their thoughts on readings into a shared google doc and can opt to remain anonymous. Student daily writing and reflections also allow further composing opportunities, ensuring students know their voices and writing are being seen and responded to.
My assignments are shaped by the interests of the students. In reflecting on their experiences, students are the experts, sharing their expertise with me. While I serve as a guide for projects, my true focus is ensuring students know their ideas and beliefs on what is worth writing about are valid. I believe in a pedagogy of agency and emphasize this to students, reminding them that I am constantly grateful for their willingness to share their experiences and voices. This belief of agency is inspired by years in writing centers, as I encouraged and supported, never demanding.
As an educator, I look ahead towards my growth in tutoring and teaching. I passionately work towards spaces that blend writing, equity, and agency. I hope to embolden students to explore and attempt new means of writing and learn in an encouraging space. Regardless of the course, I aim to empower students with an awareness of the rationale in how they create, the ability to impact others, and an awareness of the rhetorical contexts that shape them.
Renee Ann Drouin 