Developing Writers’ Block:
A Neighborly Philosophy for Teaching College Composition & Literature in Face-to-Face and Online Learning Environments
I want my composition and literature students to have writers’ block. That’s right, plural possessive, not singular, not the kind of block that first springs to mind. I want them to live every moment of their lives in a perpetual state of writers’ block, where every student has equal opportunity to learn from other writers and has mastered the skills to read, write, and communicate effectively with fully engaged, vital voices in their neighborhoods, families, social circles, churches, schools, workplaces, political spheres, and personal moments of reflection. I want my students to see writing and reading as a powerful act of community that is open to all, an investment in an ongoing communal conversation, a commitment to a conversation of diverse voices in which each voice brings essential unique perspectives to the conversation and deserves equal respect and consideration. This is not my empty ideal; this is my fleshed-out teaching philosophy.
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Yes, I am a zealot. I have to be. I teach students in first-year composition and literature GE courses, courses that students sign up for not because they are eager to read and write but because they are eager to check off the requirement and be done with reading and writing. At this point, my students don’t see themselves (yet) as vital members of a living, breathing community, and they too often fail to see what relevance writing and reading have to do with “real life.” So, my teaching philosophy and instructional design is tactical, rhetorical, and universal—to persuade, to win over, to impart the vision that I see: that every voice (written, spoken, texted, or Instagramed) matters, and that the future is shaped by the community’s response.
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To move my student writers from novice to expert, I must first help them get over the other kind of block, the one with the power to shut down an individual’s voice— the dreaded singular, isolating writer’s block. What student writer hasn’t suffered writer’s block? And what student reader hasn’t at least occasionally felt excluded from and confounded by the party of voices atwitter in a text or a classroom? Both situations often present themselves in my first-year composition and literature courses, and the skills required of my student writer/readers can seem inaccessible and unattainable. For too many students, the temptation to shut up, disengage, or quit may quash any personal resolve to the contrary. I get this. I have experienced both writer’s and reader’s block myself. But whether a writer is faced with the problem presented by a blank page (and perhaps an attendant blank mind) or a reader is faced with the problem of analyzing a dense text full of complex ideas, pedagogical solutions abound that can unblock, equip, engage, and empower even the most blocked writer. This is where I come in.
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To deconstruct writer’s block and construct in its place a thriving writers’ block, I intentionally design a universal, inclusive, accessible, collaborative learning environment that embraces learners of multiple learning styles, cultures, lanuages, objectives, and experiences. To begin, I assess the learning needs of my students, many of whom may be multilingual learners. In the community colleges and universities where I have taught (most of them Hispanic serving institutions), I have worked with many learners whose first language was not English or who were the first in their family to attend college. My certification in Applied Linguistics and Teaching English as a Second Language has given me the training and sensitivity to address their unique needs. Some of my students may be non-traditional older adult learners. For example, students in the adult degree completion program and in the RN-to-BSN programs at the community colleges face particular challenges—balancing work, family, and academic responsibilities. My certification in Teaching Adult Learners has prepared me well for teaching this demographic. My students have come from privileged, disadvantaged, underserved, or marginalized populations. These students add a wealth of perspectives that enrich the ongoing conversation in our learning community. Some students live with a disability and benefit from accomodations that help them achieve their learning goals. To meet their needs, I work with campus instructional technologies and centers for teaching and learning to ensure ADA compliance in my online and in-class materials and teaching strategies. Once I’ve assessed my learners’ needs and designed a curriculum that supports those needs, we dive into learning.
In the learning community of our writers' block, we celebrate every "aha" moment that moves a writer closer to their goals and course learning outcomes. In this neighborhood, we love to hang out with each other: ideas spark new ideas, conversation, excitement, encouragement, curiosity, and discovery. Writers' voices—listen—a joyous noise.