Writing Pedagogy and Arts Honours

Abstract

Writing programs are shaped by the way in which academics approach writing practices from disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives and respond to students' interests in the art and craft of writing for personal development, for academic study, or as relevant to future employment. Responding to these interests calls for a willingness to experiment with pedagogic approaches that assist students to apply and test disciplinary ideas by analysing and using a range of genres. Whilst Arts honours programs often have small – sometimes declining – enrolments, they represent a peak in the uncertainties about student needs and interests in relation to writing programs and how to respond to them. These uncertainties are compounded by concerns about the purpose of a program that completes study for some students but initiates higher-level study for others. To what extent should honours include vocationally relevant learning, or be the training ground for postgraduate research? And how can it help students to build on their strengths from undergraduate studies and develop the ability to make new and informed choices of study topics, assessment and forms of writing in managing their progression through a learning program? The paper presents a case study that explores the teaching of writing in this context of uncertainty. The case study discusses the introduction, into a Communication Studies honours program, of a 'Writing Practices' elective, which combines theoretical and practical work across a range of academic, organisational, professional and media-based genres. Students taking the elective aspire to careers involving writing and creativity, although their interests differ and career objectives remain unfocussed. A framework based on rhetoric accommodates interdisciplinary convergence between studies in media, literature, and professional and public communication, and guides students towards more independent and self-directed learning through engagement with a range of genres. The case study shows how the use of this rhetorical framework offers a process of guided student choice for negotiating the elective content and assessment, and seeks to extend the students' capacities as writers and strengthen their confidence in their competence and futures.