Looking for a VLPA for Winter 2014 Registration? Check this out! 

Winter 2015: English 471: The Theory and Practice of Teaching Writing (TuTh 2:30-4:20 VLPA; W option). 

In Winter 2015, English 471 will be taught by Prof. Anis Bawarshi, who was Director of UW’s highly regarded Expository Writing Program for the last ten years. Through reading and fieldwork, English 471 introduces students to the various approaches that guide the study and teaching of writing, ranging from methods for teaching students how to produce texts to methods for assessing these texts.  The course will also examine the research and theories that underscore these methods, assumptions that guide these approaches, and consideration of whose interests they serve, so that all members of the class can become more self-reflective readers, writers, and teachers.  English 471 provides an opportunity to think about what it means to teach writing, to develop and share our own goals for teaching writing, and to generate and articulate practices that will help us achieve these goals. Coursework will include keeping a reading journal, conducting a brief teaching ethnography, preparing a bibliography and curriculum design presentation, and creating a teaching portfolio. 

English 471 will have an optional service-learning component which will bring students! into local K-12 classrooms to practice work (three to four ho! urs each week) as tutors, mentors, and writing coaches. Those who opt to do service learning will have the option to register for additional credit hours of English 491, if they choose. For those who participate, the service learning in this course will fulfill 30-40 of the observation hours that students are required to complete prior to applying to the UW Masters in Teaching program.  Information, and add codes for period 3, are available from the instructor: bawarshi@uw.edu.