Grammar for Teachers and the Politics of Social Justice and Equity

Quarters
Summer Open
Location
Olympia
Class Standing
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Jon Davies

Writing is a critical and vital tool for learning and communication. Effective teachers of writing gain insight from their own writing experiences and those of their teaching colleagues. Decades of research suggest that teaching grammar in isolation has little, if any effect on improving student writing.

Grammar and writing are political issues for everyone, especially for English language learners for whom English is not their first language, people of color, and people who identify as nonbinary. We will uncover underlying issues of power, equity, and social justice in mainstream, prescriptive approaches to teaching English grammar.

We will explore English grammar, including issues of genre, style, punctuation, and mechanics, in the context of our own writing and in the context of continuing developments in digital literacy, multi-genre projects, and gendered and racial identities.

We will meet remotely using the Zoom meeting environment for synchronous (live) class meetings and Canvas and other online tools for asynchronous learning opportunities. Synchronous class meetings will include workshops and seminars. My approach will emphasize participation in synchronous sessions; however, if students find themselves unable to participate due to technology challenges, caregiver obligations, economic disruption, health risk, or illness, they can work with me to pursue alternate options to earn related credit.

This course fulfills a teacher certification prerequisite and endorsement requirements.

Registration

Course Reference Numbers
Second Session (4): 40043

Academic Details

Education, journalism, graduate studies, and other pursuits that require clear and concise written communication skills.

4
25
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Senior

Schedule

Summer
2023
Open
Remote (Su)

See definition of Hybrid, Remote, and In-Person instruction

Day
Schedule Details
Remote/Online
Olympia