Bethany Meadows and Kimberly Groves
Assignments & Activities Archive
Activity Description
Many scholars have called for the necessity of social justice frameworks within K-16 classrooms for decades (e.g., Friere; hooks; Walton et al.; Muhammad). Specifically, in the first-year writing classroom, we know that neither writing nor our writing classrooms are neutral, apolitical spaces, but instead these are spaces that can reinforce and re-create systems of power and privilege. Alongside this, we continue to live in tumultuous social and political times in American higher education, such as authoritarian politicians, mandates for book bans, and the removal of critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Ultimately, this leaves us—as writing studies teachers, tutors, researchers, and professionals—grappling with what to do right now and how to make our classrooms a space for criticality and working to address societal and institutional oppression. Jones and Walton discuss how we must have targeted diversity and social justice resources for educators or they will “continue to struggle—or, worse, fail altogether” (242). To resist that possibility of struggle and failure, we suggest that writing instructors incorporate readings, activities, and conversations about diversity, intersectionality, identity, and privilege within their classrooms. Necessary prior readings for this activity include the Cornell University’s “DI Toolkit: Preface (Recognizing Privilege & Definitions)”, Crenshaw’s “Why intersectionality can’t wait”, Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class, and Sex”, and Pattanayak’s “There Is One Correct Way of Writing and Speaking.” This is an entry-point activity for students to engage early in the term. While it builds on previous iterations of activities that identify privilege used within professional development and higher education contexts (e.g., “privilege walks,” “put a finger down”), this activity diverges and resists those previous versions that re-traumatize (multi)marginalized students that make them an object of education for their privileged peers. Instead, this activity uses metaphorical building that does not place students in a position to disclose their identities to others, nor does it use students’ positionalities to educate their peers. We recommend that this activity be completed early in a term and then followed with readings, activities, and assignments that ask students to delve further into systems of oppression and their relation to writing. These future activities could include learning about writing myths and the societal harm of perpetuating White Mainstream English (Baker-Bell 3-4) as well as critically analyzing everyday designs, visuals, and writing for their accessibility. There are many examples of such lessons plans on analyzing accessibility (Vermont SILC). These activities could lead to assignments such as critical literacy narratives or rhetorical analyses of everyday rhetoric.