Conflict, Politics, and Self-Censorship: PSTs and their Struggles with Writing as Civic-Engagement

Authors

Mike P. Cook, Auburn UniversityFollow
Gail Harper Yeilding, Auburn UniversityFollow

Abstract

This collective case study of five secondary English language arts (ELA) pre-service teachers (PSTs) examined the ways they used writing as avenues for civic engagement. Two questions guided this inquiry: 1) In what ways does a composition course focused on writing as civic engagement impact PSTs’ views of civically-engaged writing? 2) In what ways does a composition course focused on writing as civic engagement impact PSTs as writers of civically-engaged texts? Findings suggest the PSTs experienced a variety of conflict as writers and future teachers of writing. These conflicts often connected to the PSTs’ struggles to view teachers and teaching as political. Taken together, their conflicts and struggles led to manifestations of self-censorship. Following presentation and unpacking of the findings, we offer discussion and implications for teacher education and those interested in harnessing the potential of civically-engaged writing to engage PSTs in critical interrogation and action toward impacting social inequities.

Recommended Citation

Cook, Mike P. and Yeilding, Gail Harper (2022) "Conflict, Politics, and Self-Censorship: PSTs and their Struggles with Writing as Civic-Engagement," Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education: Vol. 11: Iss. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/wte/vol11/iss1/1