ERIC Number: EJ1337372
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
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ISSN: ISSN-1534-9322
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"How Am I Supposed to Watch a Little Piece of Paper?" Literacy and Learning under Duress
Hall, Carrie
Composition Studies, v49 n3 p56-73 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the troubling fact that many students struggle to pay attention to literacy learning while they are in situations of extreme duress. This duress did not begin with pandemic, nor will it end with it. Neither is duress distributed at random; those negatively affected by the nation's prejudices, as a general rule, are under more duress than those who reap the benefits of these systems. To achieve an equitable curriculum, we must teach with the attentional needs of those under duress in mind. This article explores how writing instructors can develop curricula that work with these needs. It looks at research on learning under duress as well as student work that was written in crisis, building upon the strengths of those under duress (who often, for example, write with a sense of urgency and keen awareness of their immediate surroundings) instead of trying to "cure" what we may perceive as weaknesses. A curriculum that speaks to the strengths of students with these experiences will be vital both during the pandemic and beyond it.
Descriptors: Writing Instruction, Curriculum Design, Stress Variables, COVID-19, Pandemics, Teaching Methods, Attention, Trauma, Writing Teachers, Teacher Student Relationship
Composition Studies. Available from: English Department, UMass Boston. 100 William T. Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02125; e-mail: compstudiesjournal@gmail.com; Web site: https://compstudiesjournal.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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