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As the population of students who attend college campuses become more culturally diverse, the demands that literacy place upon these students becomes more intense. As compositionists struggle to allow access to populations of students who have traditionally been marginalized by the academy because of their linguistic abilities, the notion that a formal style of writing which strictly adheres to a monolithic set of rules and conventions, traditionally known as 'academic discourse,' has become problematic.

The debate that surrounds this issue has focused considerable attention on the purposes of freshman composition. The curriculum that has guided freshman composition has now become commodified to the point that the sole purpose of freshman composition is to enable students to succeed in the 'content' courses in other disciplines in order to find success in the workforce.

This paper examines styles of writing which have been referred to as 'mixed,' 'hybrid,' or 'alternative' because they encourage flexibility in how writing instruction is taught in freshman composition. I argue that literacy experiences in the academy must provide conditions for students and teachers to mediate and negotiate difference in the writing attempts of freshman composition students. By acknowledging difference and understanding the need for negotiation in acquiring writing abilities that will address not only the value of effective writing in the marketplace, but also in fulfilling civic responsibilities in pursuit of democracy, I argue that courses in freshman composition adopt a border pedagogy that will appreciate diversity and allow for conditions that will encourage students to develop voices that will be critical, oppositional, interrogative and analytical as they discover their own membership in an academic community that encourages them to be producers of knowledge rather than receivers of knowledge.

Stream: Curriculum and Pedagogy

Paper: Composing Narratives in the Borderlands

Kerr has taught courses in basic reading/writing, freshman composition and American literature at the State University of New York for 27 years. Previous to this experience he taught courses in language arts in the New York public school system. He has published several articles related to issues concerning critical literacy, cultural studies, educational theory and composition studies. As a practitioner he has used his classroom experiences as a resource to examine pedagogical practices that will lead to a better understanding of effective literacy practices in the public school system. A particular focus of his work has examined the teaching practices and educational policies that have been highly influential in the design of literacy curriculums used in educational institutions at all levels of learning. His work as a teacher/researcher has been especially concerned with those public sites of learning where there exist a diverse and rich mix of socially and culturally diverse populations of students.