Using Rhetorical Media to Meet Outcomes
and Satisfy Stakeholders
Whose Interests Should the Composition Class Serve?
This section of this web-text explores the demands of of course stakeholders. In doing so, the goal of this portion of the text is to respond to Hesse’s second question regarding whose interests must be served through composition courses. This web-text focuses on the open door college, in particular, noting the challenges faced in that educational context. Emphasis is given to the interests of four groups of stakeholders: administrators, faculty, the community, and students.
Building on the argument for the need to provide composing opportunities outside of traditional prose, the exploration of these stakeholders is done through five short videos that bring together voice over, audio an images. The purpose of presenting this material in this modality is to provide an example of the means in which modes beyond traditional prose provide additional opportunities for expression. For example, the author of this text wanted to provide this material in a manner that was soothing and engaging to multiple learning styles. This aim was easily conveyed though voice and musical composition along with the integration of slides, but would have been much more difficult to establish through prose alone.
The video below provides an introduction to the discussion of the interests held by the stakeholders for first-year composition. To video the remaining four videos, click the on the right (or those in the text above).
Video Transcript
In reflecting upon his second question, “whose interests should the composition classroom serve?,” Hesse explains his question is an ethical one. He says that part of what it addresses is what’s good for the student. But he is unsure as to what part of the student’s life this refers to. Is it the student as a worker? A citizen? Friend? Soul? He also believes that part of this question addresses what’s good for various cultures and subcultures and which decisions are made, resources distributed, and ideas championed. He believe that there are “ethical as well as rhetorical dimensions to the affordances and constraints of modes and media, and that education has long tempered ‘what works’ or ‘what’s interesting’ with ‘what should be’” (Hesse, 2009, p. 605). This short presentation aims to balance these concerns addressing both what is good for the student as well as what is good for the cultural context in which their classes take place. This examination explores the interests of four stakeholders: administrators, the community, students and faculty members.
