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[jonesey]

From Inside Higher Ed comes an article on the CCCC conference and what, exactly, CC's need in writing professors;

Those doing the hiring at community colleges were frank that they really need these composition master's programs to work because they aren't content to hire literature doctorates who are applying for composition jobs at community colleges because of the tough job market for new humanities Ph.D.'s.

"We get these cover letters and they are so out of touch with what we need," one community college faculty member said of those seeking to teach writing. "We're looking for someone who has actually been in a community college classroom, and they are writing letters about their dissertations in literature."

Indeed the mismatch is so serious that San Francisco State, which also offers a graduate certificate in teaching college composition, is enrolling some who already have earned doctorates, but who find they need to prepare themselves for jobs that exist (teaching basic writing at community colleges) as opposed to those they trained for (at research universities).

What else?

And while many composition writing programs talk about diversity, one community college faculty member said that there are types of diversity that challenge these new instructors. At many community colleges, "the typical student is working class, not really interested in talking about 'white privilege,' and may be homophobic" and there is a gap between such students and the newly minted master's holders who are "well-intentioned, left-leaning or Marxist, and care about our students but aren't connected to them."

[hesitant]

Thank you, Jonesey, for posting the link to this article.

I am not going to debate the issue: it seemed that many of the people who posted comments to this article on the Inside Higher Ed website had very strong feelings for or against the relevance of a literature PhD to the teaching of academic writing.

It was very useful to me, however, since I am a soon to be literature PhD holder who wants to teach in a community college, not until the bigger better ship sails into port but as a long term career. Most of my teaching I have indeed done in private institutions -- a major R1 and one small  college. Even though I have previous experience with non-traditional students of rather diverse social backgrounds and  with even more varying levels of academic preparedness, I have no experience teaching in American community colleges (my experience is in governmentally sponsored programs for retraining of the unemployed and academic outreach centers in European universities). I know that it will be quite difficult to convince search committees that I can do the job, even as an adjunct. And applying for adjunct pools  is what I am doing right now. So, thank you: it was really useful to get an insight into what community colleges need.

[hipgeek]

What else?

And while many composition writing programs talk about diversity, one community college faculty member said that there are types of diversity that challenge these new instructors. At many community colleges, "the typical student is working class, not really interested in talking about 'white privilege,' and may be homophobic" and there is a gap between such students and the newly minted master's holders who are "well-intentioned, left-leaning or Marxist, and care about our students but aren't connected to them."

Thanks for posting this.  I definitely see what the CC's are saying.  I teach at a CC and some aspects are quite similar to my experience at the R1 but in the large scheme of it, it has been very different. 

It's true that my CC population is quite "diverse" if you take that to mean there are more non-white and more working-class students.  But working-class doesn't mean the noble worker image, nor does it necessarily mean racist and homophobic either.  It often means these are students who have a very specific goal in mind, becoming an x-ray tech, or a social services worker, or a dental hygenist. 

I want to teach full-time at a CC but I also want a PhD in Lit, not rhet/ comp.  How foolish to want what I want and still think it can work.  I think you can be a skilled writing instructor and still have an interest and specialty in Lit.  And there is a place for literature in the CC setting.

I'm glad to hear what CCs don't want in their cover letters though I wonder what they do want.  I'm not at the cover letter writing stage yet, but it makes me wonder how I could talk about my CC experience in and engaging and informative way.  So much of what I do is finding ways to stress the importance and interest of very basic rules of language (parts of speech, sentence structure...)  Also, my experience as an adjunct has been teaching the texts I'm assigned with some supplemental handouts and assignments that I bring to the table.

[cgfunmathguy]

I want to teach full-time at a CC but I also want a PhD in Lit, not rhet/ comp.  How foolish to want what I want and still think it can work.  I think you can be a skilled writing instructor and still have an interest and specialty in Lit.  And there is a place for literature in the CC setting.

In talking to English colleagues at the CC where I used to work, the biggest problem is that the ones with a Lit degree (PhD or MA doesn't matter in this context) don't WANT (by and large) to teach composition, which is about 70% of the English schedule at my last CC (about 30% developmental writing, 40% college-level writing, and 30% literature). These numbers were typically at the CCs in the state system at the time. These instructors were also the ones who didn't want to take advice on teaching writing from the one or two rhetoricians on faculty. Unfortunately, there are so few who pursue Rhetoric compared to Literature that CCs are forced to hire Literature people to teach writing classes.

I'm glad to hear what CCs don't want in their cover letters though I wonder what they do want.  I'm not at the cover letter writing stage yet, but it makes me wonder how I could talk about my CC experience in and engaging and informative way.  So much of what I do is finding ways to stress the importance and interest of very basic rules of language (parts of speech, sentence structure...)  Also, my experience as an adjunct has been teaching the texts I'm assigned with some supplemental handouts and assignments that I bring to the table.

They want to read that you have taught composition classes, liked it, were good at it, and are interested in getting even better at it. They definitely don't want to hear that your teaching interests only lie in the direction of Literature. Of course, when you get to the interview stage, they don't want to hear how you "would be willing to teach a section or two of comp alongside" your "three literature sections every semester." (Yes, someone actually said this in an interview at that CC.)

[lost_angeleno]

In 38 years of teaching, overall the students who express their gratitude for my classes the most often are those in my Technical Writing course. They are also the most pragmatic students; they work harder, because they know that what they learn in this writing class will be immediately useful in the working world, and will pay off in their paychecks.  These days, that's a pretty strong endorsement for the pragmatic importance of learning to teach Technical Writing.

BTW, many ask what literature courses I'm teaching, and come in to those classes as well, so it has a payoff for me: they enroll, the course "makes," and I get to teach more literature.  Win, Win.  (and I like to teach both, for slightly different reasons)