CFP: Histories of High School and Normal School Writing Instruction, 1890-1965
Editors
Lori Ostergaard
Jeffrey Ludwig
Henrietta Rix Wood
Despite the often innovative and vital work of secondary educators in the United States, high schools and normal schools have not been widely explored as important sites in the disciplinary history of composition-rhetoric. Histories of High School and Normal School Writing Instruction will address this gap by providing a robust collection of archival studies of normal school pedagogies, high school classroom and extracurricular practices, and teacher research.
Building on the work of scholars like Lucille M. Schultz, who calls for reading documents such as textbooks and student texts in concert to gain a more comprehensive understanding of rhetorical education and application, we seek contributors who employ archival research methods to uncover and address distinct aspects of secondary writing instruction between 1890-1965.
While the following list is not exhaustive, possible chapters in this collection may include analyses and surveys of any of the following:
- High school teaching of writing practices;
- Specific methods of instruction in rhetorical conventions, disciplinary conventions, business writing, technical writing, journalism, research, grammar, etc.;
- The work of an individual teacher, group of teachers, or high school department;
- Research projects, methods, or findings;
- Student compositions;
- Self-sponsored writing of students;
- Extracurricular writing clubs, student publications, or competitions;
- High school composition textbooks;
- Assessment practices;
- Writing instruction at diverse secondary schools (Native American boarding schools, segregated or newly desegregated schools, girls or boys schools, technical schools, private schools, etc);
- Normal school training, summer schools, workshops;
- Normal school teaching of writing curricula, statements, research;
- National, state, or regional high school teachers organizations;
- National, state, or regional high school teachers publications;
- Professional meetings or professional statements.
Please submit a 500-word proposal that discusses the proposed chapter and the archives under investigation in terms of their relevance to our disciplinary histories. Proposals should be submitted electronically to Lori Ostergaard ostergaa@oakland.edu. The deadline for submission is September 7, 2011.