Post for 9/28: NCTE Position Statement

NCTE Position Statement

“Resolution on the Importance of Journalism Courses and Programs in English Curricula.” National Council of Teachers of English: Position Statements. NCTE, 18 Aug 2008. Web. 5 Sept 2011.

Brief Review:
This statement is arguing for the incorporation and preservation of journalism courses in the English curricula. Recent budget cuts and changing emphasis on teaching standards has led to a depletion of these classes. Individuals interested in maintaining this coursework use the remainder of the statement to demonstrate the importance and potential for learning that journalism classes offer.

Connections:
"Developing student writers are expected to achieve an increasingly broad and deep knowledge and understanding of the value of writing in their lives, of their own individual writing processes, of the range of writing strategies available to them, and of the benefits of sharing and publishing their writing for a wider audience" (NCTE). This statement reflects the ability of journalism courses to instruct students in important writing strategies and techiques referenced in the WPA Outcomes Statement and Framework for Success in Post-Secondary Writing.

Cynthis Selfe may appreciate Journalism courses as a productive way to address the use of media in the writing classroom. One can be critical of its use, observe how the writer and audience interact with technology, and find ways to use different media to achieve improved educational ends.

This statement and its extremely positive slant on using media in the classroom reminds me of technological determinism.