Conceptualizing English Department Resilience at Two- Year Colleges

Two-Year College Writing Studies: Rationale and Praxis for Just Teaching

“…These pressures, compounded by structural variations in institutional organizations between two-year colleges and their four-year peers, profoundly undermine our work-and thus the learning of our students. As a result, even those two-year college writing instructors who are deeply engaged with their discipline and professions are often positioned poorly to affect discipline-oriented changes in their departments and at their institutions (Griffiths 2017;Griffiths and Jensen 2019;Toth, Griffiths, and Thirolf 2013).…”

Embracing the democratic promise: Transforming two‐year colleges and writing studies through professional engagement

“…Further, professional engagement extends disciplinary knowledge, positioning faculty to exert what Larson (2018) has called "epistemic authority" and Griffiths (2017) has called "professional autonomy" to develop curricular goals and enact locally responsive interventions that serve their institution's students. Griffiths and Jensen (2019) found that working through a shared disciplinary framework can contribute to the overall resiliency of English departments, disrupting cycles of burnout that fuel disengagement with colleagues and institutions. In sum, consistent and deep engagement with a professional organization can help sustain two-year college English faculty while contributing to the institution's broader mission and goals.…”

“…In “Unmeasured Engagement: Two‐Year College Faculty and Professional Disciplinary Organizations,” English faculty cited lack of institutional expectation or support for engagement in professional organizations, including conference travel, as the most significant barrier to their participation (Toth, 2014). The result is a less resilient and less effective faculty (Griffiths & Jensen, 2019).…”