Static to Dynamic: Professional Identity as Inventory, Invention, and Performance in Classrooms and Workplaces

Introduction to Effective Teaching of Technical Communication

“…Scholars have argued that technical communicators' work is often invisible in the workplace (Brady & Schreiber, 2013), and part of this work involves "layered literacies." As developed by Kelli Cargile , layered literacies refer to a framework that structures the six interrelated "key literacies" of TC pedagogy: "basic, rhetorical, social, technological, ethical, and critical" (p. 7).…”

The Shape of Problems to Come

“…Many scholars have recognized technical communication’s long history of grappling with the visibility of its work and its value to other fields and professions (Bekins & Williams, 2006; Diehl, Grabill, & Hart-Davidson, 2008; Harlow, 2010; Hart & Conklin, 2006; Hart-Davidson, 2001; Sullivan, Martin, & Anderson, 2003). As M. Ann Brady and Joanna Schreiber (2013) describe, technical communication’s relative invisibility in the workplace has been “an obstacle for status and success for many years” (p. 344). A number of initiatives have sought to address this problem by establishing a set of core competencies unique to technical communication.…”

“…Documenting these audits for reference may help make work visible during yearly performance reviews. Thus, self-audits can provide an account of work that makes visible the time and care required to facilitate self-guided learning and improvement (Brady & Schreiber, 2013; Walton, 2013). Managing how distance affects and shapes their work.…”

Addressing the Incommensurable

“…In some ways, TPC has moved to reframing issues of definition and legitimacy to those of professionalization (Brady & Schreiber, 2013; Carliner, 2012; Cleary, 2012; Coppola, 2012; Kline & Barker, 2012; Moore, 2008). This approach might represent another way to connect and bridge our academic identity to that of the workplace.…”