Working knowledge: Composition and the teaching of professional writing

WORKING KNOWLEDGE: COMPOSITION AND THE TEACHING OF PROFESSIONAL WRITINGJean A. Grace, PhDUniversity of Pittsburgh, 2008The curricular and research project called professional writing in the academy is currently held at some remove from the institution. This dissertation argues for a reconsideration of professional writing as advanced composition, a move that can invigorate both composition studies and the teaching of professional writing. I argue that professional writing, an area of instruction that developed alongside composition in the 19th and 20th centuries, can benefit from an infusion of the theory that shapes some of the notable trends in composition studies today. Doing so makes possible a professional writing pedagogy that is centered on students and student writing, that offers a rich understanding of the writing process and the ways that writing works, that explores intertextuality, and that allows student writers to connect with what can be at stake for professional writers. In return, the teaching of professional writing offers space to think through some of the current tensions in composition, such as the continuing resistance to teaching what some see as service courses. The teaching of professional writing—as advanced composition rather than as a course that is only connected with preparation for the workforce—is one path toward defining and enacting the relevance of composition studies and can allow the field of composition studies to carve out an interesting and rich area of work and inquiry at the undergraduate level. By offering a study of the textual presence of 19th and 20th century business and technical writing textbooks in the U.S., this dissertation documents the remarkable stability of some moves in the teaching of professional writing. I argue that textbooks are significant artifacts that both represent and shape ways of approaching the teaching of professional writing. This study also discusses persistent tensions in composition studies that tend to marginalize professional writing and explores the ways in which some prominent features of current composition theory and practice can productively inform the teaching of professional writing. Finally, the dissertation explores the implications of the preceding chapters for defining a pedagogy of professional writing and for creating and administering a professional writing program.