English Department Hosts Concurrent Enrollment Teaching Conference

On October 30, the English Department hosted its annual professional development teaching conference for the English concurrent enrollment (CE) instructors who teach ENGL 1010, ENGL 2020, and/or ENGL 2200 for USU and the faculty teaching partners who support reciprocal mentorship through the department's Teaching Partnership program. The conference was held in a hybrid format to facilitate communication among all of our teachers, and this year the English Department welcomed twenty-two CE instructors from twenty-one high schools across the state and nine USU English Department lecturers and teaching partners. 

This year’s conference, "Strengthening Praxis by (Re)Considering the High School-College Continuum," provided the opportunity to develop teacher praxis — the pedagogical action informed by professional knowledge and personal ethics. Keeping in mind three qualities Dewey (1933) outlines as integral to reflective teaching — open-mindedness, responsibility, and whole-heartedness — concurrent enrollment teachers discussed important teaching practices, activities, questions, and challenges when teaching ENGL 1010, ENGL 2010, and/or ENGL 2200. 

The conference was supported by the English Department and USU’s CE program. Members of the program’s guiding committee (Deanna Allred, Joelle Beard, Russ Beck, John Engler, Arita Graham, Mary Ellen Greenwood, Mat Halaczkiewicz, Marianna Hale, Christina Hartman, Marty Reeder, Heather Staten, Jennifer Swenson, Shanda Winget, and Russ Winn) were instrumental in planning and facilitating the conference.  

Several speakers and breakout sessions helped participants examine their own teaching, the field’s scholarship, and our shared program. Speakers included English Department Head Brian McCuskey, Assistant Registrar Toni Gibbons, Director of Concurrent Enrollment for English Associate Professor Jessica Rivera-Mueller, Associate Director of Concurrent Enrollment for English and Lecturer Jeremy Ricketts, Director of Composition Beth Buyserie, General Education Chair and Lecturer Dustin Crawford, University Librarian Katie Strand, and Lecturer Russ Winn. 

Dr. Amy Lueck, a nationally known CE scholar, was the keynote speaker. Her talk centered on historical research that illuminates the construction of the supposed "high school-college divide" as a defining feature of K-16 U.S. education. In revealing the constructed (and continually re-constructed) nature of the divide, Amy’s presentation contested what has become the commonsense notion of educational leveling, particularly in the context of concurrent enrollment writing instruction.  

The program also celebrated its new Teaching Partners lecturers Bonnie Moore and Kristen Wheaton, as well as a proposal for several CE teachers and Teaching Partners to co-author a chapter in a forthcoming concurrent enrollment edited collection.