Taylor Rose-Dougherty Publishes in English Teaching

English Department Assistant Professor Taylor Rose-Dougherty co-published “Identity and positionality in composing graphic narratives: reflective lessons on lingering with rhetorical choices” with Mike P. Cook and James S. Chisholm in English Teaching: Practice and Critique, a journal focused on critical scholarship and research related to English literacies. 

The article was about the choices teacher candidates made when writing activism-based graphic compositions, an assignment that Taylor’s collaborators gave to their English Education courses. 

“What we found particularly interesting — just as interesting as the final products — was the decision-making process that author-illustrators enacted when considering their own identities and the identities they wanted to feature in their graphic narratives,” Taylor reflects. “Many of them wanted to uplift underrepresented or erased stories of others, but they wanted to do so with intention and integrity. We found that thinking to be rich and productive.”

The research essay found that teacher candidates who wrote about identities they share advocated for better and more representation of their identities in literature and those who wrote about identities they didn’t share used research and critical reflection as they considered the ethics of telling the stories of others.

“I loved how the findings of the article showed teacher candidates’ attention to the visual medium and the craft moves it affords. It was amazing to hear how students talked about who they were and what they believed their role(s) in activism-related conversations to be,” Taylor notes. “I think these ideas are especially related to how I teach, in that I hope for teacher candidates in my courses not only to have strong disciplinary knowledge but also the tools for designing instruction that makes their classroom and the world better places.”

Taylor says having the work published feels rewarding for the potential implication it could have for readers. “Hopefully, both higher education professionals and practicing teachers might be able to benefit from what we learned,” she comments. “It’s always an honor to collaborate with colleagues I regard so deeply, but we also sincerely admire the editorial team of this journal, their work, and the expertise of our peer reviewers.”