Does Starting Somewhere Better Really Mean Not Starting at All?

Reid, Shelley. (2004). Starting somewhere better: revisiting multiculturalism in first year composition. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, 4, 65-92.

In my first two blogs, I have argued for composition scholars to consider incorporating critical multiculturalism into their pedagogy. With Jordan’s article, I pointed out the pit falls of teaching the generic and cursory multiculturalism that seems to be encouraged in multicultural readers. I then (hopefully) juxtaposed these shortcomings with Knaus’ pragmatic approach to teaching race in the writing classroom.

After analyzing the positions of these two articles, I realized that I needed to present a work that looks at theoretical issues with multicultural pedagogy in composition. I think that Shelley Reid’s article provides us with a thorough examination of said issues and develops some viable questions that composition scholars need to ask themselves about multiculturalism.

Reid’s foundational argument or issue with current multicultural pedagogy in the writing classroom is that composition scholars “have not vetted multicultural pedagogies and their implications as carefully as we need to” (Reid 65). In other words, multiculturalism has not been deemed essential enough to composition to deserve a separate pedagogical and ideological analysis. This has led to multicultural studies being an uneasy addendum to writing curriculum, rather than a latent theory within the discipline. Reid and I argue that this lax attitude results in some very problematic approaches to teaching multiculturalism.

Hence I agree whole heartedly with Reid when she insists that scholars need to “devote more time to investigating and discussing how multiculturalism and first year writing pedagogies can work together” (Reid 68). Reid posits that during this investigation scholars must also ask this difficult question: does multiculturalism and writing pedagogy really mix?

The author’s cautious answer to her own query is where I have my main issue with her arguments. Reid ultimately decides that multiculturalism may better be studied at “points in the curriculum other than FYC” (Reid 85). She goes on to argue that if multiculturalism is to be studied in FYC at all, composition scholars need to step back and look to “restart our efforts” (Reid 85). While I understand her concern that many times composition classes only provide a surface examination of diversity, I do not think it is productive to take a “break” from teaching this ideology. If composition scholars are as disinclined to repair multiculturalism pedagogy as Reid suggests, what makes her think they will acquiesce to rebuilding it?

This move would also suggests that multicultural pedagogy does not have the ability to adapt and improve through the trial and error opportunities that other pedagogies have been afforded in the history of writing.  This suggestion is therefore fraught with the underlying theme of the “double standard” placed on minorities and their enterprises. Therefore I do not think that composition scholars need to declare a moratorium on multicultural pedagogy, but improve the ideology already in the writing classroom.