Instructor Training

This page serves as a resource to WPAs considering whether to integrate TA/Instructor training on issues of accessibility for multimodal assignments

Although there is a seemingly endless list of topics on which to train TAs, issues of accessibility deserve attention if not for legal reasons, then for the purposes of fostering an inclusive writing program that supports students of various abilities and disabilities. As such, it is recommended that WPAs integrate training on accessibility for multimodal assignments into their professional development sequence and, in doing so, adopt a “multiphilosophical approach” which considers the theoretical assumptions that TAs and Instructors bring to the table (Stancliff and Goggin 14)

This approach is recommended because it recognizes TAs and Instructors as sources of knowledge, who may provide important insights about creating accessible pedagogies based on their own experiences, abilities, and disabilities. This approach avoids the pitfalls of attempting to indoctrinate TAs and Instructors to a particular way of doing, since such indoctrination ignores the lived experiences and authority of instructors. It also avoids the pitfall of “retroaction/retrofit” that comes when TAs and Instructors learn accessible pedagogies, on the fly, as they teach.

WPAs are welcome to use this website as a resource for engaging TAs and Instructors about issues of accessibility for multimodal assignments. Moreover, WPAs may find this list of scholarly articles and book chapters as a useful starting point for asynchronous professional development or discussions in professional development workshops.

References:

• Stancliff, Michael, and Maureen Daly Goggin. “What’s Theorizing Got to Do With It? Teaching Theory as Resourceful Conflict and Reflection in TA Preparation.” WPA: Writing Program Administration, vol. 30, no. 3, 2007, pp. 11-28.