Download PDFTrouble with Training and Professional Development (PD)
Shipka (2011) reminds us that the multi of multimodality does not mean just digital, and our students consume and compose in different modes, but with limited skill sets: “...far fewer have experience using Flash, Photoshop, PageMaker, Dreamweaver, or Premiere Pro” (p. 19). This prompts me to think about how a GTA's confidence in technical applications can greatly impact their ability to effectively and wholeheartedly teach students how to use them. When suggesting modes for my students’ projects, I am quick to suggest TikTok videos (which have, however, been banned from our university’s Wi-Fi network), Instagram posts, or YouTube videos, solely because I have personal experience with these genres. Never once did I receive instruction on how to compose rhetorically with these tools. If I was ever brave enough to ask whether I could submit a video as a final project, I outsourced my lack of skills to strangers on YouTube or Reddit posts, excitedly following their instructions and thinking about the rhetorical appeals throughout. These two practices never overlapped. As Alam (2024) notes, developing a rapport between GTAs and students in FYC by being open about struggles helps them relate to one another. I am very open with my students about my lack of technical knowledge in certain platforms and recognize that they may have more experience than I have. But the cornerstone of my teaching philosophy is one of collaboration; that is, we can learn how to compose in various modes without fear or criticism from the traditional English teacher.
The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) publishes position statements on various issues within the discipline. In their statement on preparing GTAs to teach college writing, they do recognize the importance of multimodality. CCCC recommends that programs help GTAs develop “...experience with facilitating writing courses where students practice multiple genres of textual production and refine their digital literacies.” (2015). The terminology of “facilitating” writing courses can be misleading, as this assumes that there is a professor who is directly teaching multimodality, giving the GTA an opportunity to learn about the ways that technological platforms can be used to compose. Reflecting back on my first FYC orientation, I think there was maybe a single 60-minute workshop on teaching with technology, but this was more about how to turn on the classroom projector and wrangle your HDMI cord. It is crucial to further consider what other forms of support GTAs are turning to.
My experience echoes that of Pedzinski and Stecher (2024) who report unsatisfactory composition pedagogy training and their need to seek opportunities elsewhere within their university. Starving for more exposure to training, I enrolled in my institution’s Online Teaching & Learning course sequence to earn a certificate that would allow me to teach composition sections online in the future. Even though I was already overwhelmed with my teaching, coursework, and outside job, I spent a few hours each week engaging on Canvas with instructors from all departments and programs to earn my certificate. But I dropped out. In an exercise to analyze course outcomes to fit into multimodal settings, we had to upload any set of course outcomes and describe how they fit into the online course. The course outcomes I chose were rejected by the facilitator, and their comments revealed that they were inadequate. These course outcomes were copied verbatim directly from my university’s FYC curriculum. The unit tasked with training instructors on developing course design to be taught across modes told me that my own department’s official curriculum was insufficient. As a GTA in my first year, this experience was quite disheartening and also confusing. I had made an effort to expand my repertoire of pedagogical training, and this is how I was received. Hoessler and Stockley (2016) point out that “Graduate students do not learn and teach in isolation, but within the context of their groups, departments, institutions, and sector” (p. 148). After my experience with my university’s Teaching & Learning Center, I decided to focus on what the English department could possibly offer.
In-person workshops and guest speakers seem to be the prime areas in which departments implement Professional Development (PD). Tan and Matsuda (2020) describe a “clear gesture of support” for multimodal composition by hosting regular workshops, but the existence of workshops does not mean they are accessible to GTAs. At my institution, there is a clear separation of faculty and graduate students, and often I am unsure if events that the department advertises are also open to GTAs. This is exacerbated by the physical segregation between us and faculty: our cubicles are now literally on the other end of campus, in the basement of an old engineering building. This further diminishes the ability to have collaborative experiences. When the university categorizes GTAs as students when it is convenient for them and the department categorizes GTAs as staff when it comes to labor practices, this obscures PD.
The English department offers a series of workshops led by outside scholars, with workshops specifically advertised towards graduate students. They are typically once per semester with free lunches offered to entice our attendance. Since my department has three distinct concentrations, they are divided up by discipline. I am not sure who coordinates and chooses what the topics will be, but I assume it is a group of faculty members or some of the select GTAs whom faculty more closely mentor and receive more guidance and support. Chen’s (2021) national survey found that workshops focusing on multimodality are widely reported as ineffective. As a GTA, I rarely can even attend these workshops because they are always during the daytime on a weekday when most of us have to teach, work in the writing center, attend coursework, or work second jobs. Graduate students get almost no say in our schedules, and the days can become more challenging during the mile-long treks between buildings. Our graduate courses have attendance policies that cause us hesitation in attending these workshops. While they are hosted by our own department and engaging with them should be a given, we often teeter the line of wanting to be a good student and wanting to be a confident instructor.
Nevertheless, I spend as much free time as possible learning about ways I can enhance my pedagogy for multimodal composition. This often means trying to become comfortable with software to at least demonstrate using it in the classroom. When setting up my department-issued laptop, I worked with the IT department to download the typical programs we use every day. When I saw the Adobe Creative Suite as an option, I was so excited to have the chance to learn popular software that would take writing projects to the next level. But when I attempted to download it, I was prompted to provide payment information, and the IT support specialist informed me that my department would have to sponsor and pay for an individual license. I stopped, not wanting to raise eyebrows at my request for software to teach the curriculum’s multimodal assignment. Instead, I referenced the curriculum’s sample multimodal products on the Canvas shell. Even then, not every instructor has experience with Instagram Reels or X/Twitter Threads. How does this empower and encourage them?
On another occasion, I wanted to explore the resources that our exceptional library has, which includes the ability to borrow camera and videography equipment, a virtual reality room, and a soundproof booth, so I signed up to reserve a sound recording room in the multimedia section called The Studio. By becoming familiar with the reservation process and physical spaces within campus, I hoped to demonstrate the free tools that my students have access to. I have some prior experience with recording podcasts and editing videos, but never in a studio setup which has specialized equipment. But I was in over my head and had no idea where to start. I did not know how to hook up the equipment and later learned that I should have reserved additional items to make it possible. At least I made some effort and found out that I could request an appointment with someone who could help. There is no connection between The Studio and the English department, and this would be extremely helpful in knowing what resources are available to both students and instructors specifically for multimodal composition projects.