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Teaching writing is, as it has always been 'since the dawn of humankind,' both a literary and civic calling: helping students write clear declarative sentences repairs the world.
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- Nancy Sommers




Welcome!
This site was created as a resource for WPAs as they consider the ways in which they and their programs serve adult writing students. My motivation for doing so derives from my experiences as both a student and educator within postsecondary institutions. As a student, I observed many adult learners struggle to connect with course content and understand basic academic conventions, unlike most of their traditionally-aged peers. They seemed to struggle most with the ubiquitous task of reading and writing critically, and in many cases, their success in a course hinged on their capacity to do so. Nevertheless, classroom instruction typically proceeded as if these disparities between adult and traditionally-aged students did not exist, and I would subsequently observe many of these adult learners flounder through coursework or else stop attending class altogether. As an educator now working within higher education, my experiences in this capacity can attest to the larger context that may explain my initial observations as a student. Put simply, adult learners are often marginalized by well-intentioned by ultimately misguided teachers and administrators. They are often not allocated the same resources and institutional standing as traditionally-aged students, and their needs are often either assumed or neglected. In an effort to combat these forces, this website was created to increase awareness of such issues and provoke WPAs to consider how they might combat them too.

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